I have been dreaming of alien life since I was a child. Perhaps I’ve watched and read too much sci-fi. Perhaps my father taught me too much about biology, evolution, and zoology on Earth and we spent far too much time looking in remote streams and caves for different types of salamanders. The truth is, our own planet is so rich in biodiversity, with so many types of animals that can live anywhere from the ice in the polar regions to the deepest depths of the oceans. Biologists on Earth have discovered the concept of convergent evolution. This is the idea that unrelated organisms will develop certain features and functions depending on the conditions in which they develop. They develop to fill specific niches, which is why the hummingbirds of the Americas and the sunbirds of Southeast Asia both developed long beaks to sip nectar from flowers although they are not closely related.
 
Although we won’t see birds on extra-solar worlds, if the conditions are right, we will see flying creatures. They may not have feathers, hollow bones, and a syrinx, but they will fly. They will catch smaller aliens to eat or devour alien fruits or seeds. They will communicate. Maybe they will sing. Maybe they will have a syrinx like Earth birds, or maybe they will have a built-in organ more akin to a percussion ensemble. “Flight and Song” features several species of newly-invented (by myself and others) bird-like aliens, such as the Trappist Neon Mote Catcher, the Giant Land Strider, the New Laconian Sunbird, and the Deathwatch Aviar that resides on Drominad First of the Sun.

World premiere performance at Louisiana Music Teachers Association conference, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on October 8th, 2023. Performed by Yuki Tanaka, violin; Sixto Franco, viola; Rachel Hseih, cello; Katalin Lukacs, piano.

Flight And Song Recording

Tempête de sable (Storm of Sand) was commissioned by violist Aurélie Entringer and clarinetist Zefir Brezeanu and premiered by those and violinist William Harvey, and written during the weeks before the U.S.'s initial bombing of Baghdad, Iraq in 2003. I began writing Tempête de sable in an attempt to encompasses the overwhelming sorrow, frustration and helplessness I felt knowing how many civilian lives where about to change so catastrophically as a result of the United States’ attacks on the city. The piece begins with the viola's theme—first accompanied by a sul ponticello tremolo played by the violin, summoning the sound, imagery and physicality of sand blowing in the wind, biting the skin. This theme is then passed back and forth with the clarinet. The melodies in this work represent the lament of a woman mourning the death of a small child. In a small way, music can be the expression of personal feelings through which a listener or performer can find their own personal experiences and meaning resonating with their own lives. It is my desire that you can hear this work with your own personal imagery attached. ©2003 Alexandra du Bois

More info and excerpts of works by Alexandra du Bois available at www.alexandradubois.com

Tempête de sable (2003) for clarinet, violin, and viola (EXCERPT)

public enemy no. 1

Premiere by ULM Chamber Singers, 2-21-17

This is love: to fly towards a secret sky, 
to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. 
First, let go of live (breath). 
In the end, take a step without feet; 
to regard the world as invisible, 
and to disregard what appears to be self. 
Oh, Heart, I say, 
what a gift it has been  
to enter this circle of lovers, 
to see beyond seeing itself, 
to reach and feel within the breast.  

-Rumi (1207-1273)

This Is Love

read by So Percussion

Art by Yayoi Kusama

This Is Love

melmobley

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