#RANDOMNESS repeated does not 
seem like #CHANCE

INTRO TO FORM as movement, and
graphic layout of text of poem . . .
bit.ly/h0bmqT

LEFT the reverse of RIGHT. The pattern of steps the poem makes is like a dance, a dance based on fractal rhythms; its theme is CHANCE.

A DIE FALLS, a fractal poem “Randomness repeated does seem like chance.”

TEXT is at http://cs-music.com/features/photos/columbia_below-the-dalles.html

IMAGE: Columbia River Gorge, above HOOD RIVER, where BEER CAN was composed, OREGON

BEER CAN…”Economies blow out much like tires; Always at the peak of performance”

This is a little high-country occasional piece. It was fall. There was two feet of new snow. It was in the Italian Alps, just west of the Matterhorn. And I was sitting, waiting for sun, in a cold miserable morning mood with my good friend, Paolo. We were hunting chamois. Or, I should say, Paolo was hunting chamois, and I was bringing bad luck. We were both dressed head to toe in white. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, a large golden eagle flew just meters above our heads -- I can still hear the beat of its wings -- with a lone crow right on its tail, nipping at the eagle's feathers in one of those marvelous mountain avian rituals. Paolo stood right up, pointing at them, and declared in perfect English, "Cliff, you shall right a poem about this!" So I did, right then and there. And we translated it that evening. So, you see, we didn't return to his village entirely empty handed that day. How wonderful it is to have friends like this....

SEE TEXT at: cs-music.com/features/cards/poster_crow-solo.html

DOWNLOAD poster pdf at: cs-music.com/features/cards/poster_crow-solo.pdf
IMAGE: Bringing down a ewe with lamps from the winter to the early spring barn, URNERLAND, the ALPS.

For a Friend & a Crow / Per un Amico e una Cornacchia… per Paolo…

Recorded at 1300m V.8.2024 17:30 NT. The Robins at this elevation modulated their behavior recently, evidently because of nestlings. For example, out running down a gravel mountain track, I see both male and females landing in the road out ahead—always +-10m or so—in a display ritual evidently intended to keep “outsiders” i.e., me, from finding their nest. The rather monotone minimalist music of territorial triplets heard here started this week, too. Just like many composers I know. Very territorial. Male dominated. And, unlike the closely related Varied, Hermit and Swainson thruses, they do not listen to their own song when they sing. They simply project, ‘I am here. This is mine. You keep out.’ Yes, very human, indeed.

IMAGE: American Robin, Wikipedia

Montane Conifer Forest, stream with minimalist territory triplets, American Robin

IMAKE: Muir Lake (aka “Crater Lake”), Eagle Cap Wilderness, OREGON, end of AUGUST aspect. Where I composed the poem.

TEXT and many more photograps at http://www.picture-poems.com/pdfs/photoweek_9-08_3-09.pdf

The AVIAN DUO featured briefly in coda: Junco hyemalis, commonly known as the Dark-eyed junco (this is the OREGON variety), is a small bird species found throughout North America and the Pacific Northwest. They are known for making a variety of sounds, including the clicks recorded here, which are a form of communication or what I think of as spatial counter-singing. These short, sharp, metallic sounds are often used in territorial interactions between species, and accented visually by their black heads and dull white beaks. The clicks are produced by the bird's bill, which snaps shut rapidly, creating the clicking sound. In addition to these clicks, dark-eyed juncos also make a range of other sounds, including Chipping sparrow-like trills (common, any time of day in summer), whistles, and songs, used for a variety of purposes, such as attracting mates and warnings of danger.

SEE also https://soundcloud.com/cliff-crego/junco-hyemalis_clicks-mp3

THE DIFFERENCE OF BUT HALF A STEP, a high-country soundpoem

IMAGE; Eagle Cap Wilderness, the WALLOWAS, OREGON. Both the music & prose poem were composed here…

TEXT and PHOTOS are here http://www.picture-poems.com/pdfs/photoweek_9-08_3-09.pdf

The AVIAN soloist featured is my friend the Rock Wren, not singing this year it seemx.

WEST WIND AT POP CREEK PASS, a high-country prose-poem……

sainson’s Thrus (Catharus ustlatus) Just arrived back to the Montane forest at 1300m. Afternoon shade at 14:30 NT. I’m of the Kung-zi ANALECTS….” Is it not a joy to have friends coming from afar.” Yes, it is…

Newly arrived Swainson’s Thrush, w/ 2 minimalist Robins…

TEXT and PHOTOS are at http://www.picture-poems.com/pdfs/photoweek_9-08_3-09.pdf

IMAGE: New leaves, Balm or Black Cottonwood (Populus trithocarpa), signature species of springs and riparian areas of the Intermountain West. When we climb into the alpine zone above 2000m we leave behind broadleaf trees. So when come back down, it is a blessing to hear this sound of the fluttering leaves of a Cottonwood, as if for the first time.

POPLAR OF FORGIVENESS, a high-country poem…

IMAGE: CLEAR CUT….what is left of an ancient grove of Ponderosa pine, Doug-fir, Larch, and Grand fir, a quartet of ancient conifers (cone-bearing trees) that composes the relatively dry mountain forests of Northeast OREGON. From the perspective of CLIMATE BREAKDOWN, logging of any kind in the hotter, drier climate of the Intermountain West must necessarily be radically rethought. At present, we are not doing this. INSTEAD, we are doubling down and repeating mechanically the profound mistakes of the past.

CLEAR CUT, a music of protest…”In the absence of the sacred”

The Eagle of Freedom always has two wings, freedom TO, and freedom FROM. Only when the two wings are in perfect balance, does the Eagle soar.    

CODA music, StarCycle DUO, Eltanin, for two timpanists…

TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHS are included here http://picture-poems.com/photoweek/holly-brook_s-curve_9-6-08.html

THE EAGLE OF FREEDOM “On the Necessity of Roadless Areas”

9. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Ulusal Beste Yarışması Konseri (7 Haziran 2016)
Başak Karataş, mezzosoprano
İzmir Devlet Senfoni Orkestrası
Serdar Yalçın, şef

Yunus Emre’nin ölüm ve Hakk’a kavuşma özlemi konularını işleyen iki şiirinden alınmış beyitler üzerine bestelediğim “Yakarış” isimli şarkım, geleneksel olanı çağdaş bir anlayış ile sunmayı hedeflemektedir. Giriş ve kapanış bölümleri ile çevrelenmiş üç bölmeli (ABA) yapıdaki şarkının lirik karakterdeki A bölmeleri tasavvuf müziğinin, canlı ritmik yapısı ile kontrast oluşturan B bölmesi ise Türk halk müziğinin etkilerini taşımaktadır. Klasik batı müziği anlayışı ile biçimlendirilen bu yapı üzerinde kendini gösteren yirminci yüzyıl ve caz müziğine ait armonik öğeler de şarkıya farklı bir boyut kazandırarak müziği tınısal olarak zenginleştirmektedir.

Eser "9. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Ulusal Beste Yarışması"nda Üçüncü Mansiyon ile ödüllendirilmiştir.


The 9th Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı National Composition Competition Concert (7 June 2016)
Basak Karatas, mezzosoprano
Izmir State Symphony Orchestra
Serdar Yalcin, conductor

The “Orisons” composition, which was composed from the verses of two poems by Yunus Emre covering the subjects of death and longing for a union with God, is a work that presents tradition in modern interpretation. In the composition comprised of three parts (in the form of aba) the introduction and final parts frame the composition; while part A dwells upon religious mystic, the influence of Turkish Folk Music is reflected in part B. The composition gains a new dimension through the blend of the Classic Western Music concept with harmonic elements of the 20th century and jazz style.

The Work received the third honourable mention award at the 9th Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı National Composition Competition.

Yakarış (Orisons) for mezzo-soprano & orchestra (2014)

Oğuz Usman

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