Program note

	The flute has always been one of my favorite instruments; in high school I played piano for the amazing flute sonatas by Prokofiev and Poulenc. Ever since then I’ve wanted to write a flute sonata, but I never had the chance until Kristin Pisano contacted me about the festival at Fort Hays State University—an exciting opportunity! This piece was commissioned by the FHSU New Music Esnemble and inspired by the 2020 novel of the same name by Susanna Clarke. From its description:

	Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousand upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth iteslf. He lives to explore the house.
	There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other—who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

	In this piece I hope you can hear Piranesi playing his bone flute, and hear the ocean tides surging, and the endless statues. And I hope you read the book—it’s magnificent. Piranesi is dedicated to Kristin Pisano and flutist Hilary Shepard, who gave the first performance with pianist Gustavo do Carno.

Piranesi

Winged Helix is a portrait in sound of the gene FOXP2, the so-called “language gene,” which plays an important role for other animals’ communication as well. When even a tiny mutation occurs, we can lose our ability to speak. “Winged helix” refers to the shape of the protein that FOXP2 encodes. It is a regulator: its job is to help unspool other strands of DNA to become activated, and it surrounds the DNA double helix like a pair of wings. The harmonies for the piece feature just intonation—naturally occurring, microtonal overtones that aren’t often heard. I don’t usually write harmonies this difficult, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s the Grossman Ensemble!

There are three main movements, each preceded by a brief “text setting” of the DNA in FOXP2.

I. FOXP2 - a sonification of the gene, with its DNA letters - A (metal) C (ceramic) G (glass), T (wood) - in the percussion. Each three letters of DNA codes for an amino acid; these are played by staccato woodwinds. Melodies, plucked strings and arpeggios represent higher-level, secondary structures: alpha helices, beta sheets, and turns.

II. Unfurl - an impression of a gene unspooling, activating, awakening new possibilities for life. We can hear crickets chirping in the high violins, as one of the earliest forms of animal communication. The music climbs from the lowest instruments, then bursts into a fast, rhythmic pulse, culminating in a unison fanfare.

III. FOXP2: Cardinal to Humpback - the FOXP2 gene again, but this time, instead of melodies we hear a cardinal singing its song (high winds and violins), which suddenly morphs into a humpback whale’s call (bari sax, bass clarinet and lion’s roar).

IV. Thousand Mile Song - over a slowly evolving chorale in the strings, the whales gradually metamorphose back to birds (which are improvised by the players, including the bass clarinet offstage). Dedicated to the musician and author David Rothenberg, who graciously provided the whale sounds that inspired this piece.

V. FOXP2: Double - a variation of the opening movement; all the same things are there, but played by different instruments.

VI. Onomatopoeia - a word which sounds like the thing it signifies (for instance, the buzz of a bee). Jimi Hendrix said that music is a language in which it‘s impossible to lie. But in spoken language we lie all the time; and even when we try to understand each other, we rarely do. Language enabled us to become what we are, but it also holds great danger. The finale, after a peaceful opening, ends in strife.

Winged Helix

Winged Helix (2020)

Indian Hedgehog is a sonification of the gene Indian Hedgehog (IHH), which helps to tell our limbs and digits where they should go as we develop in the womb. In the electronics we can hear the complete gene, over 8000 chemical “letters” of DNA: a (metal); c (ceramic); t (wood); g (glass; more information can be found at stephenandrewtaylor.net).

Indian Hedgehog for alto saxophone & electronics

Premiere performance of Shindychew Dances for winds and percussion by Stephen Andrew Taylor; Illinois Wind Symphony conducted by Robert W. Rumbelow, September 21, 2012. Arrangements of excerpts from the opera Paradises Lost, based on the novella by Ursula K. Le Guin. Music by Stephen Andrew Taylor; libretto by Marcia Johnson.

Shindychew Dances for winds and percussion

Always Coming Home is a fanfare based on the spiritual “Steal Away,” one of the most beautiful melodies I know. It appears 􏰀first in the trombones, and gradually grows to the full ensemble.

Steal away, steal away
Steal away to Jesus
Steal away, steal away home I ain’t got long to stay here.
Green trees are bending
Poor sinner stands a-trembling
The trumpet sounds within my soul I ain’t got long to stay here.

This began as a solo piano piece, Green Trees Are Bending, in memory of my teacher, the American composer Steven Stucky—celebration and loss mingle together. The rhythms come from the Aka people of the Central African Republic, an asymmetrical pattern heard 􏰀rst in the timpani: 222223, 22223. Since it was originally commissioned for the University of Illinois homecoming, I also wanted to include the state song for Illinois (although I have to admit it’s pretty well disguised). The title comes from the novel of the same name by the late, great American author, Ursula K. Le Guin.

Always Coming Home

Professor of Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Stephen Andrew Taylor

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