for tenor voice, clarinet, viola, trumpet, and trombone

Fallen Elm is an homage to the last remaining old American elm tree in Mt. Vernon Place outside of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. The tree fell this past April because its roots could no longer support its canopy. The tree’s falling resulted in a collective mourning in the Mt. Vernon community for both the loss of a mighty, opulent figure of nature, as well as the history and marker of change that the tree represented for Mt. Vernon.

Text:
A solemn hush, a stillness
Silent shadows beneath a shrouded bough A fallen elm
Blinded by the brutal sky
Stark, unbearable brightness
Where once stood a lofty canopy
Only skeletal rings remain

Fallen Elm - for Bent Wrench

A California native, Emma Tucker (b. 2001) is a composer and oboist. “Like an impressive machine”, her music combines spectral harmony with a synesthetic relationship between color and sound. Her musical influences range from Renaissance music and French impressionism to 21st century microtonal landscapes and just intonation. Her music is also aesthetically inspired by visual art and natural science, and is formally constructed primarily by creating shifts in harmony and timbre. Emma has worked with esteemed groups such as Ensemble Modern, Bergamot Quartet, Ensemble Linea, International Contemporary Ensemble, Brightwork NewMusic, and LIGAMENT.

Emma is currently pursuing a DMA in music composition at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in the studio of Felipe Lara, from which she has also earned her MM in the studios of Oscar Bettison and Eric Wubbels.  Emma also holds Bachelor’s degrees in music composition and oboe performance from Chapman University where she studied with Jeffrey Holmes, Sean Heim, Vera Ivanova, and Ted Sugata. Her music is registered with ASCAP, and her works are self-published.
Learn more at emmatuckermusic.com