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Compositions | Here Among the Bones

Here Among the Bones (Music for 19 Players) (2003)

Duration: ca. 6:00

Instrumentation Details:

Piccolo (doubling alto flute), Flute (doubling alto flute), Oboe, Bb Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Contrabassoon
2 Trombones, Tuba
2 Percussion
Harp, Piano
2 Violas, 2 Violoncelli, Contrabass (with C-extension)

Program Note:

Here Among the Bones was written for the Composers’ Sinfonietta at the Eastman School of Music and was inspired, in part, by a poem with the same title by the Greek poet George Seferis (1900-1971). Particularly striking in this poem is an image of a person who notices music while traveling in a landscape full of sand, water, mountains and bones. These travels appear to be futile for, in the end, the mountains are beseeched for help, but the speaker receives no reply and resigns to remain with the dead. This piece reflects, to an extent, a musical journey through this landscape and ends with resignation.

Audio Sample(s):

Here Among the Bones - Excerpt 1 (opening 0:45) (mp3 format)
Here Among the Bones - Excerpt 2 (0:55) (Rehearsal letter (C); mm.40-55) (mp3 format)
[Left-click to open / Right-click to save]

(Credits: Eastman Composers Sinfonietta; Mark Scatterday, conductor)

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