This work was composed for The New Jersey Arts Collective
annual composition contest and was selected as the Grand Prize Winner. The
work was inspired by Will Barnet's painting, "Strange Bird". Upon first viewing the
work, I immediately felt a sense of odd humor portrayed through the harsh angles
and drastically contrasting colors. What appeared to be the face of a rather
disgruntled bird grabbing another creature was the most intriguing feature of the
work and is the aspect that inspired me the most in my composition. A helpful
quote from the description that accompanied the lithograph discussed “the
influence of prehistoric Hopi pottery designs … in [a] humorous print based on
Barnet’s experiences of a bird chasing a cat in the countryside of upstate New
York.” From this I received clarification of what exactly the grumpy bird seemed
to be loosing his feathers over and began working. I researched the traditional
music of Hopi Native Americans and found frequent sudden meter changes to be
a common characteristic in most of their folk songs, an idea that I integrated into
my piece. The themes in my piece represent short, humorous exchanges back
and forth that personify the bird and cat’s relationship in the picture. I presented
the performer with adjectives such as “sneaky” and “wildly” to give a description
of the character of each theme. Lastly, I attempted to utilize the entire range of
the clarinet in order to bring different colors to the storyline that I had created and
to show off the extreme versatility of the instrument. Extended techniques such
as flutter tonguing, glissandi, and timbral trills are also included to give more
emphasis and motion to many of the longer sustained notes.
annual composition contest and was selected as the Grand Prize Winner. The
work was inspired by Will Barnet's painting, "Strange Bird". Upon first viewing the
work, I immediately felt a sense of odd humor portrayed through the harsh angles
and drastically contrasting colors. What appeared to be the face of a rather
disgruntled bird grabbing another creature was the most intriguing feature of the
work and is the aspect that inspired me the most in my composition. A helpful
quote from the description that accompanied the lithograph discussed “the
influence of prehistoric Hopi pottery designs … in [a] humorous print based on
Barnet’s experiences of a bird chasing a cat in the countryside of upstate New
York.” From this I received clarification of what exactly the grumpy bird seemed
to be loosing his feathers over and began working. I researched the traditional
music of Hopi Native Americans and found frequent sudden meter changes to be
a common characteristic in most of their folk songs, an idea that I integrated into
my piece. The themes in my piece represent short, humorous exchanges back
and forth that personify the bird and cat’s relationship in the picture. I presented
the performer with adjectives such as “sneaky” and “wildly” to give a description
of the character of each theme. Lastly, I attempted to utilize the entire range of
the clarinet in order to bring different colors to the storyline that I had created and
to show off the extreme versatility of the instrument. Extended techniques such
as flutter tonguing, glissandi, and timbral trills are also included to give more
emphasis and motion to many of the longer sustained notes.