Skylark of Many Hearts
for flute, clarinet, oboe, horn, piano, violin, cello, and double bass
Program Notes
This century's skylark is the hum of its technology. Such extraordinary gifts have been given, and yet, sadly, so often abused. The opening movement is subtitled "Awake", and its double entendre speaks to both the triumph and devastation of this century's "skylark of motor heart". For this movement, I consciously attempted to create a tribute to Stravinsky's methods. The second movement is subtitled "Asleep", and fittingly, it is an unconscious tribute to Satie's methods. Here, the skylark's motor is turned off, and yet it dreams. The final movement is subtitled "Awaken'd", and it hopefully provides a vision of when the skylark's song can no longer harm. The last movement was written before I heard of the death of my teacher Earl Kim, and I would like to think of this movement as an unconsciously conscious tribute to his exquisite music.
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