Songbirdsongs, written between 1974 and 1979, is one of John Luther Adams' earliest scores, but it already contains the germ of the musical vision that has continued to engage him throughout his career: the intersection of human creativity with the natural world. All his major works, particularly since his move to Alaska in 1987, have dealt with the exploration of the territory of "'sonic geography' -- that region between place and culture... between environment and imagination." In Songbirdsongs, he uses two flutists (who ...
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Songbirdsongs, written between 1974 and 1979, is one of John Luther Adams' earliest scores, but it already contains the germ of the musical vision that has continued to engage him throughout his career: the intersection of human creativity with the natural world. All his major works, particularly since his move to Alaska in 1987, have dealt with the exploration of the territory of "'sonic geography' -- that region between place and culture... between environment and imagination." In Songbirdsongs, he uses two flutists (who also play piccolo and ocarina), percussion ensemble, and celesta, not to try to create an exact replication of birdsong (which he acknowledges would be impossible given its infinite variability) but to give the performers some written material characteristic of the songs as well as the freedom to use it with flexibility and intuitive spontaneity. Consequently, no two performances are ever the same, but when the piece is played with the looseness and freedom the composer envisioned,...
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