For the Birds
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Accompanying Electronics
- Composed
- 2005
- Duration
- 14'
- Publisher
- Wendigo Music (composer's imprint)
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About this piece
A four-movement work of about 14 minutes for amplified cello and electronic playback, commissioned by cellist Madeleine Shapiro, who premiered it at the University of Virginia on 3 November 2005. The electronics are built from field recordings of Yellowstone-region birds supplied by naturalist Kevin Colver, sometimes heard plainly and sometimes processed; in her note Judith Shatin links this to the decline of many of these species. Each movement (Songbirds, Sapsuckers, Birds of Prey, Water Birds) pairs a bird group with matching cello techniques, including tapping on the instrument, finger flicks, col legno and harmonic glissandi, with the cello part timed against cues in the electronic part. The score is sold with the electronics as a WAV file.
Technical overview
No technical overview is available yet.