Winged
Bruce A. Stark
About this work:
sound bites, details and on-line score purchasing available at:
belle-kane.com
U.S. premiere by Tatjana Rankovich as part of the 2006 Keys To The Future festival in NYC.
Program Notes
Whether a fantasy based on reality or a reality based on fantasy, the notion of angels has been a source of musical inspiration to me for years. Often the mere thought of other-worldly, high-energy beings in unseen dimensions brings forth a rush of ideas, as though they were eager to share their cosmic music if only I would turn them a listening ear. Winged is in one movement containing essentially two parts. The first and largest part represents a visitation by angels from invisible worlds, depicted in materials ranging from swirling figures to gentle melodic passages to ecstatic outpourings. After their disappearance, the last part (introduced by a low drone in the bass) represents a reminiscence from the human perspective on having witnessed these wondrous creatures. Here I quote the famous Christmas song Angels We Have Heard On High in fragments, with a slight reference to its "Gloria" section as the work closes. The text of the first verse of the original song is as follows:
Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o'er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains -Bruce Stark
Year composed: 1995
Duration: 00:09:00
Ensemble type: Keyboard:Piano
Instrumentation: 1 Piano