About the Piece
PROGRAM NOTE
Why Are We Crushing the Bugs?
This piece was initially inspired by the way that humans behave towards insects. If a small fly is bothering an individual, it is often the case that this little insect will be squished. Meanwhile, this little bug was simply trying to live its life. This instinct to crush an insect because it is mildly annoying caused me to think about all of the other aspects of life that are treated in a similar way. Many parts of life can seem trivial and obnoxious, but the result of treating these parts as minuscule and inconvenient can sometimes be disastrous. Why do humans feel the need to crush the bugs around them, both literally and metaphorically? Perhaps these bugs matter more than we realize.
Instrumentation:
Flute 1/Piccolo
Flute 2
Flute 3
Oboe 1
Oboe 2
Bb Clarinet 1
Bb Clarinet 2
Bass Clarinet
Bassoon 1
Bassoon 2
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
F Horn 3
F Horn 4
C Trumpet 1
C Trumpet 2
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
Tuba
Percussion 1 (Woodblocks [3], Chimes, Tamtam)
Percussion 2 (Bass Drum, Tamtam [standard beater and triangle beater]) Percussion 3 (Vibraphone [mallets and bow])
Harp
Violin I
Violin II
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
Score Preview:
About the Composer
Gillian Rae Perry enjoys finding ways that her music can break people out of their day to day routine and invite them to glimpse the extraordinary all around them. Perry studied abroad in Paris with the EAMA-Nadia Boulanger Institute during the summer of 2016 and the summer of 2018. During her time in Paris, she studied harmony, counterpoint, musicianship, and composition, all of which greatly influenced her process as a composer. Her time in Paris reinforced her belief that intentionality is one of the most important aspects of composition. Perry was awarded the Tennessee Valley Music Festival Young Composers Competition, allowing her to have her piece, Soul’s Response, rehearsed and performed by the TVMF orchestra. Perry was a Composition Fellow with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 season. Perry graduated from Southern Methodist University with degrees in both music composition and film and is greatly influenced by art forms outside of music – such as film, dance, and theatre. An avid poetry reader and writer, Perry is also influenced by text and how text can interact with music in both spoken and unspoken ways. Perry holds an MFA in music composition from The California Institute of the Arts.
Performance Materials
Performance materials are available by contacting the composer:
gillianraeperry@gmail.com