Blackbirds Rise From a Field

Type
Piece
Composer
Joshua Harris
Composer Nationality
American
Text
John Cage
Pages
4
Minutes
5:41
Language
English
Voicing
3 part treble chorus
Sacred or Secular
Secular
Mood
Sparse, distant, minimal; Restrained, holding back; Dramatic, with dynamic contrasts
Description

"When I moved to Sweet Briar College in central Virginia I was struck by the natural beauty of the 3200-acre, wooded campus. I have spent many days walking on the trails watching the blackbirds in the fields and listening to the woodpeckers in the forest. When I discovered that John Cage visited Sweet Briar in 1950, and that his experience on campus—as chronicled in his 'Lecture on Nothing'—felt so familiar to me, I was inspired to set his own words as a memorial to that visit." – Joshua Harris

Audio Credit
Umberto Belfiore, video and recording
Group
C3LA
Performances
C3LA: Feb 2018 (Words Like Blades)