Whirling Wings

Whirling Wings

Quick View

Scoring & Instrumentation
flute
Alternate Title
Whirling Wings
Year Authored (or revised)
Duration (min)
9
Movements
3

Files & Media

Audio

-

Video
Sample Pages

-

Detail

Description

Composer's Note:

The title of Whirling Wings, (2003) for solo flute, and the subtitles of each movement - Soaring in Heaven, Sweeping the Earth, and Flying all Around Us - come from an antiphon by Hildegard of Bingen. Her collection of poems, songs and antiphons is entitled Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations.

O Virtus Sapientia

O Wisdom!
You of the whirling wings
circling encompassing
energy of God:
You quicken the world in your clasp.

One wing soars in heaven
one wing sweeps the earth
and the third flies all around us.

Praise be to you,
O Wisdom!

Reflection on the meaning of this poem gave shape to this piece. Wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who is metaphorically often depicted as a dove with beating wings. So, I believe this poem is praising the work of the Holy Spirit. My piece was written in March, when every day on my drive to the university I would see hundreds of returning snow geese and Sandhills cranes. I was impressed by the flapping of their wings in this spring ritual.

So, my work is about spring, joy and the work of the Spirit. I’ve tried to capture some of the energy and motion implied in the text. The first section Soaring in Heaven uses musical imagery to depict soaring and fluttering of wings. The second section, Sweeping the Earth, is more lyrical and then dance-like, suggesting a gentle cleansing of the earth and touching of humanity. In the third section, “Flying All Around Us, musical gestures represent the overwhelming feeling of being in the midst of the whirlwind, the whirling wings, overcome by the Holy Spirit. Flying All Around Us begins Animato, ma rubato, suggested by ‘notes flying all round us’.

Comments

New edition engraved 2020. Included in the collection Kokû - Twelve Contemporary Works for Flute Alone.

First Perfomance
2003 faculty recital Univ of Nebraska at Kearny
Recording

-

Text Language - Non English

-

Text Source/Author

-

Title Number
Ensemble Type
solo instrumental (non-keyboard)
Genre/Theme
Music by women
Instrument
flute , flute (dbl picc)
Purchase Options
PDF License & Download
PDF Price
Print & Ship
$12.50 score
ACA-MIDA-057