PHOENIX-FLIGHT

Composer's Note:

Were the phoenix-bird's wings afire as it alighted from the ashes? Did a wild, ecstatic flight into the sky extinguish the flames? For those listeners averse to pure abstraction, I offer these questions - hoping that they might catalyze a dramatic scenario.

In fact, the title Phoenix-Flight was adopted by the composer as a more "legitimate" designation than the composition's first naming: Fresh-Squeezed. It was created on a challenge - to be written over a single weekend (from a Friday noon to a Monday noon). Friends urged the composer to re-name the work, pointing out that the original title might evoke a rather "questionable" programmatic interpretation.

The actual motivation/intent of the work is much simpler: how to write an etude - clearly and successfully - for three instruments of significantly contrasting timbres - at times adversarial, at times conciliatory. The composer believes that Phoenix-Flight is the only existing composition for this instrumental combination.