Description
Birds of Paradise composed by Shulamit Ran
Written for Flute and Piano
Includes score and parts
Duration. 12 minutes
“My decision to name this work “Birds of Paradise” was based entirely on the imagined vision of a fantastical bird of many bright and amazing colors and the ability to soar high and in different speeds, conjured up in my mind. My work intersperses music that is brilliant and energetic with the wondrous and songful. Its title notwithstanding, I did not set out to compose a “bird” piece- Messiaen's music, which I admire immensely, would seem to render such an effort quite unnecessary. The title does allude, however, to the musical imagery that the music, as I was composing it, was evoking in my own mind, where shifting motion and brilliant color take center-stage. The work is structured in three movement like sections that are played without breaks and that together form a fast-slow-fast shape, more a large ABC than true arch form. internally shaped in ways that allow for numerous detours into further contrasting terrains.” -Program Notes by Shulamit Ran