A Flock Ascending (2023) by Laura Schwendinger
for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and piano
Earplay commission

During the pandemic, one of my great pleasures was to watch the cardinals and other birds in our backyard. I believe that this was one of the ways in which I was able to see a future beyond the claustrophobia of the pandemic world. Inspired in part as well by Toru Takemitsu, A Flock Descends Into the Pentagonal Garden. The dream-like world of birds before sunrise and "Dawn's Chorus", the sound bird flocks make when the sun finally rises. Takemitsu explained that his work "arose from a dream in which he saw a flock of black birds descending into the pentagonal garden." Takemitsu wrote, "I love gardens. They do not reject people. There one can walk freely, pause to view the entire garden, or gaze at a single tree, plant, rock, and sand snow: changes, constant changes." His music reflects his words, "taking time to relax into the moment and into the sound. Nothing is hurried, nothing is highly structured, rhythms are neither aggressive nor controlling." In my work, the opening paints the picture of a nighttime scene, birds call in the darkness, the music shifts through different natural moments, throughout the night, owls, then loons, then a chorus of birds are heard, moving from dusk to dawn. Finally ending with "Dawn's Chorus," the sound of birds flying into the light.