The following samples are two movements from the newly-commissioned piece, Watching Birds, by Wendy Griffiths. She writes the following about her new piece:
Many composers have written pieces about birds. Messiaen for instance, explores the sounds of birds in works like Oiseaux Exotiques. Mozart wrote a funeral elegy to his pet starling.
Watching birds however, is just that, a piece is about watching birds, how they move rather than how they sound. I am interested in finding music to match movement, so you can think of this work as a soundtrack to watching the six kinds of birds that comprise the six movements of Watching Birds.
Listen to samples of Watching Birds:
Mockingbirds
American Woodcock
This program was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.