Primary Colors
duration: 7:30
instrumentation: Flute, Bb Clarinet, Cello
premiere: May 2, 2008 // Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC
premiere performer: Lost Dog Ensemble (Christine Perea, flute; Tom Piercy, clarinet; Emily Brausa, cello)
publisher: A-Town Publications (ASCAP) © 2008
Primary Colors was funded (in part) by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Queens Council on the Arts Community Fund.
Program Note:
Primary Colors for flute, clarinet and cello, was written during an intense political climate in the United States. It is inspired by events surrounding the historic Democratic Primary of 2008. The title is inspired by Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics 1996 by Time Magazine columnist Joe Klein (published anonymously in 1996) and film of the same name directed by Mike Nichols in 1998, which are loosely based on the 1992 Presidential campaign of then candidate Bill Clinton.
In 2008, for the first time in history, two minority candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, occupied front-runner status within the Democratic Party, smashing previous records of newly registered voters, televised debates, individual donations, and critical state contests. New online media outlets and extensive cable news coverage allowed the American public access to a constant stream of political activity, strategy and analysis, presenting Politics as a sport of constantly varying tactics.
Primary Colors attempts to recreate a three-way debate in a musical medium. The instrumentalists struggle to speak clearly, to interject, to define themselves, to be heard above the others, to openly object, to carefully agree, to take the high road, to inwardly reflect, and to seize the moment when it presents itself. —Erin Rogers (2008)