Country Life II
duration: 8:30
instrumentation: Flute, Bb Clarinet, Piano
premiere: November 22, 2024 // Klavierhaus, NYC
premiere performer: Hourglass Trio (Savannah Gentry, flute; Yu-Ting Cheng, clarinet; Ignacio Ojeda Romero, piano
publisher: A-Town Publications (ASCAP) © 2024
Country Life II was commissioned by Hourglass Trio
Program Note:
Country Life II for Flute, B-flat clarinet and piano, is an instrumental reworking of Country Life (2017), the first piece in my “Sounding Image” series, where visual works of art are brought to life through song and sound. In December 2016, I was introduced to Canadian photographer Jason Brown’s ongoing survey of contemporary Canada entitled You Seem To Be Where I Belong, while walking between terminals at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. Brown’s photo prints depicting homesteads and towns in rural Canada hung above the airport’s belted walkway, their grand size and vibrant colors drawing the eyes of travelers below, while their subject matter beamed with overwhelming simplicity and modesty, an irony that struck me immediately. Having grown up in rural Canada, I was compelled by the unapologetic combination of natural beauty – never-ending skylines, fields of tall grass – with honest symbols of rural life – the pick up truck, the airstream trailer rife with chickens, the propane tank. Country Life II is inspired by Brown’s work. —Erin Rogers (2024)