All the Folded Wings was begun in Taos, New Mexico, where I was struck by the noisy abundance of magpies outside my window at an otherwise quiet artist residency.

 

While magpies are a boisterous and sometimes mischievous bird, they're also highly intelligent, one of the few species to practice what we'd call funerals. One bird, discovering a dead magpie, will call for others; the birds will gather for several minutes, surrounding the dead bird and continuing to call before they all fly away.

 

As I sketched out ideas for a new piece, the quirky traits of the birds outside my window found their way into the music.

 

The title of All the folded wings is taken from the final lines of Barbara Crooker's poem “All Souls' Day”:

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“...cold air settles like a blanket.

The sky tucks itself in.

Everywhere, the silence of all the folded wings.”

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All the Folded Wings was commissioned by the University of Maryland for their 2016 NextNow Fest and was premiered by Inscape Chamber Ensemble.

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Purchase this piece for performance through Murphy Music Press.

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