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A blog series on women composers from the past and present

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Arlene Sierra: Birds and Insects, Books 1 & 2 (written by Blair Boyd)

2/14/2018

6 Comments

 
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            An American composer based in London, Arlene Sierra’s large and diverse catalogue includes chamber, orchestral and vocal music, as well as opera, music for dance, and music for film.  In 2001, she was the first woman to win the Takemitsu Prize for her first orchestral work Aquilo.  Following on from several prestigious commissions, many of Sierra's mature works have their origins in military strategy and game theory. Other interests include writing dramatic works for the stage, as well as connecting with physical movement through her series of scores to films by Maya Deren. 
 
            Another important inspiration for Sierra is her fascination with the behaviours and mechanisms of biological life forms from tiny insects to humanity itself.  It is the processes of nature, rather than a simple reflection or meditation that form the basis for Sierra’s compositional approach. Her 2009 work, Game of Attrition, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, takes its structure from processes described by Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species. Another such example is Butterflies Remember a Mountain (2013), a piano trio commissioned by the Bremen Philharmonic Society, which was inspired by a peculiar detour in the annual mass migration of monarch butterflies, the cause of which is theorised to be a long since eroded mountain that once stood in their path. This trio was the starting point for her biggest statement yet, recently premiered Nature Symphony (2017) commissioned by the BBC Philharmonic and BBC Radio 3.[i] A selection of other works that employ natural sounds and processes include Urban Birds (2014) for three pianos with percussion and sampled birdsong, as well as Birds and Insects, Books 1 and 2 (2007, 2015) for piano solo, selections from which will be performed as part of Illuminate’s inaugural season in Cardiff on 11 March. 
 




https://soundcloud.com/arlenesierra/sierra-nature-symphony-1-mountain-of-butterflies-performance-clip 
Arlene Sierra’s Birds and Insects, Book 1 (2003-2007), included on her 2011 chamber music release by Bridge Records, has been a touchstone for many other works exploring the natural world, as well as maintaining a connection to the piano, her primary instrument from childhood.[ii] Far from her place of birth, settling in London was another importance impetus that prompted Sierra to set a number of Pablo Neruda’s (1904-1973) Odes to Common Things, which reflect on nature and memory.
 
            “The poetry got me thinking about using birdsong, and other associations from nature that I’d experienced as a child. London has its inspirations too: for example, I love the huge scarab beetle sculpture in the British Museum, and when I read about the living insect’s ability to navigate using magnetic fields, that immediately prompted a musical idea for a piece.”  The result was the first of a series of piano works that became Birds and Insects, Book 1. [iii]

            
https://soundcloud.com/arlenesierra/sierra-birds-and-insects-5

​In a 2013 conversation with pianist Xenia Pestova, Sierra discusses her use of birdsong as a natural outgrowth from her love of sampling when she made her first electro-acoustic compositions as an undergraduate at Oberlin College-Conservatory. 
 
            “Birdsongs and insect calls give an immediate sense of place, and of space, so were a welcome resource when thinking about creating atmospheres connected with nature. They also tend to be short, fitting nicely into the kind of motivic construction a lot of my works are driven by.”[iv]
 
Sierra’s first explorations into composition were actually through electronic music.
 
            ‘It was a way of getting ideas down, manipulating musical materials without having to worry about notation. And for someone who studied piano and didn’t study composition, that was really a relief and a wonderful opening to ways of manipulating sound and making new things.’[v]
 
Her PRS New Music Biennial Commission Urban Birds (2014) in which three piano soloists play music in response to pre-recorded birdsong was an important piece written between Birds and Insects Book 1 and Book 2.  It allowed a chance to return to electronics and sampling, as well as to focus on more percussion and percussive effects in her piano writing. 
 
            Our Illuminate pianist, Késia Decoté, will perform two selections from Sierra’s Birds and Insects, Book 2:  Hermit Thrush and Thermometer Cricket at 2.00pm on 11 March at Cardiff University Concert Hall. 
 
            Sierra’s music is published by Cecilian Music and further information may be found on her website, arlenesierra.com.  She holds degrees from Oberlin College-Conservatory (BA, Bmus), Yale School of Music (MMus) and the University of Michigan (DMA).  Dr. Sierra is currently Reader in Composition and Deputy Head of School at Cardiff University School of Music. 


[i] ‘Premieres: November’s new music’, Wright, Katy,
http://www.rhinegold.co.uk/classical_music/premieres-novembers-new-music-2/
 
[ii] ‘Color and Rhythmic Dexterity: Interview with Arlene Sierra’, Nomos Alpha, Published 15 April 2013, http://nomosalphamagazine.com/admin/2013/04/15/color-and-rhythmic-dexterity-interview-with-arlene-sierra/
 
[iii] ‘Unflinching Depictions of Nature: A Conversation with Arlene Sierra’,
Natural Light, Published 7 September 2015, http://www.naturemusicpoetry.com/news-and-blog/unflinching-depictions-of-nature
 
[iv] ‘Conversation with Arlene Sierra’, Pestova, Xenia, I Care if You Listen June/July 2013
 
[v] 'The Evolution of Process' Gardner, Alexandra, New Music Box, Published: May 1, 2013, https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/arlene-sierra-the-evolution-of-process/
 

 
​
6 Comments
Gemma McGregor
2/16/2018 04:51:56 am

Interesting blog, great audio clips - thanks Blair.

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Zoe link
8/9/2022 01:57:24 am

Thanks for sharing this useful information! Hope that you will continue with the kind of stuff you are doing.

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8/12/2022 11:00:36 am

Interesting thoughts.

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Our service link
1/1/2023 11:16:17 pm

Additionally Sierra draws upon material from her solo piano album Birds and Insects

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Bianca MacFarlane link
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    Authors


    Dr Helen Thomas
    Dr Rhian Davies
    ​Dr Laura Dallman
    ​Alex Burns
    ​Dr Gemma McGregor
    ​Sarah Westwood
    Carol J Jones
    Dr Blair Boyd
    Dr Angela Elizabeth Slater
    Laura Shipsey
    Kerensa Briggs
    Dr Kendra Leonard
    Elizabeth de Brito

    Dr Steph Power
    Lara Poe
    ​Nina Danon
    ​Sabina Pena Young
    Mason Bynes

    Composers
    Morfydd Owen
    Libby Larsen
    Lili Boulanger
    Louise Marie Simon
    Amy Beach
    Sarah Westwood
    Carol J Jones
    Arlene Sierra
    Gemma McGregor
    Angela Elizabeth Slater
    ​Clara 
    Schumann
    ​
    Hélène de Montgeroult
    ​Blair Boyd
    ​Fumiko Miyachi
    Grażyna Bacewicz
    ​
    Hilda Jerea
    ​
    Jennifer Higdon
    ​Thea Musgrave
    ​Elizabeth Maconchy
    ​
    Laura Shipsey
    Kerensa Briggs
    Caroline Bordignon
    ​Vivian Fine
    Barbara Strozzi
    Joanna Ward
    Yfat Soul Zisso
    Angela Elizabeth Slater (vid)
    Blair Boyd (vid)
    Sarah Westwood (vid)
    ​Kaija Saariaho
    Ailsa Dixon
    ​
    Charlotte Bray
    ​Angela Elizabeth Slater - blog on Suncatcher
    ​Steph Power
    Lara Poe
    ​Nina Danon
    Amanda Aldridge
    ​Carrie Jacob Bonds

    ​Sabina Pena Young
    Mason Bynes

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  • Home
  • About
    • Illuminate
  • What's On!
    • Illuminate Scotland tour
    • Support Illuminate Women's Music
  • Illuminate Scotland Artists
  • Illuminate Blog
  • Past Illuminate Women's Music series
    • Illuminate performers Spring 2023
    • Illuminate composers Spring 2023
    • Illuminate Video premieres
    • Illuminate 2022 concerts
    • Illuminate 2021 artists >
      • Illuminate 2021 Artists Season I
      • Illuminate Season II Artists 2021
      • Illuminate Spring 2023 - What's on!
    • Whats on 2021 Season I and II
    • 2020 Season I Artists
    • Digital artists >
      • Digital series - What's On
    • Illuminate at RCM 2020
    • Illuminate Extra at Nottingham!
    • Illuminate 2019 Season II concert series >
      • Illuminate at RCM 2019
      • 2019 Season II Artists
      • 2019 Season II What's Was On!
      • Season II Composer interview videos
    • Illuminate 2019 Season I Concert series >
      • 2019 Season I What's Was On!
      • 2019 Season I Artists
      • Gallery of 2019 Season I concerts
      • Season I 2019 Video gallery
    • 2018 Illuminate touring concert series >
      • Performers (2018)
      • Composers (2018)
      • Gallery of Illuminate 2018 concert series
      • Videos from Illuminate 2018 concert series
      • 2018 - What Was On!
  • Contact
  • Digital concert on 20th November