FORPERUSAL ONLY
FORPERUSAL ONLY
FORPERUSAL ONLY
Persist
Program Note
FORPERUSAL ONLY
After writing the text for Persist (2020), I realized that it read like a combination of a bedtime story and a call to action. This reflects the way in which the poem and the opening of the piece came to me. I was awake at 3 A.M., my mind racing, trying to sort through the many problems of the world during this time, punctuating each with “everything will be okay.” Listing both our fears and hopes can be cathartic, and to achieve these hopes—safety, health, equality, kindness, progress, and empathy—we must persist. We must support those who need a moment to rest and take care when the burden of change-making feels too great. My hope is that this piece gives strength and light to those who need it. Endless thanks to David Alan Miller and Dogs of Desire for commissioning and premiering Persist.
I am running
But I am not sure
If I am running to or away.
The way we are, We are apart, But we are not alone.
When you cry, also cry out And our crying will meet And become shouting, And this shouting will shake the earth. It will shake small at first and build As we demand new landscapes Expansive enough To house our dreams. It begins as a whisper— Or worse, a death (or many), Or better, a poem, a chant—
Text
Something for the next ones to read
To speak, To shout, Whether privately to themselves When the moon is full And their covers envelope them, Or loudly, Relentlessly, Proclaimed to thousands, Those who seek new homes For the dreams their mothers Dreamed.
Copyright © 2020 by Gala Flagello Music (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved.
Text Copyright © 2020 by Gala Flagello Music (ASCAP).
Program Note Copyright © 2020 by Gala Flagello Music (ASCAP).
Arbor, MI). Printed in the U.S.A.
Commissioned by the Albany (NY) Symphony Orchestra David Alan Miller, conductor
FORPERUSAL ONLY
Duration: c. 5' 30"
Premiered digitally by Dogs of Desire Summer 2020
Instrumentation
Flute Oboe
Clarinet in Bb Bassoon
Soprano Saxophone Tenor Saxophone
Horn in F Trumpet in C Trombone
Drum Set
Soprano 1 (High Soprano, amplified)
Soprano 2 (Low Soprano, amplified
Strings (1.1.1.1.1)
FORPERUSAL ONLY
Duration: 5' 30" More info on the composer is available at: www.galaflagello.com
Scores and performance materials are available from the publisher at www.justatheorypress.com
Flute
Oboe
Clarinet in B b
Bassoon
Soprano Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone Horn in F
Soprano 1 [High, Ampli�ed]
Soprano 2 [Low, Ampli�ed]
Violin I
Violin II
Viola
Cello
Contrabass
With hope q = 160 C
FORPERUSAL ONLY
FORPERUSAL ONLY
