Pluma Del Aura

Sam Lipman

Pluma Del Aura Buzzard's Feather

For Cello and Piano Approx. 7 minutes

Commissioned by the A & H Amatius Foundation

Sam Lipman

Pluma Del Aura Buzzard's Feather

For 'Cello and Piano Approx. 7 minutes

Commissioned by the A & H Amatius Foundation

La Pluma Del Aura is Spanish for ‘feather of the buzzard.’ This past March, we lost a great person, perhaps the greatest figure the Austin Arts Community has ever known, Mrs. Jane Sibley. Although I never met Jane, through a series of conversations with members of her family and close friends, and through her autobiography Jane’s Window, I came to know her as a true force of nature, a powerful woman who stopped at nothing to get things done, who amongst many accomplishments, single-handedly saved the Austin Symphony. So what’s with the buzzard feather?

Mrs. Hai Olefsky, who commissioned this work, had her life’s course affected by the generosity of Mrs. Sibley, whose fundraising efforts led to a cultural exchange program that eventually introduced Hai to her late husband, the great American cellist Paul Olefsky, and who sponsored Hai’s studies at UT Music School. In her last few years, Jane made sure to never miss Hai in concert, even showing up to remote recitals, even in her wheelchair. Hai wanted to commission a work that would commemorate Jane’s greatness, her tenacity, her spirit. So, about that feather.

Throughout her biography, Jane pays homage to the great West Texas buzzard (turkey vulture) and she famously never appeared without one fashionablyplaced buzzard feather in her hairdo. And so this work begins with the ‘cello playing eerie sounds of a buzzard circling high above. It’s answered by broad strokes in the piano, representing the massive, seemingly-never-ending plains of Jane’s native West Texas. This hostile music eventually yields into our main theme, a warm melody that speaks not only of Jane’s love of the land, of family, of way of life, but also of Hai’s deep gratitude to the one who helped shape the course of her life. This charming melody gathers force upwards into an excited theme of flight, soaring on the blustery West Texas wind that permeates Jane’s biography, of spirit seeking spirit, a flight that eventually settles into Jane’s high-spirit and passion that conquered her skeptics, broke down barriers, and ultimately got the job done. This music then floats downward through a sadness typical of the ‘Greatest Generation,’of one who knew too well the harsh realities of life in the wilderness, the sadness of a mother who lost two of her three children. After a brief return of the main theme, we conclude with the eerie tones of the buzzard, now freely wandering the heavens. I hope you enjoy La Pluma Del Aura.

Sam Lipman December 201 9 Austin, TX

Dedicated to Mrs. Jane Sibley

La Pluma Del Aura Commissioned by the A & H Amatius Foundation

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S. Lipman

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