Program note — coming soon

Program note — Honoring the composer’s Ojibwe ancestors, the piece sets all of the English text and a few key words of the Anishinaabemowin text from the bilingual poem that beautifully captures a glimpse into the natural and celestial wonders of the Ojibwe world. Laced with ethereal special effects, the music reflects a taste of the syncopated embellished singing, pentatonic melodies, steady drumbeat characteristic of Ojibwe music.

Program note — Commissioned for Dr. Ramona Wis and the North Central College Women's Chorale in Naperville, Illinois, La ciudad sumergida (The Submerged City) by Adrienne Inglis for four-part treble chorus with nature soundtrack captures the mood of a river, a city, the cloudy sky, and the poet’s own profound melancholy. The sound of rain creates both the ambiance of a misty day on the river and the sensation of cathartic crying from great sadness and pain. The city’s reflection on the river’s surface gives the illusion that the city is submerged in the water. The reflection of the clouds hovering low over Río de La Plata looks like gray heliotrope flowers. The apocalyptic images of a submerged city and of tears overflowing from the chalice-sky eerily foreshadow rising sea levels due to anthropogenic global warming. 

Program note — Cochineal combines earthy and electronic to set to music the ancient Andean recipe for dyeing alpaca wool with cochineal, an insect full of carminic acid that feeds on prickly pear cactus. Composed for SATB chorus and electronic dance track, the recipe depicts the synthesis of insects, alpaca wool, minerals, water, fire, sun, time, and a couple of unusual ingredients to create colorful beauty. Using Andean harmonies and scales, the music captures the grandeur of the Andes mountains and the artisanal tradition of hand-crafting colorful yarn from local natural ingredients. The computer-generated electronic track created using Logic Pro X features original sound design and compelling dance rhythms. Cochineal is the first musical collaboration between Adrienne Inglis and Walter Torres.

Cochineal combines earthy and electronic to set to music the ancient Andean recipe for dyeing alpaca wool with cochineal, an insect full of carminic acid that feeds on prickly pear cactus. Composed for SATB chorus and electronic dance track, the recipe depicts the synthesis of insects, alpaca wool, minerals, water, fire, sun, time, and a couple of unusual ingredients to create colorful beauty. Using Andean harmonies and scales, the music captures the grandeur of the Andes mountains and the artisanal tradition of hand-crafting colorful yarn from local natural ingredients. The computer-generated electronic track created using Logic Pro X features original sound design and compelling dance rhythms. Cochineal is the first musical collaboration between Adrienne Inglis and Walter Torres.

Darkness as Light is loosely based on a Venezuelan pasaje rhythm with modified Dorian modality typical of Andean mestizo music. Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 occurs in the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time in Year A of the Common Lectionary.

Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble for its February 2023 Planet Home concert, Extinction sets the poem “An Extinction” (2022) by Kim Stafford for SATB mixed chorus. The three stanzas of the poem get distinct musical treatment: the first some text-painting and dissonance, the second rhythmic parts underpinning canonic melodic lines, the third a rich chorale. During my work on this piece, I happened to be traveling by train. The pitches of the train whistle snuck their way into the score as a dissonant chord. A nature soundscape may sometimes accompany this piece, although the tongue click sounds create a bit of their own aural ecosystem. Drawing attention to the unfolding catastrophe of mass extinction, Extinction hopes to inspire humans to action to prevent further loss of species biodiversity.

Fireflies (2019) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP), commissioned by Inversion Ensemble for its Aether: Fire concert in the winter of 2020, for mixed chorus, piano, and percussion evokes vivid imagery of Margaret Noodin’s bilingual poem Fireflies from her 2015 book, Weweni, poems in Anishinaabemowin and English. Honoring the composer’s Ojibwe ancestors, the piece sets the poem’s English text including the Anishinaabemowin word for fireflies (Waawaatesiwag). Moments of musical and whispered aleatory capture visions of fireflies on a summer night. Colorful augmented sixth chords and lush harmonies kindle visions of love and nature amidst the dreamy mixolydian modality and lilting ¾ time.

Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble, For the Toad by the Kitchen Step, contrasts both the whimsical levity of the poem with the darker implications of humans’ impact on toads and their habitats. Colorful choral harmonies, grand organ gestures, delicate vocal effects, and the nature soundtrack create a soundscape that draws the audience into the toad’s world view. The nature soundtrack was recorded by Adrienne Inglis in June 2021 on Cow Creek Road, western Travis County, Texas.

Greta Thunberg’s clear and powerful voice on the action we need to take to address anthropogenic global warming resonates as much throughout the halls of political power and as within each of our hearts. Her understanding and explanation of the science demand that we meet specific and drastic reductions of fossil fuel combustion to avoid catastrophic and existential threats to earths’ ecosystems and the well-being of humanity. Her keen awareness of vulnerable populations demands that we implement changes fairly. How Dare You for mixed chorus, flute, and nature soundtrack by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) dramatizes excerpts from Greta’s memorable speech at the UN Climate Summit September 23, 2019. The nature soundtrack was recorded by the composer in the hill country of central Texas, summer of 2020.

The oratorio I Belong to You/Motherland finds its beginnings in a conversation I had with Robbie LaBanca in early 2019. I’d been working out an idea for nearly a year, at that point, to construct an oratorio for Inversion based on a fantasy story. I thought it would be great to commission an author to write the narrative and have different artists create images for various parts of the story to project on a screen while the music was performed. When I finally brought up the concept to Robbie, he immediately suggested we work with an author and an artist to create a comic book for source material. It was the missing piece I’d been searching for. Robbie used connections from his days working in the comics world to reach out to author Greg Pak, who, to my surprise, was instantly on board.

Greg is best known for telling stories about superheroes, like the Hulk, and about villains like Darth Vader. Over the next year, discussions between those of us in Inversion and Greg revealed that Greg was pulling us in a very different direction. It was becoming apparent that his life story, particularly his childhood in Texas, was the one he wanted and needed to tell. When someone of Greg’s reputation is as passionate as he was about a concept, you go with it! Each draft of the script was progressively more personal and profound. Because this work was starting to feel so important, I believed the creation of the music for the oratorio was an experience best shared by the three co-founders of Inversion, Robbie, Adrienne Inglis, and me. We understand one another and we quickly recognize the quirks present in each other’s musical language. I’ve often said that there is a deep sense of responsibility for a composer when setting the words of a living author, but to work on something like this, something that meant so much to Greg, was an onus impelling the three of us to a degree we seldom encounter. As the artwork from the artists Greg had chosen to illustrate his story started trickling in, we only found ourselves more inspired.

After assigning sections of the text to each of the three composers, I wrote some simple four-to-eight measure themes we could individually incorporate to keep some related threads tying our very different compositional styles together. We had the advantage of knowing that Invoke would be joining us from the start, even before we knew what this project was going to be. Their musical flexibility and ability to swap instruments added an extra element of joy to the creative process, as did the later addition of my brother, steel guitarist Ethan Shaw.

The final product is sometimes beautifully simple, sometimes harshly challenging. It must be that way when telling the story of a person’s life, and all the more so when exploring the bigger concept of belonging. I Belong to You/Motherland asks us what it means to feel welcome in your homeland and who the people are that make us feel that way. It asks us to look again with fresh eyes upon the world we grew up in- the people, the culture, the animals, plants, and weather.

I’m unashamed to say I’m proud of what we’ve created and I’m proud of Inversion for so fully bringing it to life. Many thanks to Greg Pak and to all who made this production possible.

Trevor F. Shaw

June 2022

Composed by Adrienne Inglis in 2014 and premiered in 2014 in Austin, Texas, by the Westminster Presbyterian Church Sanctuary Choir, In Heaven and on Earth for SATB chorus, flute, and clàrsach, draws inspiration from the tune “Love is the Cause of my Mourning” from The Caledonian Pocket Companion Book 1, p. 27. The piece opens with the tune altered to G mixolydian mode. As the word “exploited” appears, a sinister-sounding E flat enters the harmony. Open octaves between soprano and bass show the emptying, followed by a shift to E phrygian mode with the word “slave.” Several dissonances emerge as the narrative gets darker. The flute and clàrsach represent chaos or hell with an aleatoric interlude of extended techniques involving tongue rams, flutter tonguing, multiphonics, spoken syllables, and lever glissandi. The harp then joyfully proclaims the new tonality of G major in a fanfare to introduce the text of praise and exaltation. The original source tune returns harmonically restored to G major.

Program note — Mary Esty of Topsfield, Massachusetts, was the composer’s eighth-great-grandmother, a 58-year-old married mother of seven. She was falsely accused of witchcraft and hanged September 22, 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. Innocent Blood, a choral work with mezzo soprano soloist, mixed chorus, flute/bass flute, and organ tells Mary's tragic story. Catherine Colvin's beautifully crafted metered poem A Contemplation of God: Massachusetts Bay 1692 gives voice to the political upheaval, social unrest, and religious angst that characterized the colony in 1692. The collapse of the original colonial charter in 1684, the imposition of the unpopular Dominion of New England charter, the overthrow of King James II by William of Orange in 1688, and the imposition in 1691 of yet another charter that restricted local rule and religious laws, all contributed to the collective dread. An influx of refugees from the King William's War to the north, plus ongoing conflicts with Native Americans, rival families, failed crops, and wolves, created great fear and anxiety in Salem Village. The distress suffered led to increased fear of Satan's hand in their community. The setting of transcribed court records recreates dramatic April 22, 1692 trial that sends her to jail. Mary Esty's eloquent petition to Governor William Phips is a duet with the mezzo soloist and bass flute. The work closes with grief and regret shown by the community, a poignant farewell and prayer as Mary Esty says goodbye to her family, and a chilling conclusion as the bailiff leads her offstage to the gallows in silence. The Bay Psalm Book published in 1698 contains the hymns commonly sung by Puritans in their devotionals at home. The following tunes weave through the movements: Windsor, Cambridge, and St. David's.

Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble for Da Capo’s January 2023 Origins concert, Julian’s Hazelnut (2022) by Adrienne Inglis sets text by Julian of Norwich for treble voices and B flat clarinet. Born in about 1343 in Norwich, England, Julian survived the Black Plague as a girl of six. She became an anchoress at St. Julian’s Church in Norwich where she lived in prayerful seclusion. In 1373, she became very sick at age 30. Near the point of death, a curate showed her a crucifix for comfort. She then experienced a series of intense visions of Christ and recovered from her illness to write eloquently about her “shewings.” The beautiful Medieval English text for this piece is from The Shewings of Julian of Norwich, Part I lines 148-154 in which Julian reflects on the vision she experienced about a hazelnut in the palm of her hand. She comes to understand that God loves even a small, ordinary thing like a hazelnut, such that it will not disintegrate but last forever because of God’s love for it. In Julian’s vision, the hazelnut symbolizes all that is made — all of Creation that God made and loves forever. The music combines Medieval sounds and counterpoint with lush, modern harmonies, woven together with the smooth color and elegant lines of the clarinet. Singers use Original Pronunciation to capture the lyricism of Julian’s words. May this piece inspire the same awe and amazement at God’s beloved Creation that Julian felt centuries ago.

Acknowledgements: The composer warmly thanks David Crystal for providing scholarly assistance with Original Pronunciation of Middle English (http://originalpronunciation.com/GBR/Home).

Composed in 2017 for Inversion Ensemble’s Sublime Nonsense concert June 3, 2017, Letters to Faith is a four-movement setting of excerpts from letters written by the composer's grandparents to her aunt Faith.

The text used for this eight-voice a cappella choral work comes from two letters written by the composer’s grandparents to their daughter, Faith. Faith apparently did poorly on an exam while studying at Pomona College, away from home for the first time. Her parents’ letters comfort and encourage her, but also unwittingly reveal amusing and poignant family characteristics. Elements of the three songs mentioned in the letters are woven into the texture: The Sunshine of Your Smile, I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles, and The Good Ship Mary Ann.

Faith went on to enjoy a successful career in music, an inspiration to the entire extended family. She would organize small choral performances at the family reunions, mostly with her musically gifted children. As the only other one in the family to pursue music as a career, I have always felt a special connection to Faith. Setting these letters to music drew the me closer to Faith and to her parents, helping me to understand and love them even more.

Faith’s mother died of a brain tumor less than four years after this letter was written. She showed remarkable devotion to family and enjoyed such small things as sitting in the sunshine on the porch, even as she suffered greatly from the tumor.

Faith’s father had participated in some of the most ferocious battles in World War I, serving as a captain to the unit that buried dead soldiers and horses. He had a successful career in education administration.

Commissioned by Jonathan Riemer for Inversion Ensemble’s “The Electric Choir” concert in October 2022, La loba (The Wolf) for SATB mixed chorus and distorted flute displays Alfonsina Storni’s powerful poetic voice as a feminist amidst the patriarchy of early twentieth century Buenos Aires. She breaks away from her expected role as a sheep in an obedient flock and becomes a wolf sharpening her teeth and honing her skills. Moreover, she calls for others to follow her to stand up and face the enemy. More than a century later, Storni’s voice still echoes with a powerful call to action in a world where women’s rights are as fragile as ever. Bored of its usual role as a bird, the flute breaks away from the flock to inhabit the wolf through transformative electronic distortions. The main theme mimics actual wolf calls, surprisingly comfortable in the flute’s low register. The tango-infused choral harmonies evoke the dissonance and angst in women’s struggle for equality through the ages.

Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble for its Aether: Water project in May 2020, El mar (The Sea) for mixed chorus and piano captures the angst and tragedy expressed in Alfonsina Storni’s poem Frente al mar (By the Sea). A touch of tango rhythm adds to the tension of unfulfilled hopes and the compelling seduction of the sea.

Adrienne Inglis' composition, Misa trinitaria (2003), a six-movement Latin American folk mass, celebrates Trinitarian theology and enhances the familiar Spanish-language worship liturgy with traditional folk musical styles from Perú, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Argentina. In addition to being incorporated into a worship service, Misa trinitaria may be performed as a concert piece. This composition may be sung by a treble choir and optional soli men's voices or presented as a chamber piece with the members of Chaski.

Program note — The Mother of All Things (2020) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP), commissioned for Inversion Da Capo by Becky & Ted Mercado, for treble SAA chorus and harp, sets an excerpt from Eurynome: The Mother of All Things as found in From Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths & Monsters by Nikita Gill. Harp joins treble voices to crystallize a girl’s creation myth in which her bones, feet, fingers, and arms conjure her very own dancing, swirling universe.

Program note — Commissioned by Ryan Heller and Chorus Austin for On a Winter’s Eve, Os nace un Cordero (Unto You a Lamb Is Born) sets excerpts from the Spanish poem “Pastores que veláis” by Santa Teresa de Jesús de Ávila for SATB mixed chorus, piano, and pedal or lever harp. As angels announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, Teresa foreshadows Jesus’ crucifixion by referring to him as Cordero (Lamb). She also affirms Jesus as the fully human (hombre también junto) and fully divine son of the sovereign God (Hijo de Dios Soberano). The piece opens with angels approaching from a distance singing “pastores” (shepherds) followed by joyful choral couplets. Several dualities weave together representing the oneness of the human and divine: harp and piano; Venezuelan joropo rhythm derived from Spanish dance; sixteenth century text and twenty-first century music; and major and Phrygian modes. Spanning cultures, oceans, and centuries, this music exuberantly announces the celebrated birth of Christ.

Program note — Composed while sheltering in place during the coronavirus pandemic, Oure Light in Oure Night (2020) sets text by Julian of Norwich for voices with a nature soundtrack. The video format is designed especially for use by choirs singing remotely on an online platform such as Zoom, Cleanfeed, Jamulus, or other. The soundtrack of night sounds changing to dawn reflects the message of hope in Julian’s text. Beginning with the sounds of dusk, the whispered words blend with insect sounds. The modal aleatoric passages create an atmosphere of echoing bells as voices overlap. As night passes into day, the modality changes and the insect night sounds shift to the dawn chorus of birds. Born in about 1343 in Norwich, England, Julian survived the Black Plague as a girl of six. She became an anchoress at St. Julian’s Church in Norwich where she lived in prayerful seclusion. In 1373, she became very sick at age 30. Near the point of death, a curate showed her a crucifix for comfort. She then experienced a series of intense visions of Christ and recovered from her illness to write eloquently about her “shewings.” Her beautiful Medieval English words reassure us with the hope that our faith in God is our light in times of trouble.

Program note — Scored for mixed chorus, bassoon, and piano, The Rage and Reconciliation of King Lear by Adrienne Inglis weaves passages from Shakespeare’s King Lear with signature phrases of the Rev. Dr. Milton H. Riemer. Dr. Riemer’s words bring insight and reflection to the poignant narrative of a parent-child relationship. Outside in a raging storm, King Lear angrily punishes himself for foolishly excluding his favorite daughter, Cordelia, from a portion of his kingdom. As mental illness takes hold, he suffers from curious confusion but understands his failings and begs Cordelia’s forgiveness. The Scottish air Etrick Banks provides melodic material that yields a royal fanfare, lament, thunderstorm, dementia, regret, and reconciliation. Crunchy chords and unsettling dissonances punctuate the sounds of modal chants and medieval polyphony.

Program note — Santo y Hosanna (2020) by Adrienne Inglis, commissioned by Inversion as part of its collaborative requiem project Be near me when my light is low, sets a modified version of the Spanish liturgical Sanctus Benedictus text for mixed choir and piano. Referenced in the startling narrative of Isaiah 6, this remarkable prayer to God reacts to the sacred call to Christians—apathetic, unclean, stingy—to go to the difficult, tough places in the world to offer compassion, peace, and mercy. The choral passages reveal amazement and gratitude while the piano both dazzles with divine glory and squirms with human reluctance. The interplay between the B Phrygian and C Lydian modes reflects struggle between apathy and compassion, stinginess and mercy, darkness and peace. The rhythm is loosely based on ⅝ Venezuelan merengue style.

Program note — The tinku is a ritual "fighting" dance meant to draw blood to honor Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). Señora chichera is a popular Bolivian tinku that has catchy syncopation, raucous stomps, and lyrics in Spanish and Quechua, an Incan language. The verse in Quechua is curiously not a translation of the Spanish verse. The alcoholic drink mentioned in the song is chicha, a fermented corn drink enjoyed in the Andes for many centuries. This arrangement for mixed chorus and piano celebrates the song's tradition while exploring some typical Andean parallel harmonies that would horrify J. S. Bach.

Program note — Shelter in Place (2021) by Lewis & Clark College 1982 alumna Adrienne Inglis, commissioned by Lewis & Clark College Choral Program, Portland, Oregon, April 2021, sets former Oregon poet laureate Kim Stafford’s poem Shelter in Place (2020) for SSAATB mixed choir with Oregon nature soundtrack created by Lewis & Clark class of 2021 composition major Chris Clark-Johnson, Lewis & Clark College class of 2021. Written during the coronavirus pandemic, the poem expresses how quarantine can serve as a conduit for healing, how words of comfort flow despite barriers, and how the paralysis of sheltering in place generates creative movement. The music and poem draw inspiration from ancient forest wisdom, shown musically with a pentatonic scale. The tight harmonies of Locrian mode bind moss to stone and stream to its own flow. Then vocal expression bursts forth with lush harmonies as singers serenade from balconies, sharing compassion through music. Returning to the pentatonic scale, we overcome obstacles and send generosity beyond our ancient and modern world into the celestial realm. The nature soundtrack features sounds of the Oregon forest, stream, and night sky.

Program note — El sol (The Sun) by Adrienne Inglis, sets Sonnet XXXIII by Luis Martín de la Plaza to a Venezuelan joropo for SATB chorus, pedal or lever harp, and cuatro. Luis Martín de la Plaza (1577-1625) grew up in the small southern Spanish town of Antequera. A gifted poet as well as a priest, he wrote this Petrarchan sonnet in classical style. The octave (the first eight lines) presents a violent thunderstorm with dark clouds that hide the sun, fierce winds that fight with the sea, waves that batter the rocky coastline, and hail that blankets the fields. The sestet (the final six lines) turns the narrative to the sun’s breaking through the clouds, calming the sea, hushing the wind and thunder, painting the clouds gold, and adorning the fields with fragrant flowers. One is left to wonder whose eyes are so beautiful as to make the sun’s dawn envy their colors. The sonnet’s rhythmic and vivid imagery lends itself to a Venezuelan joropo, a creole dance and musical style derived from Spanish, African, and indigenous sources. The SATB choral parts indulge in some cross rhythms and playful polyphony over a typical joropo rhythm on the harp and Venezuelan cuatro.

Program note — A tale of climate crisis and plastic pollution, The Song of the Harp Seal (2019) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) was composed especially for Inversion Ensemble: Coda. It sets to music the poem Inglis commissioned by Scottish author and poet Gillean McDougall. For treble chorus and pedal or lever harp, this work tells the true story of a mother harp seal and her pup forced south of their usual Arctic range by the climate crisis. The pup ingests plastic pollution that contributes to her death near the shores of the Isle of Skye. Scottish legend mixes with modern tragedy as mermaids beckon in Gaelic to the harp pup and then speak directly to us.

Wren (2019) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP), commissioned by Inversion Ensemble, sets Robert Macfarlane’s poem of the same name for mixed chorus and flute. With quick harmonic changes, syncopations, and melodic gestures, the composition captures a sense of the charming poem as well as the actual Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) found year round throughout the United Kingdom.

Program note — Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble and composed by Adrienne Inglis, I am worth nothing sets a stunning Coahuilteco/English poem by Texas poet Lisa Kay Adam. From the phrase Pīntci nakāmmam axām (I am worth nothing), Adam creates a vivid story of two young Coahuiltecan sisters and their encounters with newly arrived Spanish settlers and mission priests in the eighteenth century. Musically, the florid phrases and haunting modalities join with the sounds of drums and melancholic bells to paint a picture of exploitation, early death, and a lost way of life in the western gulf coastal plains.

Program note — Most Importantly, Loves (2021), a song cycle for soprano and piano composed by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP), was commissioned by Maureen Broy Papovich whose six letters furnish the text. She wrote letters to various close family members with tender messages overflowing with admiration, affection, and hope. The songs look at each beloved relative as seen through the prism of the author’s caring eyes and heart. Rooted in moody Dorian mode, the lyrical melodies of R. J. overlay a more brooding, restless piano part. Lucy sports a bit of a jazzy lilt and sassy attitude. The infectious laugh of Camryn and the remarkable resemblance to her late father underpin this quick syncopated C major number. Brendan reflects his exuberant love of life and devastating self-destructive addiction with radical tonality and tempo changes. Mira has an encouraging message for a young person in D mixolydian with soothing piano texture. Jonah’s long lines soar over lush expansive harmonies grounded in B flat major to form a soft fleece blanket of comforting sound and boundless unconditional parental love. — Adrienne InglisThe impetus for the poems that became the song cycle “Most Importantly Loves” started a decade ago. My brother died suddenly in 2011 at the age of 42. He left all of us behind including his daughters, my nieces, when they were ages six years and six months. My father and mother died a short time later, within months of each other in 2013 and 2014. Finally, in 2017 my 27-year-old nephew died of a drug overdose. This intense period of loss brought and continues to bring about many feelings of regret in addition to so much more. When my nephew died, my son Jonah, developed an intense anxiety about losing us, his parents. I felt compelled to express my feelings, the fear of my own mortality, the anxiety of leaving behind loved ones, combined with words said and unsaid to those lost. “Love letters” is my gift to the six young people I care most about. These songs, exquisitely set to music by my friend and composer Adrienne Inglis, express my deep love for each of my loved ones and also, hopefully, provide them with a piece of writing that they can use as a source of strength when life becomes particularly challenging. —  Maureen Broy Papovich

Composed in 2023 by Adrienne Inglis, Antarctica for electronically processed solo flute evokes the splendor, mystery, and profound beauty of the earth’s southernmost continent. Inspired by the composer’s experiences in Antarctica in 2018, the piece begins on a ship crossing the rough waters of the Drake Passage with a fast ⅞ meter tune in Dorian mode enhanced by a growly overdrive audio effect. As the journey continues, the other-worldly distortion and reverb treatment of the 12-tone row honors the magnificent Wandering Albatrosses soaring overhead. Finally able to go ashore, the listener enjoys the amusing Gentoo Penguins waddling around on the rocks, tending to their nests and chicks. The Gentoo Jig in Mixolydian mode uses a lower octave effect for a touch of silliness. Next, in a small inflatable boat out in a quiet cove, the faint crackling of air bubbles popping out of melting glacial ice rise gently from the water’s surface. In a delicate aleatoric rendering of the Drake Passage motif, the staccato flute sounds echo eerily. From the intimacy of tiny pops to the cataclysmic calving of glaciers, the flute shifts to dramatic gestures with extreme looping and echo effects. Rather than return to familiar continents and sounds, however, the piece leaves the listener on the Antarctic Peninsula to revel in its pristine beauty and contemplate its future. The electronic effects may be produced by use of a pedal board or a computer’s digital audio workstation.

Canoe (2022) by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP), commissioned by Dr. Joseph Choi for solo piano, tells a harrowing story through music of the composer’s Ojibwe ancestor, Wabegiah, and her three young children. Wabegiah grew up at Upper Lake St. Croix in Wisconsin, married the French trader Mr. Couture, and had three children. Mr. Couture died suddenly just as the tensions with the Sioux became quite threatening. To protect her children from being killed by the Sioux, she took them on the long journey in a birch bark canoe down the Brule River and along the coast of Lake Superior all the way to Sault Ste. Marie. 

As you would expect, much of the music represents water, but it also captures moments during their flight. Loud dissonant chords mark Mr. Couture’s death and Wabegiah’s grief. The unsettling fear motive in Locrian mode predominates as they begin to flee. As they head away from danger, the courage theme follows them downstream. In a dissonant conversation with an Ojibwe man on the Brule River, he refused to give the hungry travelers food, but told them to continue to the river’s mouth to find Wabegiah’s aunt and uncle. The restful and nourishing family time on the shores of Lake Superior allows for variations on the family theme, playful, sleepy, and reflecting on the coming of autumn. With the courage theme as the subject, a fugue tracks their difficult passage across Lake Superior to the safety of Sault Ste. Marie.

Recounted by Eliza Morrison, a daughter from Wabegiah’s second marriage, this journey took place in the early 1830s. The three children were born in 1828, 1829, and 1830. The youngest of the children was Angelique, the composer’s great great grandmother.

Kindness for solo flute by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP) is dedicated to the memory of Sandy Fivecoat (1949-2020) and was performed by the composer at her August 30, 2020 private memorial service. The lyrical phrases and evocative harmonies capture Sandy’s gentle, giving spirit. The Austin music community misses her very much.

Commissioned by the Balcones Community Orchestra of Austin, Texas, Metamorphosis (2019) by Adrienne Inglis for solo flute, solo harp, and string orchestra, honors the life and work of pioneering entomologist, naturalist, and artist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). As she carefully documented in illustrated detail the life cycle of so many insects, Metamorphosis musically follows a butterfly from adult, egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The piece opens with an ostinato pattern in the strings over which the flute and harp play fluttering modal melodies. The strings and harp represent the egg stage with minimalistic layers of a single pitch. To recognize Merian’s time in Suriname and her discovery of many insect species there, a cheerful tune fashioned after traditional Arawak folk songs informs the busy larvae in the caterpillar canon. A bit of contemplative dorian polyphony laced with metamorphic machinations demonstrate the remarkable transformation of the pupa as well as Merian’s time at a devout Labadist religious commune. The butterfly emerges from the pupa with a flute/harp cadenza and then the strings underscore the adult butterfly with a return of the ostinato. The piece ends with the same ostinato as the beginning such that the piece could loop seamlessly as in a true life cycle.

Inspired by the poem Newt by Robert Macfarlane from The Lost Words, Newt by Adrienne Inglis (2020) sports a sassy attitude and tasty harmonies to convey the conversation between condescending coot and indignant newt.

Pájaros for solo flute and strings (2017) captures the springtime songs of many Texas Hill Country birds, including the beloved Golden-cheeked Warbler, and sets them to flirtatious Latin rhythms.

As an avid bird lover, the composer sets some of her favorite bird songs to music in Pájaros for solo flute and strings. The birds featured in this piece nest every spring in the Hill Country of Texas, west of Austin. As daylight turns to dusk, the Bewick's Wren's tuneful song unfolds over an Argentine tango rhythm, accompanied by the Northern Cardinal, Lesser Goldfinch, and Northern Bobwhite. A Red-tailed Hawk startles all the song birds into momentary silence. As they resume their singing, dusk fades into darkness and various insects start their incessant chirping. The mysterious Chuck-will's-widow sings its mournful call all night long, set here to a Venezuelan pasaje rhythm. When day breaks, the Golden-cheeked Warbler sings its two songs from the treetops to stake out its territory and attract a mate. The Cuban danzón provides the backdrop for its flirtatious tunes.

There are regional variations, but a good resource to hear bird songs is The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds website found at http://www.allaboutbirds.org.