Mary Beth Stowe's Website
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"Bird Music" (a selection of works for piano)
Cassette tapes of the complete set: $10.00
Sheet music, complete bound set: $25.00
Individual pieces priced below...
The concept of using birdsong as a basis for musical expression is nothing new. Composers from Beethoven to Messaien have taken advantage of this ready source, and have produced music that is lyrical, haunting, and even harsh.
The bird calls I have chosen as material were used not necessarily because of
their musical potential (those who know the call of the Brown Jay will most
certainly agree), but rather because the birds themselves held some special
significance, and in 1979 I began a tradition of writing a piece of music for
every new species of bird seen. The pieces are grouped into suites bearing the
names of the areas where the birds were first seen. Some of the pieces, such as
Pelagia, are based upon the calls of several birds (in this case: Manx
Shearwater*, Arctic Loon*, Black-footed Albatross, Sooty Shearwater, and Red
Phalarope).
All music contained on these sites and the cover design are Copyright ©1987 by the
composer.
*The vocalizations used in the music reflect the indicated species, but the
birds actually seen have since been split into Couch’s Kingbird, Black-vented
Shearwater, and Pacific Loon respectively.
To see samples of the scores for each piece and hear MIDI* files, click on any of the links below (prices for individual scores are noted):
Selections from the Aransas Suite
Whooping Crane ($1.50 each)
Orange-crowned Warbler ($2.00 each)
Chimney Swift (from Suite No. 2 for Birds) ($2.25 each)
Selections from the California Suite
No. 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher
($.75 each)
Townsend’s Warbler
($.75 each)
Selections from the Laguna Atascosa Suite
Tropical Kingbird
($1.25 each), segue to:
Say’s Phoebe ($1.75 each)
Selections from the California Suite No. 5
Leach’s Storm Petrel
($1.25 each), segue to:
Ferruginous Hawk ($.75
each)
Wandering Tattler (from the California Suite No. 4)
($1.50 each)
Pelagia ($2.75 each)
Selections from the Santa Ana Suite
Brown Jay ($.50 each)
Cassin’s Sparrow ($1.25
each)
Green Jay ($.75 each)
Altamira Oriole ($.75
each)
*A Note About MIDI Files: Unfortunately, due to the fact that gradual tempo changes had to be entered manually in the original files, other playback effects (such as crescendos and sustain pedals) were not able to be reproduced in the MIDI version. I hope to be able to provide samples of the Bird Music tape itself in the future.