Southern Reflection, A

From Wind Repertory Project
Barry Kopetz

Barry Kopetz


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General Info

Year: 2020
Duration:
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Unknown
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown


Instrumentation

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Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

A Southern Reflection was inspired by the incredibly gifted shape-note singers that pervaded portions of the South. The heart-rending emotion projected, the intense lyricism that seems to well from deep within the soul, the harsh sadness of the melodic and harmonic content — all of this and more struck a real nerve unlike any previously experienced. A recording of Barb'ry Ellen performed by three such singers captured for me what "it means to be Southern" in a far more honest and spiritual way than any words can attempt to illustrate. I only hope that my understanding has been enhanced through their exquisite rendition. These mournful tones have haunted me ever since.

The changing moods of this beautifully sung trio provided very nearly all of the material included in A Southern Reflection. The turbulence of the changing musical emotions is well documented through subtle, free changes of tempi, yet never at the expense of the original motives. The soul-felt kinship of the South's relationship to future genres of music appears in the passionate outburst near the conclusion of the piece. Rather than serving as a tribute to the South's impact upon the jazz idiom, it highlights the joy that has come to all of us through such humble musical beginnings. The coda retreats to its roots, decidedly a "reflection" of a place the South has been over the years, adding a sense of intention that the journey is not yet complete.

- Program Note by composer


Media

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State Ratings

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Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer


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