What We've Been Taught to Do with Death

Harrison J. Collins

General Info

Year: 2021
Duration: c. 4:15
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: J Stands for Joe Music
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Harp
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Bongos
Crotales
Glockenspiel
Hi-Hat
Marimba
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Vibraphone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

What We've Been Taught to Do With Death is a rhapsodic moto perpetuo inspired by an incredible poem called The Vulture & the Body by Ada Limón. She describes the grief she feels passing by dead animals on the side of the road as she drives on the highway in her "death machine", saying to herself "how dare we live on this Earth".

When I read this poem, I connected with it immediately, and felt driven to write this music in response. Limón's poem touches on a few themes, but the one that really hit me upon first reading and has stuck with me since is the illusion of separateness that we humans tend to have for our world -- and the way in which, through this illusion, we harm the planet and the life upon it (including ourselves). From that idea sprang this work, which attempts to match both the careful brevity and emotional power of Limón's masterful work of art .

- Program Note by composer

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Wichita State University Wind Ensemble (Timothy Shade, conductor)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Wichita (Kan.) State University Wind Ensemble ( Timothy Shade, conductor) – February 2022 *Premiere Performance*

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

O rose of May (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2018/2020)
Shining as the Sun (Flex instrumentation) (2022)
Sunset Street (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
To Rights Our Wrongs (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2021)

All Wind Works

The Beginning of Spring (2020)
Catalyst (2015)
Christmas Night (2020/2022)
Clash (2015/2018)
Dark Convictions (2022)
The Deer and the Owl
Electric City (arr. Trentadue) (2019/2022)
Fanfare for Wild Youthful Occasions (2022)
Finding Home (2021)
The Floodgates of the Sky (as transcriber) (2016/2020)
Four Architectures in Normal, Illinois
The Hymn of Ys
Into a world unknown (2022)
O rose of May (2018)
O rose of May (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2018/2020)
The Paper Man (2018)
Shining as the Sun (Flex instrumentation) (2022)
Sunset Street (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
There and Back
These Radiant Moments (2022)
To Right Our Wrongs (2021)
To Right Our Wrongs (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2021)
What We've Been Taught to Do with Death (2021)
Young Voices (brass ensemble) (2018)
Young Voices (wind ensemble) (2018/2020)

Resources

Harrison J. Collins website Accessed 13 January 2022
Perusal score