The Canary Who Sang (2016)

a String Quartet
2019 Juventas ENCORE! Audience Favorite | 2018 Juventas Call for Score Winner

Duration

7 minutes and 20 seconds

Instrumentation

Violin I, Violin II, Viola, and Violoncello

First Performance

June 8, 2019 at First Church Boston

Performers: Juventas New Music Ensemble

Program Notes

Brought into coal mines caged, canaries were used to warn the people around them that danger was coming. The Canary’s songs and chirps would sound in these dark, man made echo chambers. But, their silent deaths bring a final warning to the coal miners that the suffocating danger was imminent, prompting the miners to run for their safety. Their sacrifice saved many miners from deadly catastrophes. The Canary Who Sang is an allegorical comment on today’s political climate of how a single voice can disrupt, challenge, and change opposing and unrelenting forces of power.