Journey of A Dragonfly: Movements I-IV (First Part)

JOURNEY OF A DRAGONFLY

Program Note

As a child, my parents vacationed at a summer cottage in Maine by a small lake. Often by myself, I would sit on a giant boulder and watch the lake and the wildlife for hours.

One day, a beautiful bright-winged dragonfly flew across the lake and hovered before me. I was startled and intrigued: its long, slender blue body glistened in the sunlight. Finally, it began to fly around the perimeter of the lake. It stopped every few minutes and hovered in place, almost as if waiting for me to follow it. I followed the dragonfly until sunset, imagining a world in which only the dragonfly existed, on its own terms, within its own world.

Years later, I hiked around the Niagara Gorge near Niagara Falls and explored Devil’s Hole Park. There is an opening on the side of a cliff called Devil’s Hole Cave. Interestingly, early Native Americans called it the Cave of the Evil Spirit and foretold subsequent disaster to anyone who dared enter the cave. The combination of the lake, the dragonfly, and Devil’s Hole Cave all came together and helped crystalize the idea for this work.

Journey of a Dragonfly begins as the sun rises; a foreboding darkness looms in the background, contrasting the Dragonfly’s graceful entrance into a world filled with the excitement of being alive. A gust of wind carries dandelion seeds skyward alongside butterflies and rainbow-colored wildflowers. Butterflies land on flowers before the Dragonfly ventures through a dark forest and emerges, only to be chased by five blackbirds. Weaving back and forth to try and escape, the Dragonfly flies into a narrow crevice as two of the blackbirds collide with trees. While still being chased, the three remaining birds retreat as the Dragonfly discovers a dark hole leading to a tunnel. The dragonfly speeds down the ghoulish tunnel and emerges at the end of the tunnel at the side of a cliff, hovering in place. It looks around in horror and sees a gigantic cavern and then Devil Town. After flying through Devil Town and witnessing tortured souls, a bomb factory, Attorney Alley, and the Devil’s Saloon, off in the distance, the Dragonfly sees Satan’s House on a hill and decides to explore. The Dragonfly enters the house and sees the Devil Child, the Devil Mother, and the Devil himself. Suddenly, the Devil Child catches the Dragonfly in a glass jar as the parents prepare dinner in the kitchen. The Dragonfly eventually manages to escape, only to be chased by the Devil Child and then by a group of hellish bats. After a chaotic chase, the Dragonfly finds the tunnel and speeds back toward the world above. Finally free, the Dragonfly finds a flat rock to rest. The tale concludes as the Dragonfly falls asleep, the sun sets by the lake, and the evening fades to black.

Journey of a Dragonfly was written for JoAnn Falletta and Mostly Modern Orchestra in honor of Mostly Modern Festival’s fifth season.

Movements should be listed in programs as follows:

1. The Lake: Sunrise

2. Chase: Blackbirds

3. Descent Into The Underworld

4. Devil Town

5. Satan’s House

6. Trapped

7. Kitchen

8. Escape

9. Chase: Bats

10. Ascent To The World Above

11. The Lake: Sunset

Upcoming World Premiere

Mostly Modern Orchestra

JoAnn Falletta, Conductor

Mostly Modern Festival

Skidmore College, Arthur Zankel Music Center

Saratoga Springs, NY June 21, 2024

Duration of This Version: approximately 15’00”

Instrumentation

3 Flutes (Flute 3 doubling Piccolo and Alto Flute)

2 Oboes (Oboe 3 doubling English Horn)

3 Bb Clarinets (Clarinet 3 doubling Bb Bass Clarinet)

2 Bassoons

Contrabassoon

4 F Horns

3 C Trumpets

2 Trombones

Bass Trombone

Tuba

Timpani (23”, 26”, 29” & 32”)

3 Percussion

Harp

Piano

Violin I

Violin II

Viola

Cello

Double Bass

Percussion Instrumentation

Percussion 1

4 1/3 Octave Marimba

Xylophone

Vibraphone

Glockenspiel

Pedal Bass Drum

4 Concert Tom Toms

Snare Drum

3 Suspended Cymbals (Large, Medium, and Small)

Bamboo Wind Chimes

Ratchet

Medium Triangle Nightingale Whistle

Percussion II

Vibraphone

Glockenspiel

Crotales (High and Low Octaves)

Tam Tam

Crash Cymbals

Medium Suspended Cymbal

Mark Tree

Medium Wood Block

2 Maracas

Flexatone

Percussion III

Concert Bass Drum

Tam Tam

Medium Sizzle Cymbal

Medium Suspended Cymbal

5 Temple Blocks

Small Wood Block

Whip

Medium Triangle

Small Triangle Nightingale Whistle

2Dragonfly’sEntrance

Dandelionseedsblowinginthewind,risingskyward:

2.Chase:Blackbirds

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