The Swamp

Descrizione

During October and November 2024, I took on a two-month teaching assignment at a middle school near Venice. Despite the distance—three hours by car each way—I decided it was worth it. During these long drives, I traveled through the marshlands between Ravenna, Ferrara, and Venice, where I had the opportunity to observe the unique wildlife of these habitats. It was during this time that I began composing the suite The Swamp for a wind sextet—essentially a classical wind quintet with the addition of a saxophone.

The piece is divided into eight movements: The Fog, The Nightingale, The Heron, The Sacred Ibis, The Weasel, The Newt, The Bat, and The Spoonbill. Each movement features a different animal as its protagonist, and each one pays tribute to a composer.

The Fog, which introduces the swamp, draws inspiration from the sound world of Debussy. The Nightingale, represented by the piccolo, is dedicated to Koechlin. The Heron, portrayed by the clarinet, is an homage to minimalist music, particularly to Marc Mellits. The Sacred Ibis, played by the bassoon, reflects the influence of David Maslanka. The Weasel, with its sinuous movements, is depicted by the saxophone as a tribute to Bernstein and Mancini. The Newt evokes The Carnival of the Animals and is entrusted to the oboe. The Bat is a nod to Eugène Bozza, and in the final movement, the protagonist is the horn: The Spoonbill.

Throughout the suite, the famous Dies Irae theme recurs, symbolizing the threat of extinction faced by some of these animals and the fragility of these ecosystems as a result of human activity.