Go Where the Wind Takes You 

2023

Score preview is provided for reference purposes.
Performance requires the purchase of licensed copies.

Category & Instrumentation

For symphony orchestra

Text Language

After reading a poem by Olena Stepanenko (Ukrainian, English, Polish)

Difficulty

Advanced

Approximate duration

15:00 minutes

Information about work

Commissioned by Classical Movements for the Taki-Alsop Conducting Fellowship, as part of the Eric Daniel Helms New Music Program
The work is dedicated to Ukrainian women who, despite all the horrors of the war against Ukraine, do not lose their Courage, Hope and Faith in our Victory.
Thanks to "Classical Movements for the Taki-Alsop Conducting Fellowship, as part of the Eric Daniel Helms New Music Program" and Ms. Marin Alsop personally for commissioning this piece. Thanks to my friend, the incredibly talented Ukrainian poetess Olena Stepanenko, for the brilliant poem that inspired me to write this music. Olena has a lot to tell. She and her young son survived in Bucha, a town that was almost completely destroyed by the russian army along with its inhabitants. But, like Olena, I am firmly convinced that "...there is nothing that we cannot overcome..."

Lyrics

You are – a wall, a memory, complete, indestructiblescarred with the names of the living, the dead, the as yet unbornin your voice’s home they weave gentle nestsnever alone nor tied downdespite pain, daily pain and loss, blanching, blind pain(it hides you under it every day), every day you come alive at its call:– Sister, come and look!Behold, the serpent of the sun basks in the ruins of your houseBehold your body’s shirt crocheted with bullet holesSister, sister… but you pick up the rootspocketing your son, a toy tractor and the lamb-like cloudsthat dried over the house (as long as it was, so it is)you part the air, holding on only to your voicemillions of sisters who see and hear every daywait at the gates of life, holding death on a leashyour hand is among theminvisible and unwaveringyour voiceyour task:Sister, go where the wind takes youThere is nothingthat you cannot overcome
(Olena Stepanenko)

Performers (some of those who have chosen this work)

• Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival, Illinois, USA, conductor – Marin Alsop (USA premiere of the work, 14.07.2024)• Philadelphia Orchestra, Philadelphia, USA, conductor – Marin Alsop• Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR), conductor – Marin Alsop• The Reno Philharmonic Orchestra (Reno Phil), Nevada, USA, conductor – Laura Jackson• Prague Summer Nights Festival Youth Orchestra, Smetana Hall, Municipal House, Prague, Czech Republic, conductor – Laura Jackson (World premiere of the work, 5.07.2024)• Lorraine National Opera Orchestra, Salle Poirel, Nancy, France, conductor – Marta Gardolińska• Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, McKinley Arts and Culture Center, Nevada, USA, conductor – Laura Jackson• Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra (Indonesia), Aula Simfonia Jakarta, Kemayoran, Jakarta, conductor – Rebecca Tong

Quote

The Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship is grateful to Neeta Helms and Classical Movements for their generosity in commissioning this music. While premiering a new work is indeed important, perhaps even more so are subsequent performances, and it’s a thrill that we’ve been able to secure these in the 2024–25 season. As Iryna draws inspiration from her heart, I am sure that her composition will appeal to both the audience and the orchestras. We hope that there will be many more implementations in the future.
(Marin Alsop – conductor)

Cost of PDF copy of the score and orchestral voices

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