Official site of composer Andrea Clearfield. Biography, list of works with audio, score samples, reviews and program notes, photographs, upcoming performances.
Scored for: flute and guitar Duration: 9 min. 15 sec. Premiere: May 17, 2016, Dolce Suono Ensemble: Mimi Stillman, flute, Gideon Whitehead, guitar, Dolce Suono Ensemble, DSE Presents, Philadelphia Commissioned by: The Diller Quaile School of Music Published by: Self-published, Angelfire Press
Contact Andrea Clearfield for score and parts:
Sagitta Premiere, The Curtis Institute of Music, Mimi Stillman, flute, Gideon Whitehead, guitar
PROGRAM NOTES
Sagitta was commissioned by The Diller-Quaile School of Music. The work was premiered by Mimi Stillman, flute and Gideon Whitehead, guitar at the Curtis Institute of Music on May 17, 2016. Sagitta, Latin for “arrow” is a constellation in the Northern Hemisphere. Some find a mystical meaning in this arrow of stars flying solo in the sky without archer or target. In geometry, a sagitta is the height of an arc; the perpendicular distance from an arc’s midpoint to the chord across it. Described as an “otherworldly tone poem” in the Huffington Post, the musical materials for this piece were informed by both meanings of the word. The composer wishes to thank Le Moulin à Nef in Auvillar, France, for providing invaluable time and space to compose this work.
LISTEN (Excerpts)
Sagitta rehearsal Mimi Stillman, Gideon Whitehead, Andrea Clearfield
REVIEWS
A Musical Journey Through the Americas An arrow in the night
The music moved to North America with the world premiere of Andrea Clearfield’s “Sagitta for Flute and Guitar.” Clearfield, who worked with Stillman on many projects, explained that the title refers to the constellation “Sagitta,” or “arrow,” standing high in the Northern sky, providing an arc-like trajectory; her minimalist composition possessed its own inner form and beauty. The piece transcended boundaries of nationalism and musical expression and was as close to “pure music” as one could hope to hear. An extended harp-like guitar passage, stunningly executed by guest guitarist Gideon Whitehead, almost seemed to transcend instrumentation as well. - Victor Schermer, Broad Street Review, May 21, 2016
Dolce Suono Concludes Season with a Breath of Fresh Air
Andrea Clearfield balanced the program with her substantial new Sagitta for flute and guitar, with its reckless flurries of notes and periods of lush lyricism. The flute-writing was full of extended techniques that Stillman used to give the music all manner of exotic colors. An enigmatic leitmotif of quiet, low repeated notes periodically arrested the piece and caused you to take stock of what had come before, and to prepare for the new avenues of music to come. - David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 19, 2016
May Brings New Growth in Philadelphia’s Chamber Music Scene: Tom Purdom recaps his favorite chamber music premieres
The other two items on my personal Top Four list were examples of pure music. Both pieces include music that’s beautiful and inventive. Andrea Clearfield’s Sagitta takes its title from a word with two meanings; sagitta is the faint constellation the Greeks saw as an arrow and the geometric term for the height of an arc. As the title indicates, it alternates arcing passages with interludes that pursue a straight line like an arrow. - Tom Purdom, Broad Street Review, May 31, 2016
Sagitta
Scored for: flute and guitar
Duration: 9 min. 15 sec.
Premiere: May 17, 2016, Dolce Suono Ensemble: Mimi Stillman, flute, Gideon Whitehead, guitar, Dolce Suono Ensemble, DSE Presents, Philadelphia
Commissioned by: The Diller Quaile School of Music
Published by: Self-published, Angelfire Press
Contact Andrea Clearfield for score and parts:
Sagitta Premiere, The Curtis Institute of Music, Mimi Stillman, flute, Gideon Whitehead, guitar
PROGRAM NOTES
Sagitta was commissioned by The Diller-Quaile School of Music. The work was premiered by Mimi Stillman, flute and Gideon Whitehead, guitar at the Curtis Institute of Music on May 17, 2016. Sagitta, Latin for “arrow” is a constellation in the Northern Hemisphere. Some find a mystical meaning in this arrow of stars flying solo in the sky without archer or target. In geometry, a sagitta is the height of an arc; the perpendicular distance from an arc’s midpoint to the chord across it. Described as an “otherworldly tone poem” in the Huffington Post, the musical materials for this piece were informed by both meanings of the word. The composer wishes to thank Le Moulin à Nef in Auvillar, France, for providing invaluable time and space to compose this work.
LISTEN (Excerpts)
Sagitta rehearsal
Mimi Stillman, Gideon Whitehead, Andrea Clearfield
REVIEWS
A Musical Journey Through the Americas
An arrow in the night
The music moved to North America with the world premiere of Andrea Clearfield’s “Sagitta for Flute and Guitar.” Clearfield, who worked with Stillman on many projects, explained that the title refers to the constellation “Sagitta,” or “arrow,” standing high in the Northern sky, providing an arc-like trajectory; her minimalist composition possessed its own inner form and beauty. The piece transcended boundaries of nationalism and musical expression and was as close to “pure music” as one could hope to hear. An extended harp-like guitar passage, stunningly executed by guest guitarist Gideon Whitehead, almost seemed to transcend instrumentation as well.
- Victor Schermer, Broad Street Review, May 21, 2016
Dolce Suono Concludes Season with a Breath of Fresh Air
Andrea Clearfield balanced the program with her substantial new Sagitta for flute and guitar, with its reckless flurries of notes and periods of lush lyricism. The flute-writing was full of extended techniques that Stillman used to give the music all manner of exotic colors. An enigmatic leitmotif of quiet, low repeated notes periodically arrested the piece and caused you to take stock of what had come before, and to prepare for the new avenues of music to come.
- David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 19, 2016
May Brings New Growth in Philadelphia’s Chamber Music Scene: Tom Purdom recaps his favorite chamber music premieres
The other two items on my personal Top Four list were examples of pure music. Both pieces include music that’s beautiful and inventive. Andrea Clearfield’s Sagitta takes its title from a word with two meanings; sagitta is the faint constellation the Greeks saw as an arrow and the geometric term for the height of an arc. As the title indicates, it alternates arcing passages with interludes that pursue a straight line like an arrow.
- Tom Purdom, Broad Street Review, May 31, 2016
Dolce Suono Ensemble’s Dynamic Musical Diversity
- Lewis Whittington, The Huffington Post, June 29, 2016
The constellation Sagitta in the night sky. Copyright Yulia Gapeenko