Andrea Clearfield – Composer
Official site of composer Andrea Clearfield. Biography, list of works with audio, score samples, reviews and program notes, photographs, upcoming performances.
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Gaia

BuffaloBalladscover
Scored for: soprano, oboe (or flute) and piano
Text: Aura Fischbeck
Language: English
Duration: 10 min.
Premiere: 3/93, Chamberworks Trio, The University of the Arts Faculty Series, Laurie Wagman Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Published by: International Opus

See preview score pages: GAIA SCORE EXCERPT (PDF)

PROGRAM NOTES

GAIA is a prayer to the Earth and a prayer for peace. It was inspired by a poem written by a fourteen year old girl who invites the spirit of the Earth Mother to join her in a ritual of gratitude. The ritual grows from a chant into a dance celebrating the eternal pulsing of the earth. Witnessing also the destruction of the environment, the girl’s plea competes with more dense and dissonant material which threatens, but never silences, her prayer. The composition incorporates fragments of a Hopi Native-American lullaby.

YOUTUBE

LISTEN

http://www.andreaclearfield.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Gaia1.mp3

RECORDING

Buffalo Ballads: Music for Oboe and English Horn
Heidi C. Huseman-Dewally, oboe & English Horn
Jill Masters, soprano
John Mitton, piano
www.imaginemusicpublishing.com
www.MarkCustom.com

TEXT

GAIA
By Aura Fischbeck

Gaia
I am calling
Hear my prayer

Gaia
I am calling
Come to me
Share the ancient rites
Born from thee
In a time of peace
In a time when peace
Was the only way of life

Come to me
Let me feel your pulse
Pulse, pulsing
Pulse the rhythm of life
Let me dance!

My feet firmly rooted upon your breast,
I am stong
My soul drawn downward into your infinite depths,
I am priestess,
I am warrior,
I am Shakti

I am Gaia
We are praying
We are your children
Your blessed seeds
And forever we are
With you

So mote it be.

© 2012 Andrea Clearfield

All images are excerpts from paintings by Andrea's mother, Louise Clearfield