Transformed by Fire

ABOUT

Andrea with Mark Jackson, baritone and Ariana Kramer at the premiere, Harwood Museum, Taos, NM, August 30, 2017

​”Transformed by Fire Song Cycle” was presented at the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos, New Mexico in August 2017 with baritone Mark Jackson, pianist Andrea Clearfield and a pop-up chorus from the Taos Community Chorus. An encore performance was offered in September 2017 in response to audience request. “Transformed by Fire” was presented by SOMOS on April 25, 2018 at 7 p.m. at the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos as part of National Poetry Month events. “Transformed by Fire Choral Suite” was premiered on April 12 by the Florida State University Singers, Kevin Fenton, director, Opperman Music Hall, 7:30pm. It was also streamed live.

Ariana and Andrea are currently seeking funding to expand their collaborative piece into an evening-length work for soprano, baritone, chorus and chamber orchestra

See Preview Score Pages

Transformed by Fire Choral Score, first 5 pages

Timeline in Photographs

Transformed by Fire Timeline in Photographs

Listen

Read Andrea’s article on Transformed by Fire published in the Blue Mountain Center Commons.

Mi Casita, Aldo Leopold’s 1912 cabin in Très Piedres, NM

ANDREA’S PRE-CONCERT REMARKS

Andrea speaks on Transformed by Fire

LINKS

Transformed by Fire program Taos 2018

Transformed by Fire Choral Suite Premiere Clearfield lecture

Transformed by Fire Choral Suite premiere, FSU

Transformed by Fire Choral Suite, FSU Poster

Listen to the entire Transformed by Fire Choral Suite premiered by the Florida State University Singers on April 12, 2022 under the direction of Kevin Fenton.

Information on Aldo & Estella Leopold Writing Residency

Evoking Aldo Leopold’s Life Through Music And Poetry by Nell Shaw Cohen, October 24, 2017

Background on Transformed by Fire at www.arianakramer.com

TEXT

“Transformed by Fire”
Poetry by Ariana Kramer © 2017

I. Encounter

A mother plays
at the river bank,
crosses water.

Her yearlings
frolic.

She raises her head.

I see her eyes. 
They burn  
with a green fire. 

My shot   a thought ringing out.
My bullet  the force 
of Man against Wolf.

I am young.
I stand on rimrock,
look to dark mountain skies.

My thought:
fewer wolves, more deer;
no wolves, hunter’s paradise.

I still see her eyes – still.
They burn me
with a fierce green fire. 

II. Spark

A spark
smolders, ignites, 
passes through wingtips 
of migrating cranes. 

I kneel
to small green stems of white stars
I catch their tiny flash in my hands. 

III. Bowstring

I have drawn my bowstring
across my heart. I have found my love.

We have taught our children
to swim, to fish, to track, to hunt,
to learn the land.

We have taught them to love
the smell of campfire supper-smoke.
Around the dancing flames
we sing our songs. I whistle along.

We plant trees
to restore the lonely land.

I have drawn my bowstring
across my heart. I have found my love.

We have taught our children
to feel, to see, to hear, to know,
to love the land.

We have taught them to listen
when the wild geese call.

We have taught them to love
the wild places in their hearts.

Together we have learned to love.

IV. Consequence

No wolves. Hunter’s paradise?
A foolish thought. A foolish thought.

I walk in a wolfless wilderness.

I see deer – dead,
thin from starvation.

Too many to feed.
Trees stripped bare.

What have we done
to the wilderness?

V. Understanding

I am older.
I know, now.

A green flame
burns in each of us.

Wolf enlivens the land
like a fragrant fire.

Wolf runs deer
like water over mountains.

Saplings grow strong.
Bird song fills their branches.

I know, now. I know, now –
a green fire, the green fire.

Everything on, over and in
the land belongs together.

__________________________________________________

TRANSFORMED BY FIRE Choral Suite
Text by Ariana Kramer, 2018

Prologue: Frolic – soprano solo

A mother plays
at the river bank,
crosses water.

Her yearlings
frolic.

She raises her head.

1. Encounter – baritone solo

I see her eyes. 
They burn  
with a green fire. 

My shot   a thought ringing out.
My bullet  the force 
of Man against Wolf.

I am young.
I stand on rimrock,
look to dark mountain skies.

My thought:
fewer wolves, more deer;
no wolves, hunter’s paradise.

I still see her eyes – still.
They burn me
with a fierce green fire. 

2. Spark (baritone, soprano and chorus)

A spark
smolders, ignites, 
passes through wingtips 
of migrating cranes. 

I kneel
to small green stems of white stars
I catch their tiny flash in my hands. 

3. Bowstring (baritone and chorus)

I have drawn my bowstring
across my heart. I have found my love.

We have taught our children
to swim, to fish, to track, to hunt,
to learn the land.

We have taught them to love
the smell of campfire supper-smoke.
Around the dancing flames
we sing our songs. I whistle along.

We plant trees
to restore the lonely land.

I have drawn my bowstring
across my heart. I have found my love.

We have taught our children
to feel, to see, to hear, to know,
to love the land.

We have taught them to listen
when the wild geese call.

We have taught them to love
the wild places in their hearts.

Together we have learned to love.

4. Family – soprano and SA

Wolf is mother, father, sister, brother.
Wolf is not alone, not a—lone, not a—

lone. Wolf is a playful family
rambling across the land.

Over the land we roam, we roam.
We chase rabbits, run with deer.
We follow elk and buffalo.

Strong – we hunt
Wise – as one body.
With twists and turns,
we dart, we bite.

Oh, how we feast
shoulder to shoulder –
my love and I
my love and I.

Our pups growl, and suckle.
Our pups sleep.

We have taught our children
to swim, to fish, to track, to hunt,
to learn the land.

Our den smells of ancestors
a thousand years old.

Wolf fits the land
like a thumbprint fits the thumb

knowing
knowing

each hill, each valley.

Wolf mothers
grow
Wolf families
grow
Wolf traditions
grow

knowing
knowing

each hill, each valley.

What Wolf knows, what I know, reaches back –
far into memory, deep into the land (we roam).

Wolf is mother, father, sister, brother.
Wolf is not alone, not alone

5. Extermination – soprano, baritone and chorus

Now, Wolf’s howl
Poison. Trap. Snare. Bullet.
Now, Wolf’s howl
Poison. Trap. Snare. Bullet.

Now, Wolf’s howl
no longer
straightens my spine
in the early morn.

6. Consequence – baritone

I walk in a wolfless wilderness.

I see deer – dead,
thin from starvation.

Too many to feed.
Trees stripped bare.�

7. Questions – baritone, soprano, chorus and
solos within Chorus

What have we done to the wilderness?
What have we done to the wilderness in us?

How can they love deer and hate Wolf?
We are two parts of one whole.

What have we done to the wilderness?
What have we done to the wilderness in us?
How can we love deer and hate Wolf?

We are two parts of one whole.

In the early morning hours, what will my children hear?

8. Understanding  – Finale, tutti

I am older.

I know, now.


A green flame
burns in each of us. 



Wolf enlivens the land

like a fragrant fire.


Wolf runs deer

like water over mountains.



Saplings grow strong.

Bird song fills their branches.

I know, now. I know, now
a green fire, the green fire.



Everything on, over and in
the land belongs together.

Composing Transformed by Fire at Aldo Leopold’s cabin in Tres Piedras, NM

Ariana Kramer and Andrea, winners of the Aldo Leopold Writing Residency Fellowship, in front of Aldo Leopold’s cabin, “Mi Casita”

Mi Casita, Aldo Leopold’s cabin, Tres Piedras, NM

Volcanic rock fireplace, Mi Casita