Fight||Flight

Program notes:

Composed for Atlantic Brass Quintet.  Total duration: approximately 5-minutes.

“Fight-or -flight” is a human response to stress and relates specifically to the release of hormones when the body is in danger. 

Flight||fight (of the honeybees) is inspired by this metaphor, and specifically relates to the process that honeybees go through in making honey.  Like brass players, honeybees are sophisticated communicators.  The colony is one that depends solely on roles; there are drones, workers and a queen.  After building an intricate hive made up of hexagons, they begin their work to make honey.  First, a worker bee goes out to gather nectar.  The bees do a dance, flapping their wings at a very fast buzz to determine where the nectar is (literally which direction from the sun). Once the worker bee gathers the nectar, she comes back to regurgitate the nectar into several cells.  This process occurs several times and they flap their wings to make the serum thicker.  Finally, once the honey is made, they cap it off and move on to the next cell.  Bees make very little honey in their life span, which makes this process all the more impressive.

Fight||flight chronicles the honey making process, or whatever analogy resonates with you.  The beginning sonically sets the stage for the journey.  At A, trumpet 2 sets out to gather the nectar.  At B, the bees reset and at C, they begin the inversion process (which is what makes the substance of honey through various enzymes in their stomachs combined with the nectar).  At D, the wax caps are formed, ending with E, a return to the sonic landscape.