Chamber Music Clarinet,
Flute
SKU:
PR.114422650
After
The Brave Chicken
confronts the Ogre, four
panels by Nina Frenkel
(1972-2016). Composed
by Shulamit Ran. Set of
performance scores. 8
pages. Duration 6
minutes. Theodore Presser
Company #114-42265.
Published by Theodore
Presser Company
(PR.114422650).
ISBN
9781491134528. UPC:
680160685004.
Charm
ingly packed with wit,
grace, symbolism, and
irony, Shulamit
Ran’s THE FLIGHT
OF THE BRAVE CHICKEN
celebrates the life and
work of a graphic artist
and illustrator (who
played clarinet), who
lost her battle with
cancer as a young adult.
The six-minute duo begins
as a dramatic dialog for
bass clarinet and
piccolo, gradually
evolving to peaceful
resolution for flute and
clarinet. The work may be
performed with
projections of the
original art panels that
inspired the
work.
Brave Chicken
was a character developed
by Nina Frenkel, gifted
illustrator,
graphicartist, and
beloved friend to many,
who passed away at the
age of 43 having lost
adifficult battle with
cancer. Her parents,
Marcel and Anne Frenkel,
approached mein May 2017
about composing a short
work in Nina’s
memory, suggesting that
it bebased on four
delightful panels that
Nina had painted in 2014
before she knew of
therecurrence of the
disease.Titled
“Brave Chicken
Meets the Ogre,â€
“Brave Chicken
Fights the Ogre,â€
“BraveChicken Flees
to Safety,†and
“Brave Chicken in
the Healing Hut,â€
the four panelsdepict a
progression from darkness
to light. And while my
composition does
notattempt to follow the
four panels literally, I
did aim to create two
distinctly
differentmusical
characters who are posed
against one another with
one clearly perceived
asdominant and
threatening, and trace
the evolving change in
the balance of power,and
with it the journey from
darkness to
light.Inspired by the
knowledge that Nina
herself greatly enjoyed
playing the clarinet,
Idecided to pair bass
clarinet with piccolo,
eventually switching the
piccolo over toflute,
with clarinet appearing
in time for the
work’s peaceful
conclusion. Though I
hadnever met Nina, I felt
honored to compose this
work in her memory.