What We’ve Been Taught to Do With Death - for wind ensemble

Year: 2021

Grade: 5

Duration: ca. 4:15

Purchase: Murphy Music Press

Recording: Wichita State University Wind Ensemble | Dr. Timothy Shade, Conductor

What We've Been Taught to Do With Death is a rhapsodic moto perpetuo inspired by the beautifully evocative poem The Vulture & the Body by Ada Limón. Upon first reading Limón's poem, I was enraptured by the way she approaches the subject of humankind's relationship with our world. She describes the grief she feels passing by dead animals on the side of the road as she drives on the highway in her "death machine", saying to herself "how dare we live on this Earth". This idea ties closely with a core belief of mine: that we tend to incorrectly see ourselves as separate from our world, and through this illusion, we harm the planet and the life upon it (including ourselves). From these ideas and the poem's intensely vivid imagery springs this work, which attempts to match both the careful brevity and emotional power of Limón's masterful work of art.