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Joan La Barbara

L'albero dalle foglie azzurre (tree of blue leaves)

for oboe solo

(1989)

Duration	10'
Commission	Commissioned by the Saint Louis Symphony; Leonard Slatkin, Music Director; for Barbara Herr Orland, oboe
Premiere	March 20, 1989; Saint Louis Symphony "Discovery Series"; Barbara Herr, oboe
Publisher	PSNY

Media

Program Note

On a warm summer night in August 1988, I was sitting in the Botanical Gardens in Rome, waiting for a concert to begin. It was just about dusk and I was experiencing the slight fogginess of jet lag and vaguely musing about the oboe piece I was about to write. Gazing out, I noticed a tree with the most beautiful blue leaves. I was about to ask what kind of tree it was so I could plant one in my garden when the darkening sky revealed the tree was simply illuminated by blue light. I laughed and decided to create a piece about visions and aspects of illusion.

While developing the materials for the piece I was also learning a vocal work by John Cage (Solo for Voice 30 from Songbooks, based on Satie’s music and Thoreau’s texts) and, exploring my own rather schizophrenic existence as both composer and performer, I decided to notate fragments of my vocal “mistakes” or misreadings which I then reworked into lyrical motivic figures. Thus, certain fragments are La Barbara working through Cage writing through Satie. The overall form flows loosely: Beauty – Beast – Beauty Transformed, as the lyrical motives delineated within the indigenous oboe sound develop an almost frantic energy, moving through a chaotic whirlwind with sampled oboe material mixing with voices, percussion, and synthesized sounds, before returning to a gentler “transformed” color.

The tape part was created by recording my singing into a computer (through a pitch follower), adjusting the lines and then playing it back as a sampled oboe and bassoon, mixed with recordings of Barbara Herr Orland (for whom the piece was written) playing oboe double stops blending into fragments of an early work of mine, CYCLONE for voices, percussion and ARP 2600 synthesizer.

L’albero dale foglie azzurre was commissioned by the Saint Louis Symphony for Barbara Herr Orland who premiered it March 20, 1989 on the Symphony’s “Discovery Series” and subsequently recorded it for “The Virtuoso in the Computer Age-III” CDCM Computer Music Series Vol. 13 (Centaur CRC 2166).

– Joan La Barbara

Purchase

Types of Products

Vocal Score Set - 16 copies (Print)

Piano Reduction and solo parts (Digital)

Chamber Ensemble Score (Print)

Choral Score Set - 20 copies (Print)

Full Score (4 needed for performance) (Print)

Parts (Mov. 11 only) (Print)

Full Score (3 scores needed for performance) (Print)

Full Score (3 scores needed for performance) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (2 required for performance) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (2 required for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (includes 3 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (includes 3 copies) (Print)

Choral Booklet (Digital)

Choral Booklet (Print)

Full Score in 3 volumes (Print)

Anthology edition (Print)

Choral Score (includes 4 copies) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (4 required for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (4 required for performance) (Digital)

solo part and piano reduction (Digital)

solo part and piano reduction (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (6 scores required for performance) (Digital)

Performance Score (includes 4 scores) (Print)

Choral Scores (Digital - Bulk Purchase for Performance) (Digital)
This price covers the minimum cost of digital copies for performance.

Choral Score Set (Digital)

Choral Score Set (16 copies) (Digital)

Choral Score Set (License for 16 copies) (Digital)

Full Score/Performance Score (5 scores required for performance) (Digital)
Pricing reflects cost of 5 digital scores.

Full Score/Performance Score (8 scores required for performance) (Print)

Full Score/Performance Score (5 copies required for performance) (Print)

Vocal Score - single copy (Digital)

Vocal Score - license for single copy (Digital)

Vocal Score Set - 16 copies (Digital)

Vocal Score Set - License for 16 copies (Digital)

Full score and Solo Part (Digital)

Full Score/Violin Part (Digital)

Full Score/Violin Part (Print)

Conductor Score (Print)

Score and part (Print)

Score and part (Digital)

Choral Score Set - 16 copies (Print)
Includes 8 copies of the soprano/alto part and 8 copies of the tenor/bass part.

Piano reduction and solo part (Print)

Study Score in Two Volumes (Print)

Video and instructions (Digital)

Piano/Vocal Score (Digital)

Piano/Vocal Score (Print)

Choral Score Set (40 copies) (Print)

Score and Parts (Digital)
Score and part PDF files are delivered via email upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase.

Full Score (Digital)
A PDF file of the full score is delivered via email upon receipt.

Soprano/Alto Part (Print)

Choral Score Set (License for 50 copies) (Digital)

Full Score (Print)
A print edition of the score ships to the customer's address upon receipt.

Tenor/Bass Part (Print)

Parts (Digital)
A PDF file of the part(s) is delivered via email upon receipt.

Parts (Print)
A print edition of the part(s) ship to the customer's address upon receipt.

Solo Instrument Score (Digital)
A score PDF file is delivered via email upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. An email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer's email address.

Full Score/Performance Score (Digital)
The full score serves as a performance score for all players. A score PDF file is delivered via email upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. An email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer's email address.

Score and Parts (Print)
A print edition of the score and part(s) ship to the customer's address upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. The email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer.

Solo Instrument Score (Print)
A print edition of the score is shipped to the customer's address upon receipt. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase. An email containing a link to download the electronic files is sent to the customer's email address.

Full Score/Performance Score (Print)
The full score serves as a performance score for all players. Print edition(s) of the full score/performance score are shipped to the customer's address upon receipt. Multiple copies are included if the work has more than one player. Any electronic files associated with the work are included with every purchase.

Choral Score (Digital)
A PDF file of the choral score is delivered via email upon receipt. The set is priced to allow multiple copies of the PDF to be printed for performance by the purchasing organization only.

Study Score (print) (Digital)

Study Score (print) (Print)

Choral Score Set- 8 copies (Print)
Minimum order quantity is 8 copies. Single copies are not available.

SATB choral score (Print)

Vocal Score (Digital)

Vocal Score (Print)

Choral Score (Print)

Full Score and Solo Part (Print)
A print edition of the score and solo part ships to the customer's address upon receipt.

Mezzo-soprano, 2 tenors, baritone score (Print)

Study Score (Print)

Study Score (Digital)

SATB choral score (Digital)