This piece was composed for The Elements exhibit at Michigan Technological University. The Elements is a group of Alaska-based artists who had earlier created works based on pieces that I and other composers had written during Composing in the Wilderness.
“You Are a Flower” is, in a sense, a postscript to my CITW piece “Footprints.” Based loosely on Schumann’s Lied “Du bist wie eine Blume,” it turns from the metaphorical flower of Schumann’s Lied to consider an actual flower in all its peril and fragility.
Scored for alto saxophone, trombone, and marimba, the piece lasts about 4’15”. Parts are available on request.