Breathe, Come Together, Embrace (2022) for large orchestra

Duration: 8 minutes

Instrumentation: 2+picc,2,2+bc,2+cbsn – 4,3,3,1 – 3pc – hp,cel – strings

Recording: excerpt from September 17, 2022 performance at Benaroya Hall, Seattle WA, by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Ludovic Morlot conducting.

*Contact the composer for information on purchasing a score or renting the orchestra parts*

Program Notes:

Breathe, Come Together, Embrace reflects on some of the activities that were most commonly missed during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic: being able to breathe freely, both physically and metaphorically, and to be able to gather with friends, family, and others to embrace each other and things that are valued like art, music, and culture.  Optimistic in nature, this work looks to the future of being able to breathe, come together, and embrace again in a world that values curiosity and acceptance.

In the piece, breathing is thought of gesturally, like an ascending flourish in the winds and strings that imitates one’s breath catching in excitement, as well as the act of expanding the range, dynamics, and instrumentation of the orchestra similarly to expanding the human body and soul to create space for nourishment.  Over the course of the work, different families of instruments gradually unite and together embrace the main themes that are presented throughout the piece.

– Angelique Poteat