and they each whispered

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Commissioned By

Kate O'Leary

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First Performance

November 15, 2025​

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Ensemble

Flute/Piccolo and Alto/Bari Saxophone

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Duration

6 minutes

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Program Notes

and they each whispered is a conversational duet featuring flute, piccolo, alto saxophone, and bari saxophone. It is named after a brick in the poetry walk that is laid into the sidewalk down the street from my house. Here, each brick contains a short phrase unrelated to the others around it, besides that they each came from a resident of Rochester, NY. 

 

The piece opens with a simple melody passed around and developed by the two players. The saxophone then introduces a jarring, seemingly unrelated idea that is then woven into the first. They are then cut up and changed in a cellular middle section, followed by a restatement of the original ideas in a palindromic ending. 

 

This piece was commissioned by Kate O’Leary for her senior recital at Syracuse University. ​