A Butterfly Coughs in Africa

Clarinet choir, 2003

Duration: 5 minutes

Instrumentation:
2 Clarinets in Eb
3 Clarinets in Bb 1
2 Clarinets in Bb 2
2 Clarinets in Bb 3
2 Basset Horns in F
2 Bass Clarinets in Bb
1 Contralto Clarinet in Eb
1 Contrabass Clarinet in Bb
1 Contrabass

Numbers are a minimum, additional players may be used if desired, and are recommended for Clarinets in Bb 2 and 3. Alto Clarinets in Eb may be substituted for Basset Horns if necessary. Contrabass is optional, but highly desired.

Program Note:
A butterfly coughs in Africa, flaps its wing ever so slightly, rustling a nearby leaf which falls gently to the ground, adding its tiny momentum to a passing breeze, lending it just enough force to cross a stream into the open tundra where the wind now picks up and heads out over the Atlantic, ever gaining strength as it gradually whips into a frenzy, sending torrential rain down upon Bermuda, and turning inexorably toward the coast of South Carolina. Or something like that.

A Butterfly Coughs in Africa was composed for Mitchell Estrin and the University of Florida Clarinet Choir.

Published by Pebblehill Music Publishers, 2005.