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Score title
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Freeing the Caged Bird
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Composer
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Barbara Harbach
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Date
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2007
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Instrumentation
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Wind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon)
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Program note
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Freeing the Caged Bird is a four-movement tribute inspired by the literary works of four native St. Louis women who struggled to give voice to their creativity. The first movement is based on the book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings , by Maya Angelou, who is regarded as one of the great voices of contemporary literature. Inspired by Sara Teasdale's poem “Sunset St. Louis” the second movement evokes the swirling, twilight imagery of her poem. The third movement represents Kate Chopin’s then notorious novel The Awakening, first published in 1899. The last movement, based on Emily Hahn’s book, Hong Kong Holiday, expresses the joie de vivre of a woman who refused to accept society’s dictums.
Barbara Harbach
