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ecoscores
Influenced by the nature works of John Cage, R. Murray Schafer, Eric Stokes and Maya Lin, Heitzeg originally composed ecoscores as holiday peace cards that were sent to family and friends with the small scores emphasizing the inherent value of even the smallest of species on earth.
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130 Species(130 pitches for each of the approximately 130 species who disappear from earth each day) | ||
| Composed | 1996 | |
| Duration | approx. 3 min | |
| Instrumentation | Piano | |
| Commissioned by | Suzanne Son | |
| First Performance | Suzanne Son, piano; University of Minnesota School of Music, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 12 March 1998 | |
American Symphony (Unfinished)In the Permanent Collection of The Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN | ||
| Composed | 2004 | |
| Duration | 5 min | |
| Instrumentation | Piano | |
(A) Round for Rockssculpture | ||
| Composed | 1991 | |
Aspen, Oak and Holly | ||
| Composed | 1997 | |
| Duration | 5 min | |
| Instrumentation | Soprano, alto, baritone and acorns | |
| Text | The words "aspen," "oak," "holly" | |
Doves and Branches | ||
| Composed | 1998 | |
| Duration | 4 min | |
| Instrumentation | Piano and a fallen Russian Olive tree branch | |
| First Performance | John McKay, piano, Saint Peter, MN, 25 September 1999 | |
Ecoscore Peace Flags | ||
| Composed | 2002 | |
| Duration | open | |
| Movements |
I. Universal Declaration of the Right to Music (yellow) II. Overtures for Peace (white) III. Nature's Round Dance (green) IV. One Note, One Earth, One Peace (tan/brown) V. Musica Pax/Peace Music (blue) VI. Witness (black) |
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| Instrumentation | open | |
| First Performance | West Minnehaha Parkway and the John Burroughs Elementary School, Minneapolis, MN 22 April 2002 | |
Elegy in Black and White | ||
| Composed | 2002 | |
| Duration | open | |
| Instrumentation | open | |
From Sticks and Stones and Bones Come Tonessculpture | ||
| Composed | 1991 | |
I Offer These Chords for the World/Peace Chords | ||
| Composed | 2003 | |
| Duration | open | |
| Instrumentation | open | |
Love Notes | ||
| Composed | 2004 | |
| Duration | open | |
| Instrumentation | open | |
Medicine Music | ||
| Composed | 1991 | |
| Duration | open | |
| Instrumentation | open | |
Nine Spaces in a Garden | ||
| Composed | 2003 | |
| Duration | 20 min | |
| Instrumentation | Voice, bells, two fallen tree branches, flower petals, a garden, Tibetan Singing bowl and two stones | |
Peacescore (Staff of Life) | ||
| Composed | 2001 | |
| Duration | open | |
| Instrumentation | open | |
Peace Accord | ||
| Composed | 2003 | |
| Duration | open | |
| Instrumentation | open | |
Peace Animal: Hummingbird | ||
| Composed | 1994 | |
| Duration | 2 min | |
| Instrumentation | Voice and piano | |
| Text | hummingbird | |
| First Performance | Maria Jette, soprano; John McKay, piano; Saint Peter, MN, 25 September 1999 | |
Peace March for Paul and Sheila WellstoneIn the Permanent Collection of The Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, Minnesota | ||
| Composed | 2002 | |
| Duration | 4 min | |
| Instrumentation | English Horn, Snare Drum and Timpani | |
| First Performance | Katherine Schouten, English Horn; Jeffrey Bina and Joshua Rundell, percussion; Saint Olaf College, Northfield, MN 21 January 2003 | |
Peace Offering | ||
| Composed | 1991 | |
| Duration | 7 min | |
| Instrumentation | open | |
| First Performance | Salvador Dali Museum, Saint Petersburg, FL, 28 January 1993 | |
Peace Petals | ||
| Composed | 1995 | |
| Duration | 3 min | |
| Instrumentation | Soprano, flower petals and piano | |
| Text | The words "truth," "justice," "compassion" | |
| First Performance | Maria Jette, soprano/flower petals; John McKay, piano, Saint Peter, MN, 25 September 1999 | |
Peace Symphony | ||
| Composed | 1992 | |
| Duration | open | |
| Instrumentation | open | |
Peace Tree | ||
| Composed | 1993 | |
| Duration | 6 min | |
| Instrumentation | 2 perc | |
Red River Diary | ||
| Composed | 1999-2000 | |
| Duration | 15 min | |
| Instrumentation | Prepared Piano (metal table forks and a bag of wheat flour) | |
| First Performance | Steve Heitzeg, piano; North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND, 24 February 2000 | |
Reindeer Moss | ||
| Composed | 1999 | |
| Duration | 7 min | |
| Instrumentation | Solo percussion (4 Tom-toms) | |
Seahenge (Oak Song fragment) | ||
| Composed | 2000 | |
| Duration | 30 min | |
| Instrumentation | High voice and piano | |
| Text | Steve Heitzeg | |
Seven Tree Prayers | ||
| Composed | 2000 | |
| Duration | 7 min | |
| Instrumentation | Solo viola | |
Symphony for One 'The Individual' | ||
| Composed | 1990 | |
Twelve Trees (Carta Ecologica) | ||
| Composed | 1992 | |
| Duration | 10 min | |
| Instrumentation | Twelve flowering crab apple trees and score | |
| First Performance | Trees and composer; Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN, 27 April 1992 | |
Womb of the Earth | ||
| Composed | 1997 | |
| Duration | 3 min | |
| Instrumentation | Soprano and stones | |
| Text | womb of the earth | |
| Commissioned by | Kevin Crossley-Holland | |
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Steve Heitzeg has been composing ecoscores (intimate works with inventive syntax and design) that seek to honor the beauty and rights of nature since 1991. Taking "eco" from the word ecology and "score" as in a musical work, Heitzeg seeks to merge the natural and musical worlds through these earthcentric pieces.
Printed on 100% tree-free kenaf paper, ecoscores are meditations on the many voices in nature, as well as our human definition of music. Neither anthropomorphic nor zoomorphic, ecoscores address social and environmental justice issues and alternative performance practices and notations, all in an attempt to break down old and artificial barriers involving human versus nature, nature versus art.
