AND THE FLOWERS FELL
AND THE FLOWERS FELL is a tribute to the victims of hate crime; those that have fallen to hatred and bigotry in our society, and it is ultimately a reflection of the beauty and honor their memory demands and deserves. Twenty-five years after the murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming, I thought it was important to mark this dark milestone with something beautiful and emotional--a depiction of many layers of reality brought to the forefront of our existence each time such an act of violence is repeated. It is to them, the lost, the flowers.
Ironically, the title is taken from I Peter 1:24 and is meant to be a stark reminder that so much of hatred and hate crimes toward the LGBTQ+ community, toward people of color, toward people of differing cultures, backgrounds and experiences finds its twisted and deplorable justification in scripture. Let this piece serve as a charge to people of all faiths to stand in the gap between their belief systems and any use of those beliefs as a tool of hatred and bigotry by those who manipulate and misinterpret, often purposefully, their intentions.
The overwhelming connecting thematic motif in the piece is simply based on the rhythm of the name, "Matthew." There are iterations of this idea as simply "Matthew" and also repeated, "Matthew Shepard." As I began working on this idea, it became exceptionally apparent to me that in my youth, I could have been Matthew Shepard so many times, that the rhythm of his name is also the rhythm of my name.
The rhythm of the name "Matthew" is also fitting in commemorating so many of the victims: Trayvon, brother, sister, father, Jewish, Asian, and on and on. There is also the unshakeable sense of "why" involved when we think of lives cut short, on purpose, maliciously, because of who they are or who they love, or the color of their skin or their background or their culture, and a figurative rhythm of the 8-syllable phrase, "Why must innocent people die" is heard first shouted by the full ensemble at measure 58 and then throughout the following solos. This lyric-less song also sings "Remember Matthew," which serves as the charge to us all to never forget, never stop working toward love, never stop standing against hatred, never stop seeing the beauty in flowers.
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“Commissioned by Thomas Richardson and the Collierville HS Wind Symphony for their performance at the 2022 TMEA performance in Nashville, TN.