Songs across cultures and traditions often mention birds in connection with freedom. People have always marveled at these creatures untethered from the earth, symbolizing the possibility of a freer life. Emily Dickinson wrote that “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers”; I propose that Freedom is also a thing with feathers. Each of the three movements draws from a traditional song, representing a different culture, a different bird, and a different freedom.
The first movement incorporates the traditional Iranian song Morghe Sahar (“Bird of Dawn”), composed in 1927 by Iranian classical musician Morteza Neidavoud, with text by Mohammad Taqi-Bahar. It is often regarded as the unofficial anthem for Iranian freedom, thanks in large part to master Iranian vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian, who performed Morghe Sahar in every concert as a statement against authoritarian rule. The lyrics describe a mournful nightingale, longing to “break and overturn this cage” and “sing the song of human freedom.” Following a melancholy introduction, the “Bird of Dawn” melody is passed between different instruments, concluding with a prayerful chorale setting.
Folklorists recorded “Little Sparrow,” the American ballad featured in the second movement, in early twentieth-century Appalachia. Decades later, musicians and civil rights activists of the American folk music revival, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul & Mary, would perform the song widely. “I wish I were a little sparrow” sings the narrator, weary of false-hearted men and yearning to “fly away to my true lover.” My setting unfolds as though the narrator is trapped in a cycle, with one instrument playing the melody while the others weave increasingly coarse textures.
Kaqavik (“Partridge”), a 1907 song written by the preeminent Armenian musician Komitas, serves as the basis of the final movement. Komitas’s lifelong pursuit of preserving Armenian folk music was cut short in 1915, after suffering mental trauma in a prison camp during the Armenian Genocide. The lyrics of Kaqavik, penned by Armenian national poet Hovhannes Tumanyan, describe a partridge who sings a psalm over the land, “giving heart to the sea of sadness”—a fitting image for Komitas’s legacy. This movement offers a vision of everlasting freedom, combining Kaqavik, Morghe Sahar, and “Little Sparrow” in jubilant counterpoint.