Carolina Bragg

Carolina Bragg

Bird of Paradise

(2020)

for string quartet and bird call

From Carolina Bragg

“My favorite bird is the bird of paradise. I was watching a nature documentary and I was shocked by its mating ritual. It fans out its feathers into a taco-shaped smiley face and dances around to impress its mate. It’s at the same time goofy and otherworldly in its beauty: it has this iridescent, turquoise breast shield and crown, and long antennae. But even cooler are the sounds it makes, batting its feathers (woosh), screeching, and calling to other birds. So for this piece I created two main motivic elements. One that represents its eerie, alien appearance and birdcall, and another for the goofy dance it does for the ladies.”