Living in Kalispell, Mont., years ago, Craig Naylor felt a kinship with the vociferous black-capped chickadees so common out west.
"It’s a small bird, and I’m kind of a small person," he said. "It’s an intense bird, and I’m kind of an intense person."
But it wasn’t until years later–well into his career at the University of Mary Washington, where he’s an associate professor of music–that Naylor began to appreciate the complexity and individuality of the little birds’ calls. He’d used birdsong in earlier musical compositions, but now he conceived a more ambitious project, an entire symphony that uses chickadees’ nuanced vocalizations to tell the story of the birds’ way of life.
Three movements of the resulting "Chickadee Symphony" will premiere Thursday evening in a free public concert by the university’s Concert Band. It’s at 7:30 p.m., at the Great Hall, Woodard Student Center, conducted by Kevin Bartram.
Before Naylor could begin composing, he had to do his research. He started by auditing an upper-level class taught by UMW colleague and ornithologist Andrew Dolby. Then Naylor and wife Candi took a monthlong summer camping trip to Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine State Forest, where noted ornithologist Penny Ficken helped Naylor decipher the birds’ language.
He listened to the chickadees’ courtship songs and their sophisticated response to predators–a language so varied the birds can communicate not just the presence of a threat, but the type of threat. A slow, lumbering great horned owl, for example, merits a less-intense "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" than, say, a pygmy owl, whose size and swiftness make it an extremely dangerous predator.
Naylor came to understand that, like people, black-capped chickadees from different territories have distinctive identifying dialects. And he learned to recognize the gargle call the birds use to ward off other chickadees from outside their territory.
Naylor cited Dolby’s earlier chickadee research that determined that other species of bird depend on chickadees as an early alert to predators.
"They’re the watchbirds but also the thugs of the forest," Naylor said. "They’re little and they’re cute, but they’re mean."
At last Naylor was ready to compose. The resulting "Chickadee Symphony" is a four-movement tribute to the black-capped chickadees’ language and life. The winds-and-percussion UMW Concert Band will perform the first, third and fourth movements; the second, Naylor said, is "a wickedly hard piece of music" based on the birds’ gargle, which he and conductor Bartram decided was too ambitious for this performance.
Naylor described the first movement as the amorous Dawn Chorus, featuring "sunrisey" chords and a jazz sax solo. "It’s amazing how jazzy these birds are," he explained. Five birds sing their love songs–one less successfully than the others.
The third movement features the birds’ danger vocalizations, including what Naylor says is a berserk response to the fearsome pygmy owl.
Finally comes the "Chickadee Dance," a melodic jazz riff that incorporates several vocalizations. "It’s a kick," Naylor said.
He notes that no one instrument or group of instruments gets all the fun chickadee parts in the symphony. "It would have been very easy to write for flute, oboe, piccolo and clarinet, and give them all of the chickadee stuff," because of their high range, Naylor said. "I intentionally didn’t want to do that." At various times, trombones, tubas, bass clarinets, bassoons and French horns make the chickadee music.
While the subject matter may intrigue outdoors-lovers and birders in the audience, there’s also something to be said for being among the first people ever to hear a new composition. Naylor feels that way whenever he hears the premiere of a musical work–his or someone else’s.
This is his fourth symphony, he said, and the thrill hasn’t diminished.
The audience for a premiere gets to be "the first step in the decision whether that piece is going to be performed again," Naylor said. "When you think of it, it’s very exciting."
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WHAT: "Chickadee Symphony" premiere and other pieces performed by the UMW Concert Band WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday WHERE: Great Hall, Woodard Student Center, UMW ADMISSION: Free ABOUT THE COMPOSER: Craig Naylor, a UMW associate professor of music, incorporates the varied vocalizations of the black-capped chickadee in his "Chickadee Symphony."
Naylor, 55, has composed 50 to 60 musical pieces that have been performed worldwide. In 2006, he received presidential recognition for "Native Voices," a music series featuring original works by American Indian composers.
He also has received the UMW Alumni Association Outstanding Young Faculty Member Award. He plans to retire at the end of this academic year, move with his wife to Montana, and keep writing music.