"Legend has it that there was once a bird that sang only once in all its life, but more melodiously than any other creature on earth. It left its nest and immediately set about looking for a tree with thorny branches and could not rest until it had found it. It was then that it was torn to pieces on the longest, sharpest thorn, all the while singing through the wild branches. The bird was dying yet rose above its death throe with a song that surpassed that of the lark and nightingale. A supreme song whose price was life itself. The whole world stood still to listen and God smiled in his Heaven. Because the best can only be achieved at the expense of great pain... or at least, that's what the legend tells us."
Graciane Finzi was born in Casablanca, Morocco, studied at the Casablanca Conservatory where her parents taught. From the age of ten she studied at the Pars Conservatory and received numerous prix and developed an interest in composition. She joined the teaching staff at the Paris Conservatoire in 1979. A composer of more than 100 works in all genres, she is known for her operas. Her music "...never searches for the abstract, but for the immediate expression of life in Man's deepest feelings."
In keeping with the legend, this is an expressive work of wide musical range. It employs the full gamut of dynamics and the normal clarinet range without the use of extended techniques.
Although the clarinet is not always required to be perfectly in sync with the recorded CD, it will require practice to work out some of the electronic/live coordination despite the cues which are provided in the score. Those sections requiring complete coordination are clearly prepared and easily followed. Page turns are not possible. For performance, the score must be photocopied so one can slide pages during rests. This is a dramatic-lyrical work for those looking for interesting new electronic repertoire.

Robert Riseling,
The Clarinet
September 2013

La charmante et tragique légende de l'oiseau qui chante le jour de sa mort (on pense au fameux chant du cygne) a inspiré à Graciane Finzi une pièce qui tend, près des essais de chant de l'oiseau, à un paroxysme lyrique qui s'achève sur une citation mozartienne, le tout soutenu par une nappe électroacoustique fournie avec la partition.

L'Education Musicale