Tailing the Sparks (PDF)

Composed for and premiered by Perimeter Flutes at the Atlanta Flute Fair.

Tailing the Sparks refers to what happens at the tail end of sparks igniting a fire with a lighter. Occasionally, when a lighter is running low on fluid, it takes repeated strikes of the flint for the sparks to ignite the fire. There are countless events occurring once a fire has started. Slow flickers, roaring and dancing fire occurs. When the fuel runs out, the fire fades away, sometimes peacefully, sometimes with smoldering embers. Tailing the Sparks is my musical representation of this phenomenon.