Cherise D. Leiter, Composer

The Life in a Day (2004)

Medium: flute/alto flute, guitar, cello

Length: ~18 min

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The Life in a Day was commissioned by the Colorado State Music Teachers Association and MTNA and was premiered at the CSMTA state convention in June of 2004. The work is in three movements representing the course of a day. In the first movement, “Dawn Fantasy,” the music evokes sunrise on a beach with gentle waves lapping the shore. The second movement, “Workday Toccata,” is in alternating meters of 8/8 and 5/8 (the 8-5 workday!) with a middle section in 12/8 (lunch.) This movement is largely modal and a bit more dissonant, with flutter-tongue passages in the flute that remind one of a ringing telephone—inspired by one of the more hectic days in the composers office at Metro State. In the last movement, “Evening Rhapsody,” each instrument enters with a cadenza-like passage.  The piece closes with a peaceful end to the day and a return of the opening theme of the first movement as dawn comes again. The Life in a Day has been recorded by Michelle Stanley on her debut CD and has been released on the Centaur label. It won the 2017 Flute New Music Chamber Music Composition Competition.

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Price: $25