Prescribed Fire, from “The Land Shifts” - String Orchestra

Duration: 4.5 Minutes

Difficulty: Grade 5 (grading system details)

Written: 2024

Instrumentation:
-Violin I
-Violin II
-Viola
-Violoncello
-Double Bass

Teaching Materials coming soon!

Link to the full four-movement work:
-The Land Shifts

Other movements published as standalone concert works:
-Kudzu Pull

Program Note:

Prescribed Fire is the raucous finale of The Land Shifts, a four-movement suite that explores the transformative process of reconnecting with the natural world. The finale’s energetic rhythms and bold textures evoke the power and purpose of fire in land management, celebrating its transformative role in sustaining ecosystems.

Prescribed Fire is inspired by controlled burns, a technique cultivated and practiced by Indigenous peoples for centuries. Controlled burns reduce flammable ground cover, prevent wildfires, and enrich the soil with ash to support future growth. This piece challenges the common narrative that wildfires are solely caused by global warming. It reflects a deeper understanding of land stewardship, highlighting how the displacement of Indigenous peoples disrupted this careful ecological balance, leading to increased wildfire risks. Prescribed Fire honors the wisdom of Indigenous fire practices, urging us to center and from those who have long cared for the land.

Further Reading: (excerpted from the larger work)

Movement IV. Prescribed Fire, the raucous finale, nods to the ancient land management technique of burning portions of land during the cold and wet season, which reduces the amount of flammable ground cover. This prevents larger wildfires during the summer while feeding the existing the seed bank underneath with nutritious ash. 

Growing up, I always thought global warming was to blame for summer wildfires. In adulthood I learned that Indigenous people routinely introduced fire to the landscape for its benefit, and when millions of them were taken from these lands, the ground-cover was not routinely burned, and the flammable material on the forest floor was not maintained.

Indigenous people make up only 5% of the world's population, but protect approximately 85% of the world's biodiversity through stewardship of Indigenous-managed lands. This bustling musical finale celebrates the joy in taking care of land, urging us to center and learn from its Indigenous stewards. If those who aren’t Indigenous are to be naturalized rather than invasive, sovereignty struggles like Land Back must be at the heart of what we find joyous about being alive, guiding our thinking, actions, and refusals.