Instrumentation: Saxophone Quartet

Duration: 5’30”

Program Note: Mrs. Perkins' Flowers for Saxophone Quartet (2024) was written while relocating to Ann Arbor, MI. Leaving a historic city like Hartford, CT, and a job at one of the oldest libraries in America, I spent much of my free time reading about historical figures who seem to be left behind. From daredevil Floyd Collins to painter Georgia O'Keeffe, my compositional work focused on learning about the lives of these inspiring characters. Mrs. Perkins' Flowers was initially written as a direct impassioned ode to Frances Perkins, the first woman in a Presidential cabinet.

Yet, during the research process, I noticed a pattern that gave me a deeper realization of the direction of this piece. As the Secretary of Labor, Mrs. Perkins was a public punching bag for the media and the elite because she introduced many of the benefits we are accustomed to today, including the 40-hour work week, the ban on child labor, the start of workplace equality, and the creation of Social Security. Her career of creating a middle class during the Great Depression and being a key author in the New Deal led her to a later life that still didn't give her the applause she deserved. After twelve years as Secretary of Labor, she continued to better society in Truman's Civil Service Commission and then as a professor at Cornell University. One aspect of her life that I wanted to directly reference was its consistent strife, specifically highlighting her husband's mental illness that spanned almost her entire career. One specific moment that drew me to focus more on my tonal structure and use of extended techniques was the day of she attended the signing of the Social Security Act. "As she was leaving her office to go to the signing ceremony, she received a phone call breaking the news that her husband had wandered away from his hospital and was lost somewhere in New York City. She went to the White House for the signing and took her place immediately behind FDR for the photographers and newsreel cameramen.

As soon as the ceremony ended, she rushed to Union Station, where she boarded the first train to New York City. There, several hours later, she finally located her confused and disoriented husband wandering the streets of the city" (account from https://www.ssa.gov/history/fpbiossa..... Frances Perkins was buried in Newcastle, Maine, where she was known as Mrs. Paul Wilson, and her historic landmark/homestead is still standing today. This established a surprise connection for my family and me. We visited the homestead as kids after a morning at the beach as a way for us to learn more during the summer.