take you all the way

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take you all the way (2023)

Commissioned by Taylor Stirm and a Consortium of 31 Clarinetists

for Solo Bb Clarinet
Duration: ca. 6’45”

PROGRAM NOTES

Shortly before beginning this piece I lost my one-in-a-million dog, Peggie (full name: Pegasus), a 3.5-legged brindle pug. She was sassy, goofy, sweet, and utterly complex - one of the most vivid personalities I’ve ever known trapped in a fur baby’s body. While I have had several pets over the course of my life, Peggie was different - she was, in many ways, my soulmate and I don’t know if there was ever going to be enough time on this earth with her.

In grieving, I found strange comfort in a line from a Reddit post in r/Stoicism - the poster said, “As crazy as it sounds, the day I [help my pet cross the rainbow bridge] is the day that I have been working for all this time - I have successfully taken them the whole way.”

At first glance, the larger sections of take you all the way are modeled after Peggie’s time here: the beginning of her life (a mystery), the year when Tyler (my now husband) adopted her from a rescue, the many years we shared once I joined the picture and Peggie fully blossomed, and then the time after she left. The dearer metaphor I hold for the piece is that it is an act of remembering: an intimate, meditative reanimation of Peggie’s spirit - conjuring memories not only to relive, but to live in, and to never forget.

I hope that this piece articulates the persevering love we have for those no longer with us, both furry and not. Thanks for letting me take you all the way, Peg.

- Susanna Hancock (2023)

Performances