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About Leaves: Three Portraits for Chamber Orchestra is inspired by three poems of New England poet Robert Frost (1974-1963).  Each portrait presents a distinct aspect of autumn foliage.  The poems may be read aloud before each movement or the music may be played without interruption.

I.  "Treading on Leaves" follows the Frost poem "A Leaf Treader," and specifically focuses upon the lines:
   
     I have been treading on leaves all day until I am autumn-tired.
     God knows all the color and form of leaves I have trodden on and mired.
     Perhaps I have put forth too much strength and been too fierce from fear.
     I have safely trodden underfoot the leaves of another year.

The music with forceful 'tromping' rhythms in the strings marked "As if treading on leaves -- with a mixture of joy and determination."  The winds punctuate the string phrases with added insistence and energy.  This movement aims to capture the good humor and hard work associated with "leaf control!"

II. "Light As Balloons" is a fanciful movement inspired by the poem "Gathering Leaves."  Many of the images of the music, especially the airy chases between the clarinets, are derived from the opening lines of the poem:
     
     Spades take up leaves no better than spoons.
     And bags full of leaves are light as balloons.

III. "The Last Color" is a reflective movement dealing with the fading of the foliage colors and the end of the beauty of autumn.  Often the musical lines fall; as one might picture the last few leaves gently falling to the ground, or perhaps falling tears.  Chords unfold slowly, as the blurring of colors.  In the end, the music fades away, as in Robert Frost's beautiful poem,  "Nothing Gold Can Stay."

Then leaf subsides to leaf.
     So Eden sank to grief.
     So dawn goes down to day.
     Nothing gold can stay

--Gwyneth Walker

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