Scissortail Suite - Aaron Fryklund

Click HERE to listen to a recording.

Click HERE to access perusal score

Scissortail Suite is named for the state bird of Oklahoma, the Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher. This suite is a lovingly crafted homage to the state and it's glowing, natural beauty. I grew up and spent many years in Oklahoma and have a great appreciation for the wide-open sky with its surreal sunsets and the sweeping, golden prairie lands. There's no over-arching narrative to this piece, but in abstract it can be seen through the eyes of the titular bird soaring over the cities and fields. Scissortail Suite represents a gilded, nostalgic memory of the many years I spent in Oklahoma.

The suite is unified by interconnected themes, some with hidden significance. One of the themes presented in the first movement that reappears in each movement is based on a three-note motive using the numbers of an Oklahoma area code - 405 - which is expressed musically as a pitch class set. The piece is often highly rhythmic and requires a sort of raw, reckless playing similar to bluegrass fiddle styles. It's also built on numerous complex time signatures with sometimes frequent meter changes. The suite may be presented in its entirety, or in part.

Scissortail Suite was a finalist for The American Prize in 2024. Notable performances include the 2023 premiere of "On Soaring Wind" by the Dallas Asian American Youth Orchestra (Erin Fox Wells, director), the 2025 Oklahoma premiere of movements 1, 4, and 5 by  the orchestra at Edmond Santa Fe High School (Sarah Neely, director) and the 2026 Music for All national festival performance of movements 1, 3, and 5 by the Keller High School orchestra (Adam Pratt, director).

Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello, Bass

Circa 20:00