I Soar
I soar, I duck, I dodge.
My mission is so simple:
Reach the warmth, the food
Follow the stars, follow the sky
Reach the place where the rich food lies
Use the power in my wings
The wind is strong
But so am I
One Small Bird
Ballad of the Red-Necked Phalarope
By Kate Stilitz & Jilly Jarman
The song cycle will be performed by 2000 young singers and instrumentalists at the Royal Albert Hall on June 27th as part of the Haringey Schools Music Festival.
The piece, commissioned specially for this event will involve the borough’s youth symphony orchestra, big band, steel pan, guitar ensembles and youth choir Haringey Vox as well as junior instrumentalists and choirs from 48 Haringey schools.
A group of young musicians from Lima, Peru will also perform at the event.
The song cycle was inspired by the RSPB’s exciting discovery in 2014 of the migratory route from Shetland to Peru of one of Britain’s rarest birds, the Red-Necked Phalarope.
Children participating in the project have found the story fascinating and exciting: “Such a tiny creature is so soft and fragile but it’s actually very brave and determined and powerful.”
Leaving
I created a nest like a puzzle
Shadows are creeping over the land
My egg hatched into fragments of shell
Will I miss the cosy nest?
Will this place change while I’m away?
Will I ever come back?
The Red Necked Phalarope
This is the story of a little bird,
it flew much further than I had heard,
It took flight from the safety of an experts hand,
it flew from land to land to land.
No-one realised how far it flew,
until they discovered it’s journey to Peru.
It did not travel by plane or boat,
It flew by itself with it’s russet red throat.
Flight
That uplifting moment
Breathtaking
Enlightening
When you rise up and up and up
When the wind takes control
Freedom!
Little Bird
A little bird
Flew a distance that no-one else could reach.
What a miracle.
A small thing is not weak
This is evidence and you say:
How far did it fly?
It flew over the ocean
Past Greenland
And to the Caribbean
And not only that
It flew into the wind
With no difficulty
What a miracle
If I had Wings
When the wind came I took to my wings
I flew quite unsteadily at first
But it was worth it.
Soaring through the sky
The freedom of being so high
When I let loose and flew
Flight was my destiny
in the atmosphere full of danger –
But the view!
I wish I could go again…
If I had wings
If I had wings
If I was a Bird
If I was a bird I would see the world
In a new light
A new perspective.
All the millions of problems and arguments would mean nothing to me.
I would be free of the greedy, the selfish and the liars.
I would have the whole world to explore, to myself
If I was a bird
Set Your Path Through the Sky
Set your path through the sky
Just keep on flying up so high
Small bird, don’t give up
Keep on flying so you don’t drop
Keep on flying through the air
Just don’t have a single care
You may be so very small
Just don’t give up so you don’t fall