On a cold winter's day in February of 2009, as I contemplated the dark, snow-covered woods behind my house, I began to imagine the many plants and animals in their concealed hibernation. How long would it be before they began stirring - were they as impatient as I was for the start of spring?

 

Spring Fever begins with this gradual transformation from a completely icy, dormant, mysterious state, to the tentative first hints of awakening flora and fauna. While not as primal as Stravinsky's “The Rite of Spring,” the piece explores the resources of this unusual pairing of flute and double bass to celebrate the ecstatic joy of being released from the bonds of winter.