performed by Ricky Graham as the Pelican & John Reeks, bass clarinet/clarinet;

with Gabriel Platica & Kate Withrow, violins: Bruce Owen, viola; David Rosen, cello

& Jesse Reeks, piano; words & music ©2010 by William Vollinger, videography by John Reeks

This work was commissioned by John Reeks and composed while the

oil spill was still going on in the Gulf of Mexico. It was first performed

at Loyola University, New Orleans, LA on October 14,  2010. The first

half of the piece is  a description by the Pelican in his own rather sassy

words of the lengthy process of getting cleaned up after being covered

in oil. But in the second half of the work the Pelican assumes his identity

as the traditional self sacrificing symbol of Christ. The piece also uses

material from the “Chaconne for Unaccompanied Violin” by J. S. Bach.