Flower of the Earth (Homage to Georgia O’Keeffe)
Content Description
The collection includes a PDF of "Flower of the Earth (Homage to Georgia O’Keeffe)" musical score for chamber orchestra written by Steve Heitzeg in 1987.
Flower of the Earth (Homage to Georgia O’Keeffe) was composed in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Georgia O’Keeffe’s birth. The work is based on four specific paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe: the four movements symbolically suggest the normal progression of a day from morning to evening, or perhaps, on a grander scale, the stages of life itself.
I. The White Calico Flower, 1931
Georgia O’Keeffe stated, “My first memory is of the brightness of light—light all around.” So, too, the work begins in a very simple and bright manner with the opening pitch of G (for Georgia). Based in C major (all white keys on the piano), this movement slowly begins to unfold (just as the petals of a flower open) and then blossoms into its full and brilliant conclusion. While O’Keeffe’s previous flower paintings had always been based on natural flowers, this painting is based on an artificial flower, most likely made out of calico by some of the Latina or Native American women near where O’Keeffe lived in New Mexico.
II. Black Cross: New Mexico, 1929
O’Keeffe would encounter mysterious wooden crosses, probably erected by secret Catholic lay brotherhoods called Penitentes, on her late-night walks in the desert and wilderness of New Mexico. “I saw the crosses so often—and often in unexpected places—over the New Mexico landscape,” said Georgia O’Keeffe. This black cross with red hills in the distance inspired this elegy for strings.
III. Sky Above Clouds II, 1963
Blue sky and happy clouds: an affirmation of life, the sky and the limitless possibilities of the human spirit. Based on one of O’Keeffe’s paintings from her cloudscapes series from the 1960s and ‘70s, this buoyant and abrupt movement conveys the sudden shifting of clouds, shifting moods of people and the brevity of life itself.
IV. Evening Star III, 1917
This watercolor of O’Keeffe’s is her abstract depiction of the landscape of the American West. This movement is a restful and introspective meditation on the end of the day or, perhaps, the end of a life. A plain and contemplative melody suggests a person’s child-like or prayer-like wish while looking toward the evening sky.
From: "Flower of the Earth (Homage to Georgia O’Keeffe) – Steve Heitzeg." Opus Imprints, 2025, opusimprints.com/products/flower-of-the-earth-homage-to-georgia-o-keefe?variant=47543785455904. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Premiered: Minneapolis Chamber Symphony; Jay Fishman, conductor, Minneapolis, MN on July 8, 1988.
Excerpts from “Flower of the Earth (Homage to Georgia O’Keeffe)" were the score for the PBS film “A Marriage: Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz”, starring Jane Alexander and Christopher Plummer, 1991
Heitzeg played piano versions of the score for the film. For more information on film see: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102409/
https://vimeo.com/85264640
Dates
- Creation: 1987
Creator
- Heitzeg, Steve (b. 1959) (Composer, Person)
Access Restrictions
The collection is open to the public for research purposes.
Copy and Reproduction Restrictions
Photocopies of materials may be made for research purposes only.
Biographical / Historical
Emmy Award-winning composer Steve Heitzeg is known for evocative music that celebrates nature and that calls for environmental justice, human rights and world peace.
Heitzeg’s wide-ranging body of works includes compositions for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensemble, ballet and PBS films. His works often include “naturally-found” percussion instruments—stones, driftwood, sea shells, sea glass, seeds, as well as unusual global percussion—Tibetan singing bowls, crystal singing bowls, ocean drums, plowshares, herding bells, and shruti box.
Esteemed conductors, performers and ensembles such as—Ariana Kim, Charles Lazarus, Clara Osowski, Laura Sewell, Marin Alsop, Osmo Vanska, Sarah Hicks, Philip Brunelle, Minnesota Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, VocalEssence—have commissioned, premiered and performed his music.
Five works feature prominently in Heitzeg’s catalog: his trumpet concerto American Nomad, premiered and recorded by Charles Lazarus, trumpet, and the Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä conducting; Lake Stone Moon (Save the Boundary Waters) for solo violin, stones and driftwood, premiered and performed extensively world-wide by Ariana Kim; O Colored Earth—a piece for children’s choir that is a simple plea for peace—which has received hundreds of performances; Wounded Fields—a lush string elegy dedicated to the victims of war and genocide; and Aqua (Hommage à Jacques Yves Cousteau) for orchestra—a protest piece against the destruction of the oceans; percussionists play an unusual mix of instruments: driftwood, coral, beach stones, nautical bells and gongs, and plastic garbage.
Heitzeg is also known for his earth-centric and visually stunning “ecoscores”—intimate works with inventive musical syntax and design that are an outgrowth of his being influenced by the graphic scores of John Cage, R. Murray Schafer and Erik Stokes.
Works include: light/see + dark/hear, premiered by Ariana Kim, violin, as part of The Great Northern Festival at Minneapolis Institute of Art; Peace Everywhere for SATB chorus, flute, cello and organ, premiered by Sanctuary Choir; Birdsongs and Bells, premiered by carillonneur Chad Winterfeldt; Wind of No Return, premiered at Liquid Music by Ariana Kim and ensemble; Green Freedom, premiered by the Minnesota Orchestra, Chia-Hsuan Lin conducting; Green Hope After Black Rain (Symphony for the Survivors of Manzanar Concentration Camp, Hiroshima and Nagasaki), inspired by Toronto-based photographer Katie McCormick’s photos of A-bombed trees, premiered by the Saint Paul Civic Symphony, Jeffrey Stirling conducting.; Lament of the Earth for SATB chorus, SATB soli, children’s choir, piano, percussion and strings (an extensive multi-movement work with texts by Susan Palo Cherwien, Tachibana Hokushi, Winona LaDuke and Terry Tempest Williams), premiered by The National Lutheran Choir, David Cherwien, conducting, Minnesota Boy Choir and Clara Osowski, mezzo soprano.
From: "Steve Heitzeg." Opus Imprints, 2025, opusimprints.com/collections/steve-heitzeg. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Extent
1 item : Digital only
Language
English
Acquisition Information
This collection was donated to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in August 2025 by Steve Heitzeg.
Legal Status
This collection is the physical property of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. The Museum holds literary rights only for material created by Museum personnel or given to the Museum with such rights specifically assigned. The collection is subject to all copyright laws. The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply. Contact the Archivist for further copyright and publication information as it pertains to this collection.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Elizabeth Ehrnst in 2025.
Genre / Form
- Title
- Finding Aid for the Flower of the Earth (Homage to Georgia O’Keeffe), 1987
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Elizabeth Ehrnst
- Date
- August 2025
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Repository
217 Johnson Street
Santa Fe NM 87501 US
505-946-1000