TXST Symphony performs Eric Schultz's "Fireflies"

TXSTSO - Eric Schultz Fireflies
"Unnoticed Episodes of Seduction, Cannibalism and Desperation on an Otherwise Perfectly Enjoyable Summer Evening" known in short as "Fireflies" is an open-instrument meditation to video on the secret life of fireflies. A field of fireflies on a Midwestern summer night can be somewhat hypnotic -- hundreds of gently ascending pulses of that familiar orange-yellow glow combining together in a delicately undulating ocean of nostalgic calm until night falls and the last light goes out. For human participants, the experience is calming, almost meditative.
For fireflies, the experience is somewhat different. A field of lightning bugs is actually a biological disco of desperate males determined to attract the invitation of a willing mate. On a given night, only about one in eight males find what they're looking for. Some are lured by deceptive females and eaten.
This performance was recorded individually by the members of the Texas State Symphony Orchestra in the fall semester of 2020. The approximately 70 individual recordings were then edited and balanced by the composer to create the realization of the piece in this video.