Adolphe's 'Tyrannosaurus Sue'

Composers Datebook

Synopsis

Popular as the imaginary purple dinosaur Barney was with American kids in the 1990s, he got some competition from another dinosaur: a T. Rex named Sue. Sue was the nearly complete fossilized skeleton of a female T. Rex discovered in South Dakota, named after paleontologist Susan Hendrickson, the woman who found her.

Sue — the dinosaur, that is — ended up as a major display at the Field Museum in Chicago.

As part of the festivities surrounding the opening of the exhibit, on today’s date in 2000, the Chicago Chamber Musicians premiered Tyrannosaurus Sue: A Cretaceous Concerto, a work by American composer Bruce Adolphe that told Sue’s story. It was designed for children, in the style of Peter and the Wolf, or, in this case, “Sue eats Peter, the wolf, and anything else she can catch.”

Adolphe was a good choice for the project for, in addition to being a composer, author, educator and performer, he admits to being a big kid at heart, eager to share his enthusiasm for music with audiences of all ages.

Music Played in Today's Program

Bruce Adolphe (b. 1955): Tyrannosaurus Sue: A Cretaceous Concerto; Chicago Chamber Musicians; Pollyrhythm Productions 30001