Sonata Forty, for horn and piano, was commissioned by Scott Brubaker and the International Horn Society. Completed on February 2, 1992, the title and composition were inspired by my fortieth birthday. This birthday along with my twenty-first and thirtieth, was a transitional one. As it approached, I found myself becoming increasingly agitated with thoughts of dreams unfulfilled, countless failures, missed opportunities and questions concerning what direction my life should take now. Even though I had read that this “taking stock” period was very common around this age, it surprised me that the emotions were so powerfully disturbing. I spent a great deal of effort sorting through basic questions of time, vulnerability and choices. When I began writing this horn sonata for Scott, this working out process flowed directly into the composition and presented me with a natural form. The movements portray the progression from crisis to inner doubts and shadows to the cherished memories and finally to a resolution of building on the past and moving on. Coincidently, I found out later that Scott also celebrated his fortieth birthday around the time I was writing this work. It makes the title and subject matter seem even more appropriate.
Powell Trio for tenor trombone, marimba and piano was written in 2009 for Michael Powell, a prominent New York trombonist. It is presented in three movements: Flow, Stillwater and Eddies, aurally depicts various states of water as we experience it in nature. As the piece begins, you can imagine a gently flowing stream meandering through the countryside on a journey to a bay or an ocean. Along the way, there will be moments of stillness contrasted with humor, anger, playfulness and joy. The journey is life itself.
“Our Fathers’ Road”: A Cantata for New Sweden for Soprano, Oboe/English Horn, Violoncello, Percussion and Piano is a cycle of five songs in Swedish and the Lenni Lenape language translated into English. It was commissioned and premiered by the Vinland Duo in 1989.
Memories To Keep Awhile for trumpet/flügelhorn, violin, violoncello and piano was commissioned by and written for David Elton for premiere at the 2015 Australian Festival of Chamber Music. The title was taken from a label that my mother had placed on a box of photographs of my family when I was growing up in South Carolina and Virginia. She passed away a few years ago leaving me with all of the familys’ historical documents. It has been my responsibility to examine all of these photographs, slides, newspaper articles and films to decide what to keep and what to throw away. I am the family historian for my generation. My guess is that many of you have done this already and most of you will experience this in your lifetime. What I have found was that it stirred up a tremendous amount of varied emotions. I also found that when I saw the rather self-effacing label that my mother created for one of the boxes, I smiled at her wonderful attitude. She was correct in the observation that these cherished memories are cherished by only a few presently and will be only a curiosity to future generations.
Memories To Keep Awhile is divided into four movements which I call “photos” with the third and fourth “photo” played attacca, that is, without pause. I choose not to describe the actual photos, instead, allowing your imagination to create your own. The work is an attempt to aurally depict a small portion of what my familys’ lives have meant to each other.
