Miniatures
for Piano and Woodwind Quintet
Farewell Overture composed February 5--May 7, 2016
Poem; theme from 2004, composed March 2015
Sevillana composed August 2015
Duration: about 15 minutes 30 seconds
cover photo: Neem Karoli Baba with two devotees
Farewell Overture is the chamber version of a free-standing piece of the same name for concert band. This has its own page here.
A Little Poem is the chamber version of the second movement of Popular Music of Planet
X, for concert band.
Sevillana is the chamber version of the second of two movements of Tilting at Windmills, for concert band.
Recording from March 24, 2019, Meredith College, Raleigh NC
Performed by students from North Carolina Chamber Music Institute (Amy
Xu, flute; Hans-Nikolas Romano, oboe: Isabelle Lee, clarinet; Marni
Weinreb, bassoon; Aiden McCoy, horn) and Kent Lyman, piano
Video MP3 recording WAV recording (CD quality)
Legal-size Score Legal-size Cover
Letter-size Score Letter-size Cover Parts
I. Farewell Overture
Frühjahrsmüdigkeit [6']
II. A Little Poem
Largo [5:44]
III. Sevillana
Allegro con gringo [4']
I frequently write chamber versions first when composing pieces for large
forces. In 2015, from January through August, I wrote for concert band. One
piece was Popular Music of Planet X,
and another was Tilting at Windmills. A
Little Poem, from the first, and Sevillana,
from the second, had chamber versions for woodwind quintet and piano. This is a
very interesting ensemble which has had my attention for some years. After
completing my Cello Concerto in late
January, I felt it was time to write a third movement to make a complete
composition for this chamber group. The new movement became the Farewell Overture, inspired in a way by
Groucho Marx in Animal Crackers, and
also by my uncertainty as to how much more music I will be able to write. This
overture was arranged for
concert band in August, 2016.
Frühjahrsmüdigkeit, the tempo marking
for the first movement, is German for a sense of listlessness brought on by the
coming of spring.
In September 2022 I made a new edition,
so that this score is now available both in letter-size and legal-size
scores.
