Before we were so rudely interrupted
8’30” 1983
For clarinet in A or Alto Saxophone, Violin or Viola, Piano
This was composed for saxophonist Richard Paul Stone and was premiered at a Composers in Red Sneakers concert. It’s quite a jazzy piece that explores both rhythmic and lyrical parts of the instruments. In 2021, I extended this so that the wind could be either saxophone or clarinet and the string could be either violin or viola (although it lies more naturally on the violin). This was published by Dorn for many years, but I reacquired the copyright.
……
It struck me as the most interesting music on the program, with a pawing, scampering “Cat Dance”, a very intense slow movement, and a jazzy and asymmetrical “Gig Music” at the end - Richard Dyer, Boston Globe
If you’re interested, you can request a score at the bottom of this page
Complete piece. Performed by Rikk Stone, Mario DeLeone (vn) and Greg Stepanik (pn)
1 - Cat Dance. I stole this from an earlier song of mine, based on a W.C. Williams poem describing the motion of a cat.
2 - Slow. Long expressive passages, played senza misura.
3 - Gig Music. The offspring of bebop and boogie.