Program Note

These short character pieces are a tongue-in-cheek exploration of a number of contemporary compositional and stylistic devices linked together like and eclectic group of friends.

The Bookends that begin and end the set are (mostly) the reverse (retrograde) of one another.
Ennui … is … oh … I’m just too bored to write anything …
Quasi Dodecaphonic uses a twelve tone row freely in one instrument at a time.
Chanson Triste was inspired by the expressions of a melancholy chanteuse.
Bitonality This perky movement maintains two different simultaneous major keys throughout. The addition of a melodic inversion and canonic entrances helps to create a sense of playful competition.
Souvenir of Croatia was inspired by some of the folk music I heard on a trip to the Adriatic.
Perpetually Octatonic The octatonic scale (whole step, half step, alternating through the octave) gives this piece a sense of urgency, further enhanced by the constant sixteenth-note motion.
Bill Jones’ Cat was inspired by “Tinky,” the very cool cat that lives with William Corbett Jones.