Divertimento in C

Description

Duration

15 min.

Program Notes

My Divertimento in C for flute and strings was written in 1994, a happy time of my life. I
had recently finished graduate school and gotten married. The content is my testament to
conjugal bliss, while the title was an upraised middle finger to my professors: “It’s fluff,
and it’s tonal! Deal with it!” It is to this day my favorite among my creations. It’s about
15 minutes long

I. Stephen’s tune
This is a portrait of my stepson, Stephen Morgan : a bit volatile and playful, as young
children are. It is easily the most rhythmically complex piece I have written, and will
probably require as much rehearsal as the other three movements together. The 1999
revision involved simplifying the meters in the fugal sections, which helps. I can’t say
that it’s exactly OK with me not to have the whole piece done, but if you don’t have a
lot of rehearsal time and just want to do the other movements for a nice party, I’d
rather have some played than none.

II. Aubade.
A morning love song to my wife, in ternary form, with a big tune for the ‘cello.

III. A Cute Minuet
Just what it says. The flute gets to take the bass line in the trio.

IV. Jimmy’s March
Who is Jimmy? I don’t know…could be my dad, could be various flute-playing
Jimmies. It’s an Irish march (or would be, if Irish music were fully chromatic) in
sonata form, with a bit of the first movement brought back.