“Shofar Bells,” an arrangement of “Jingle Bells” for shofar and viola, can be heard over at the Holiday Recording Party site.  Meg Reichardt’s annual holiday album is a Brooklyn tradition; I’m happy to participate.  As is traditional, it was written the night before, and recorded during a marathon session among children, dogs, alcohol, food, and squabbling musicians.  You can also hear my song “The Parcel.”  David Gold joins me on both.

I have a fondness for chorales: nuggets of harmony, where I can play around with voice leading.  I wrote several for piano, later incorporated into my 4th String Quartet.

“Prof. Williams’ New System” was the first piece I toured with the Oberlin Dance Collective, back in 1974.  I was 19.  I don’t remember much about the piece, but did keep a rough score/script.  The title was taken from a 19th century manual on the care of horses and cattle, and the text came from that and other sources.  According to my notes, I played ‘cello, bulbul (a sort of Indian dulcimer), camel bells, and percussion.   I do remember that I wrote it using bits of found material within a network of associations.

It was reviewed briefly in the Boston Globe.  At least I knew when to stop!

It was also reviewed somewhat more sympathetically by Peter Walsh  in the Oberlin Review.

A short piece for piano, based on diatonic 4-pitch and 7-pitch sets.  Here’s the beginning:

I wrote “Love Is Fun” for White Knuckle Sandwich. Dave Miller made a cartoon video of it, as you can see in the following screen shots.