In the meanwhile

As I have noted ere now, the title Feel the Burn (Bicycling Into the Sun) which now belongs to the third piece I have composed for Ensemble Aubade, was originally pinned to a piece for the Opus 114.

The story of the Opus 114 is more or less this:

In 2013, I composed the clarinet/marimba duet, just what everyone was expecting for Dr Tim Phillips in Troy, Alabama, who was collaborating with a percussionist at the time, and I designated this duet Opus 114 № 1. A possibility for which (I admit) I was prepared:  my piece failed to win the affection of the percussionist, so the piece remained unperformed until Olivia Kieffer & I gave the première in Atlanta on 11 Nov 2014.

Earlier in 2014, I composed an easy-going flute/clarinet duet for Peter Bloom & myself, Zen on the Wing.  Quite possibly at that time, I formed the idea of the Opus 114 comprising a set of four pieces, and Zen on the Wing became Opus 114 № 2.

A set of four pieces: three duets, and a trio for all three instrumentalists (clarinet, flute, mallet percussion.

It was the fl/prc duet which was the original Feel the Burn.

Having finished (or, very nearly finished—I need to refine the pizzicato quadruple-stop tomorrow) I want a small-scale project to chop out as a respite before getting back to the ballet: so, why not the flute/vibraphone duet for the Opus 114?

I have been chipping away at it for a couple of days, and the title is Snootful of Hooch.