And Here Comes the Opus 207

 Believe that there is no scorn in the chuckle I got from hearing in a commentary upon an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “It’s all based on real theory.”

— Porridger’s Almanack (Breakfast of Ganglions)

There’s no reason to shoot at me! I’m a dentist!

— Alan Arkin in The In-Laws

My friend Carson Cooman invited me to contribute to his current Pavane and Galliard project, paired pieces for organ (manuals only.) For the Pavane, I salvaged/expanded a keyboard piece memorializing Arni Cheatham, beloved and respected saxophonist of the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. In place of a Galliard, I felt like composing a Giguette in support of my excellent friend the Rev. Marj Stark, presently recovering from surgery. That is likely a wrap on the Opus 207.

April Program

 Postcards from Dreamland: I was searching the index of a book for Leonard Nimoy, but found Leonard Nimovskaya instead (which is misgendered) and I overheard someone say, “His name is really Leonard Nehemiah Schwartz, you know.”
— Porridger’s Almanack (Breakfast of Ganglions)

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, “My friend is dead! What can I do?” The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let’s make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a gun shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says “OK, now what?”
— A joke by Spike Milligan, famous for the Goon Show.

Here’s what I’m a-thinking for our trio concert at King’s Chapel on Tuesday, 21 April:

Love Song & Ruin

Karl Henning, The Dance on Ruin's Edge, Op. 209 (première).
Henning, Offertories I (Op. 201 Nos. 1-3).
Frank Warren, Three Notions of Love & Ruin, Op. 50 (première).
Henning, Offertories II (Op. 201 Nos. 4 & 5).
Dennis Báthory-Kitsz Just Another Love Song (première).
Henning, Offertories III (Op. 201 Nos. 6 & 7).
Henning, Janky Juke Joint, Op. 178 № 3 (première)

Notes:

quartets by Báthory-Kitsz, Forbes, Henning & Warren have been deferred to the fall. The Warren Op. 50 and Henning Op. 201 (and Op. 178 № 3) are duets.

Rehearsals to begin soon.

Bigger Nope

 Breaking news: Cocoanut Oil Can Save My Brain!
Porridger’s Almanack (Breakfast of Ganglions)

I wouldn’t say that I never have liked you. I have disliked and detested you with great cordiality. I found you to be, from the moment you came into my office, a predatory, grasping, conniving, acquisitive animal of a man, without heart, without conscience, without compassion, without even a subtle hint of the common decencies. Shall we go on from there?
— John Anderson addressing Albert Salmi in “Of Late I Think of Cliffordville”

Thinking ahead to Sextet Time, today I added B-flat clarinet and Double-bass to Cape of Good Nope. The additions are mostly coloristic. The Double-bass doubles the Bassoon (at the octave where the range permits.) Sometimes the clarinet similarly reinforces either the C flute or Alto flute, but there are passages in which I gave fresh pitches to the clarinet to enrich the harmony. So, that’s a wrap on the Opus 206a, in which Todd Brunel and Dave Zox can participate.

Rain Check Redeemed

 “Well, but not having any clue has never interfered with my certainty that I have the answer.”
Porridger’s Almanack (Breakfast of Ganglions)

My sister, the dentist-baffling comedienne....

Conversation with my dentist and oral hygienist

OH: Do you chew gum?

Me: Occasionally I'll chew Trident.

OH: You should try Orbit. It’s the only one I’ll chew.

Me: But they don't have cinnamon.

Dentist: You chew Trident? If you like that I have one you’ll like better.

Me: Orbit?

D: Have you tried it?

Me - No, because they don’t have a flavor I like. So I guess you are the one dentist?

[blank look from all]

Me: You know. The commercial? “9 out of 10 dentists recommend Trident” ...you must be the one hold-out.

[blank look].

I should really quit trying to be funny.

As noted here, my friend Frank Warren’s Quartet will regretfully be deferred to the Fall, and he agreed to write a new piece for April. His Three Notions of Love & Ruin, Op. 50 for Alto Flute & Bassoon was delivered on 28 February.

I need to consider the flow of the program....

Let the Joint Jump

 Life with WCRB: When even the parakeet says, “Oh, God! Not the Grieg Piano Concerto AGAIN?!”

Porridger’s Almanack (Breakfast of Ganglions)

Chief: “Max, take good care of this; the tailor charged us a fortune to rip it up like that.”

Agent 86: “Chief, I’ve got a dry cleaner that’ll do this for nothing.”

Probably my sole pre-compositional thought for the final of the Op. 178 duets was: a short, jaunty wrap-up. The first sound file (from January 2025) is simply the hopped-up “Three Blind Mice” alluded to here. It was only a start, but so pleased was I with those opening 15 bars that my thought then was to make the entire piece a patchwork of found musical objects. By April of 2025, the piece ran to 70-ish bars, at around which point, I’ll allow that work pretty much stalled. Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull came to my aid: I decided that his Bach adaptation, “Bourrée” would provide the next episode. I made note of three tunes yet to employ (I wound up not using “Frère Jacques.”) Most notably, I wanted to close the piece with Thelonious Monk’s “Straight, No Chaser.” I finally girt up my musical loins this past weekend, and essentially finished composition yesterday. As at times happens, I got all the notes set down as I wished, and today I saw to setting the dynamics landscape, so I can now pronounce Janky Juke Joint, Op. 178 № 3 finished.

At Last

 WCRB Programming sez, “Take a walk on the mild side!”

— Postcards From Red Squirrel Trail

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Mine auld friend Chris Forbes, I have found it highly gratifying to see, has hit a composition Sweet Spot and is completing new pieces right and left. On our phone call, he remarked that it has been a simple matter of doing some work each day. An attentive reader of this blog will know that I have made a similar observation more than once. I post today to report that I returned to work at last on Janky Juke Joint. For now, that is all.

For When We Are Again Six

 Pärt’s spare parrot

— Postcards From Red Squirrel Trail

When I was your age, I’d have jumped at the chance. But then again, I wasn’t second rate.

— Jonathan Winters twitting Jack Klugman in a pool room in The Twilight Zone

Pam Marshall just finished her new piece for us, Dreaming in Spirals. Alan Westby & Chris Forbes are at work on new pieces.  I intend adding clarinet and double-bass to Cape of Good Nope for color. I have already composed Simple Music specifically for the event (whenever we may pin a date down.) And we should reprise the Fantasia on a Theme of Rahsaan Roland Kirk. I feel just a shade sheepish looking so far ahead when I still need to finish Janky Juke Joint, but I should look ahead, you know.

Photo: on a balcony in Puerto Rico 14 years ago today, composing one of the Tiny Wild Avocados.