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Duration: about 5 minutes
Upon my return to Canada after years of wandering the world, I did something I had been missing during all that time: I joined a choir, specifically the Chilliwack Symphony Chorus, since that town is where I found myself at the time of writing. Choral singing is a true joy, and when an orchestra is present also, I find it difficult to keep singing - I just want to put down my music and listen! Writing for such forces has to be one of the supreme joys for a composer!
But to my knowledge, and disappointment, the group for whom I wrote "Roses and Silk" has not performed it. It is conducted by an energetic and talented lady named Paula DeWit, and my piece is dedicated to her and to a sub-group of the chorus, called the Show Choir. This all-female group does lighter pieces and show tunes, often accompanied by simple choreography that can be very effective. I have enjoyed their presentations, and I set out to write a crowd-pleaser for them, or for the entire soprano and alto sections if the Show Choir ceased to be. I know that this piece works, it's gorgeous in fact, and you can hear a fairly effective computer-generated version of the score by clicking in the box.
Much of the secret of its success is due to plagiarism. Thoughout, I have employed the harmonic progressions and melodic constructs found in a tiny gem of a keyboard work entitled "Solfeggietto", by C.P.E. Bach, the second son of the great Johann Sebastian Bach. Pianists will know this clever bonbon (you can hear it on YouTube by clicking here), and I play it often with great pleasure. It is not only attractive in its own right, it could be used alone as a study piece for Classical harmony, so complete and perfect is it. Putting it together with words by Amy Lowell, my favourite poet, adds up to a work I am proud of.
My orchestration is small: strings, flute (doubling piccolo), horn, bass clarinet (or optional bassoon), and strings. This odd combination came about as follows: 1) I wanted to keep the forces small in order to increase the chance of performances, 2) in the orchestra I met a superb flautist, 3) whose wife is a fine horn player, and 4) I used to play the bass clarinet myself, in the Symphonic Wind Ensemble at the University of Alberta. It is my favourite instrument, and I always try to feature it in my orchestral writings. The poem is as follows:
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