Here are three more themes of very different mood and tempo. Hope you like them!
Category: Musical Compositions
Horsey Song and More
Here are two of my songs, one from 1972 when the Vietnam War protests were going on, and one from about 1995, when horses were still useful. Enjoy.
Second Suite
This set of four pieces was written between 2008 and 2020, and includes a salute to a bright morning, a string piece with a piano as percussion, a mystery, and finally, an untitled orchestral piece I wrote in 2008. Have a good time!
Ontogeny Suite
The following pieces track the ontogeny of a butterfly, from the magnificent egg through the busy larval and anticipatory pupal stages, to the flying and mating adult, and finally the memory of a life well lived. These pieces come from my archives, from 2008 through 2020. The last (Theme 1) was the first piece of instrumental music I ever wrote on GarageBand. Enjoy.
A Word About Words
And another new song!
Songs! Like, with lyrics!
Here is a song I wrote in about 1974, commemorating a pilgrimage some friends and I took to Los Alamos, NM on August 6-9 to call attention to (and address and bemoan) the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We were a rag-tag group, walking from Taos to Los Alamos through Santa Fe, sleeping in fields, and carrying signs. The inspiration was from Saint Francis, who walked about similarly, calling people to join the “new madness.” We met with the director of the Los Alamos laboratory, who assured us of the necessity of building earth-destroying bombs that he hoped we’d never have to use again. After I recorded this, a friend sent it to Joan Baez, who, I hope, had a chuckle.
And, a while later, after hiking and camping along the Conejos River in southern Colorado, I wrote this peaceful song. I recorded it recently, and I can’t sing so well anymore, so…
More soon. Thanks for listening!
First and Latest Songs
Here is the first song I ever wrote, at age 18, after visiting a ghost town and hearing a lame Windex ad. I used the first four notes of the Windex tune and wrote a couple verses, since slightly revised. Here’s “Tumble Down Shack.”
And my latest song, January 2021, Theme 152, titled “What’s Ours Today.”
Hymn for Modern Christians, and a Poem
Modern Christendom seems to have run aground, like a beached whale, completely out of its element. Faith has turned to blind belief in conspiracies. But this is nothing new. Ancient Christians distinguished themselves as some of the most hostile, intolerant people in history. So here is a hymn that tries to span the ages. If you don’t like the words, focus on the music. If you hate the music, focus on the lyrics. If you don’t like both, well, hell, I’ve missed again.
And here’s a poem that I dug up from an old notebook with poetry drafts from 1977-81. Mostly junk, but this one hit me.
Sitting on the Back Porch
Waiting for 2021. Theme 130. Relax and enjoy.
New Music
Theme 137, using trombone and bassoon solo instruments to make little arpeggios and colors. Two minutes and forty-three seconds of bliss. More on the way to, someday, a symphony. Hmmm.
And, as always, a poem to keep you thinking.
