Serenade No. 3
November 18, 2012, Chris Gekker, trumpet, Chris Vadala, saxophone. Joseph & Alma Gildenhorn Recital Hall, University of Maryland School of Music.
Fall 2013, Berklee College of Music, David Friend Recital Hall
The composition of this piece was suggested to me by friend, trumpeter Chris Gekker. Chris and I recorded Poems for Trumpet and Piano and Four Lyrics for Trumpet and Piano (Albany CD). Chris has most recently been working with saxophonist Chris Vadala and pianist Rita Sloan. His idea was for a piece with a reflective, elegiac, and yet jazzy tone, that would blend well with other pieces he was hoping to record.
Serenade no. 3 is a trio for trumpet in Bb, tenor saxophone, and piano. The movements are: Overture–with up tempo cross-accented phrase rhythms; Interlude–an arioso recitative with cadenza like arabesques in the solo winds supported by a harpsichord like accompaniment; Duet–a song without words much like the slow movement of a trio sonata; Chase–a propulsive four-voice fugue written in a jazzy swinging rhythm with a witty conclusion.
More Chamber Music Works
String Quartet no. 4, Epiphany, Opus 196 1
Clearing the Clouds from Our Minds, Opus 157 3
Serenade No. 4, Walk That Lonesome Valley, Opus 112 9
Serenade No. 2 for alto recorder, cello, and harpsichord, Opus 98 11
Poems for Trumpet and Piano, Opus 85 13
Two Encores: 1, Canon; 2, Lament, Opus 78 no. 2 15
Two Encores: 1, Canon; 2, Lament, Opus 78 No. 1 16
String Quartet no. 3 (Homage to Beethoven), Opus 71 18
Harmonium: Eight Poems for Brass Quintet after Wallace Stevens, Opus 48 22
Mahler in Blue Light, Opus 43 23
Four Pieces in Familiar Style, Opus 41 24
What Goes Around Comes Around, Opus 38 26
Concerto for Oboe and Five Instruments, Opus 32 28
The Book of Moonlight, Opus 31 29
“Sleep Song” a children’s piece for violin and piano, Opus 18 31
Fantasia on an Imaginary Hymn, Opus 17 32
String Quartet No. 2, Opus 16 33
String Quartet No. 1, Opus 6 34