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When I began this piece and was sketching out musical ideas, I was visited with the title of "Pony Concerto." I was concerned that people might think it was a children's piece, but it was so lovely having the imaginary creature to keep me company during the solitary work, and seemed to fit so well with the music that was evolving, that it became final, and ultimately guided me through my work. Everyone loves Pony. He is a mythic creature who embodies some of humanity's most prized qualities: innocence mixed with cleverness, tenderness with strength, loyalty with mischief, vulnerability with the gift of survival. I hope that some of these attributes live in the music he inspired. Although it draws on imagery of its namesake, the piece is not a narrative. The exception occurs in parts of the second movement, where Pony’s peace is shattered by war. I did not imagine Pony in a war, but as a witness whose peaceful life is momentarily interrupted by man’s incomprehensible activities. In a sense, Pony is a stand-in for all the other innocents whose lives are devastated by terror falling from the sky. The Pony Concerto is scored for flute (with an extensive piccolo part), clarinet, piano, violin, and cello, and was composed in 2004-2005 for the Chamber Music Society of Sacramento. Its opening movement was written during a month at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, California, where I could step outside my studio and feast on views of rolling hills and the Pacific Ocean, and, off in the distance, the sight of happy, grazing horses. (There were also some lovely early morning birdcalls that found their way into the opening.) |