SKU: CY.CC2769

As the title suggests the work dying and dancing for Euphonium solo and Piano accompaniment is in two parts, which are played without a pause between the two.

The first part, an adagio, is not necessarily meant to be evocative of the actual act of passing away, but more perhaps of the contemplation and reflection upon one's life as that time approaches, and particularly of sorrow over regret and disappointment. The unsettled mood of the music reflects this bitterness, and stands in contrast to the expansive peace of the grave, heard at the beginning and end of the adagio.

Dance, with ironic wit, the second part, is the other side of the same coin; perhaps humor of the gallows describes its spirit. At once fatalist and mocking, it brings to mind the words of the ancient teacher Koheleth, The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

I was pleased to compose dying and dancing in 2013 for Mark Kellogg, a superb Euphonium artist and my former trombone iProfessor at the Eastman School of Music.