This is a 17-minute single movement work for viola and piano, fitting the role of “romantic slow piece!” Violist Molly Wise, my wife, originally commissioned it for one of her Master’s recitals at Rice University in 2021.
Stylized in lowercase to impart an aura of gentleness, good morning, beautiful depicts the experience of slowly and peacefully waking up on a day off. There is music to represent different stages of the morning, including the mysterious opening viola cadenza for “Nighttime,” a delicate piano entrance at “Dawn,” and a sweeping, poignant theme at “Sunrise.” There are attempts to capture literal sounds, too, such as a ringing “Alarm clock” and a section of chaotic music labeled “Noises accumulate outside your window”—imagine an apartment bedroom that overlooks a busy roadway. Other sections abstractly represent the post-alarm-clock stage of snoozing, with music for “Yawns,” music for “Stretching,” and music to suggest that “It was all a dream.”
These different passages interact in different ways, sometimes proceeding from one to the next in order, sometimes alternating and mixing to imply a sort of dreamlike confusion. In the final stage of the piece, the “Sunrise” music is triumphantly restated in an improvisatory manner. This in turn leads to a “Big Buildup,” then to a climax, and finally to the ultimate expressive goal of the piece: an introspective conclusion.
Molly gave the world premiere at her recital in 2021 - listen here! See a picture of her playing below.
Product is a zip folder containing the score and viola part.
This is a 17-minute single movement work for viola and piano, fitting the role of “romantic slow piece!” Violist Molly Wise, my wife, originally commissioned it for one of her Master’s recitals at Rice University in 2021.
Stylized in lowercase to impart an aura of gentleness, good morning, beautiful depicts the experience of slowly and peacefully waking up on a day off. There is music to represent different stages of the morning, including the mysterious opening viola cadenza for “Nighttime,” a delicate piano entrance at “Dawn,” and a sweeping, poignant theme at “Sunrise.” There are attempts to capture literal sounds, too, such as a ringing “Alarm clock” and a section of chaotic music labeled “Noises accumulate outside your window”—imagine an apartment bedroom that overlooks a busy roadway. Other sections abstractly represent the post-alarm-clock stage of snoozing, with music for “Yawns,” music for “Stretching,” and music to suggest that “It was all a dream.”
These different passages interact in different ways, sometimes proceeding from one to the next in order, sometimes alternating and mixing to imply a sort of dreamlike confusion. In the final stage of the piece, the “Sunrise” music is triumphantly restated in an improvisatory manner. This in turn leads to a “Big Buildup,” then to a climax, and finally to the ultimate expressive goal of the piece: an introspective conclusion.
Molly gave the world premiere at her recital in 2021 - listen here! See a picture of her playing below.
Product is a zip folder containing the score and viola part.
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