Program Notes with Score Video 

Suite from ‘Celestial Palette’ is a transcription and reworking of three tracks from the piano album I released in 2022. These tracks, like all of my piano albums, are “polished” improvisations and were neither conceived nor developed in written form. For several years, I have also used improvisations as the inspiration for written works. 

The first and third movements of this suite are essentially direct transcriptions of tracks from the album. The first movement is transcribed in a traditional fashion, trying to approximate the original rhythms. The originals are very free rhythmically, and I have never found this traditional method to be entirely successful. The end result is fine but the process is difficult and time consuming. Over the years, I have tried many different methods of transcribing these pieces in a more efficient and flexible manner. The last movement of this suite is my latest attempt. The durations of the notes are true to the original and I have denoted the organization of the time with barring and bar lines, without reference to meter. I am hoping that the specificity of the durations actually makes it easier to be more expressive, as the meter offers no resistance.

The second movement, Dust Devil, is more than a transcription. Though in general it follows the original rather faithfully, it has been embellished with different figurations to give it more activity. I felt that the original was not “devilish” enough. 

Celestial Palette is about the sky, but also about the difference in the sky of my youth in the Pacific Northwest (i.e. – clouds) compared with my adult life in Arizona (i.e. – stars and sunsets). Cirrus clouds are those wispy streaks that punctuate an otherwise clear blue sky. Though they are actually formed from ice crystals, they seem to have a special gentleness, like a baby’s curls. Dust Devils are those little heat-induced cyclones that form in the desert when it is very hot. They are fun to watch and are mostly harmless, but some are a pretty good size and have knocked my car around on several occasions! They bounce along with a fury, throwing dust high in the air, but they eventually run into some obstacle and simply dissipate, leaving all that dust to slowly settle.

I don’t think I had ever seen a Falling Star until I moved to Arizona. There, of course, I could see one every night. I have even seen a couple of large fireballs. On the other hand, my conception of falling stars have been permanently and pleasantly altered ever since I read Neil Gaiman’s Stardust.