Cadences is the name of my newest addition to the Tower Music canon. It starts with a slow introduction which I am choosing to release as a separate short Prelude. The main body of the work then turns into a playful rhythmic romp; playful to listen to, but complicated to perform. Such is Art.
The finished product is close to where I had it a week or so ago, but I spent two days adding new material that kinda, sorta went with it, before realizing that it was actually finished already and I was trying to add other material that just didn’t fit. Then it took me a whole day to de-construct this new, latest version and put it back together again. Except for the expended time it was not a big loss because I now have the seeds of a new piece to re-purpose from the other material!
Cadences was composed in the blinding pain of recuperation from an arthroscopic knee surgery. I had hoped to use the summer to compose as un-distractedly as possible, but a torn meniscus [a souvenir of my time on the Eiffel Tower] needed mending before the wildness of the Fall begins. The other knee beckons before year-end too! 🙁
Oddly enough the few times I had clarity was in the stolen hours composing this work. I’d work for about an hour, lay down for an hour, hour and a half, and repeat the process all day…I can tell this pattern from the timestamps of the file saves.
Another scene in the life of this composer has him on the gurney in pre-op waiting to be wheeled into the O.R. With a quick snap of awareness I asked for a pen and some paper. The nurses quickly went around finding them, assuming I was going to write my last will or something, some looking concerned, and at least one other seemed to telegraph that I was over-reacting. With a couple of quick strokes I wrote down the music I thinking of, not wanting to forget it after going under anesthesia. “This is what you wanted the paper for?” Of course!