I’m looking forward to the premiere of the new version of my Three Dances tonight. Aaron Picht conducts the Temple University Music Preparatory Division Youth Chamber Orchestra at the Festival of Young Musicians, Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, at 7:30 pm.
Aaron has brought out wonderful musicianship from these young, excellent players, so I know the entire concert will be exciting.
This started as a chamber orchestra work, then string orchestra with one percussion, and now, just strings. Along the way I removed the foot stomping in the Country Dance. Which, by the way, was the entire inspiration for the Country Dance, that sound of feet on a barn floor, now that I think of it. Which, by the way, I’ve heard, as I’ve danced on a barn floor once.
Yes, there were other people there, and they were dancing, too.
“What in the world is that thumping noise?”
“Oh, that’s just Kile Smith–the world-famous composer, you know–dancing in the hayloft.”
“I only hear one set of feet.”
“Well, it’s a long story. One day …”
And the rest (as someone, somewhere, is reputed to have said, at least once) has proven to be history (as things generally do so prove).
Your story reminds me of the history of Yeats’s poem, “The Sorrow of Love”. I’ll send you a copy, so that you can see what I mean.
Best wishes for a great evening, Kile!
Ha! Thanks Fred, it was a beautiful performance! Do send me that Yeats if you can. My other barn memories usually involve avoiding being kicked by cows, so I look to be edified by your knowledge. Best,
Kile