Three Pieces for Quartet

I. Prelude
II. Army of the Forgotten
III. Gypsy

         These three short movements were composed in the Fall of 1997, under the direction of Don Crockett. The unusual instrumentation was both a challenge and a joy to work with. I had always admired the sound of the accordion and wrote these pieces after I met someone who played the instrument my first semester at USC. Ironically, a few weeks after completing these pieces, I received an accordion of my own as a gift and it has since become my primary instrument.

I. Prelude__ /__ III. Gypsy

         After deciding to use a watercooler bottle as a percussion instrument, I spent a week "auditioning" bottles, collecting them from all over my dorm and neighboring residence halls. I finally found the sound I was looking for: a bottle that resonated deeply at a pitch around which I could place important key areas. I managed to keep the watercooler bottle ever since, often leaving it with friends over summer vacations and finding various places to store it during the school years. As a result, Three Pieces for Quartet is being performed tonight on the very same watercooler bottle as its premiere four years ago.

         In retrospect, this meticulous quest for a watercooler bottle seems rather silly. However, despite the obvious sense of whimsy as a result of the instrumentation, the pieces ended up with a quirky and, at times, haunting tone.

In the Spring of 2001 I wrote a new piece for this ensemble, Three Pieces for Quintet, adding only a viola.