CELLO CONCERTO #1

ORCHESTRATIONS 2 Flutes 2 Oboes 2 Bb Clarinets 2 Bassoons 4 Horns in F 2 Bb Trumpets 2 Tenor Trombones Bass Trombone Tuba Percussion (four players) Timpani (30”, 28”, 25”, 23”) Tam tam Snare Bass Drum Crash Cymbal 14-16-22 1st Violins 12-14-18 2nd Violins 10-12-14 Violas 8-10-12 Celli 6-8-10 Basses Running time: approx.: 33:00 I had finished PIANO CONCERTO #1 (The Rock ‘n’ Roll) mid May knowing that the next work on my desk was to be a cello concerto. My wife and I readied ourselves for the birth of our son, who arrived June 15, 1995. Four days later, on Father’s Day, my mother had a massive stroke and passed away two days later. She never saw her grandson. Needless to say, the flood of emotions was and is still very strong and deep. My mother was a staggeringly beautiful woman of great intelligence, sense of wit, selflessness and love of life. I grew up in a very happy nurturing environment. In fact, during the first thirty-eight years of my life, there was never really any major emotional family trauma to speak of. Then during the next eight years she seemed to slowly unravel, growing more insecure about her self-image to the extent that the latter person didn’t resemble the former. Most likely, this devolution was organically caused by the massive aneurysm that subsequently ruptured in her brain killing her. CELLO CONCERTO #1 is an abstract portrait of her many complexities.