Album Notes

The hammered dulcimer has a wondrous, magical sound… a full, rich tone with glorious sustain. The simplest melody can take on an intimacy and a fullness far beyond the actual notes being played.
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Suite: Morning Calm

Early in the morning the lake gently laps against the shore…

1. Driftwood
A gentle sequence of opening notes interspersed with the call of the loon… followed by an improvisation.

2. Chocurua
This tune happened a number of years ago as I was preparing some music for a friend’s project. I liked it enough to resurrect it here.

3. The New Land (Otis Tomas)
My arrangement of a beautiful fiddle tune written by Cape Breton fiddle-maker Otis Tomas. Having just arrived in Cape Breton with his family, Otis wrote this tune to express a sense of leaving behind old things… and of embracing new things that were opening up.
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Suite: Afternoon Breeze

The breeze has quickened, and the choppy waves now swirl against the shore, creating energy…

4. Broadside
Shortly after I began playing the hammered dulcimer I was asked to perform at the wedding of some very close friends. I wrote this piece for them.

5. Water Dance (Walt Michael)
An excerpt of a theme by Walt Michael, originally written to accompany the Pilobolus Dance Theatre as an interpretation of the sounds of a babbling brook. Walt later renamed the piece “Snowblind” and used it in the opening ceremony of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

6. Analto
An improvised snippet that I had always thought would someday end up as a formal composition. Alas… it remains a snippet, but found a home here.

7. Chapelside
Something I came up with a number of years ago and that I always enjoy playing. It is about awakening to epiphany.
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Suite: Early Evening Rain
A gentle rain sets in… becomes more intense… then eases peacefully…

8. Pinewood
A gentle improvised sequence that represents the calm before the storm.

9. Old North
An improvisation based on rain.

10. Blue Jay
A piece I wrote a number of years ago, included here to represent the lifting of the storm… and our spirits… as the sky above clears.
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Suite: Night
As the evening arrives, the crickets begin their endless song and the lake begins to settle down…

11. Stella’s Waltz (Evan Carawan)
This piece represents the evening’s entertainment. It is the only waltz on this album, and is the only piece presented with supporting instrumentation. A performance!

12. Snug Harbor
I wrote this piece a number of years ago and called it “Adirondack Lullaby.” How fitting to end this collection with a lullaby as the lake gently lulls us to sleep…
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I recorded the ambient background sounds of Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, from a very special island in August, 2007.

Bill Flanagan: Hammered Dulcimer
Pete Gernert-Dott: Bass on “Stella’s Waltz”