Album Notes

The Inspiration - was written in dedication to my wife shortly after we got married in 2009. She inspires me to be a better person every day and makes my life complete.

Meditations - Meditations came about in two parts. I had a couple of melodies running through my head for well over a year. I finally came to the point that I decided to put the melodies to paper and to build a composition around them. The beginning of movements II and III are the original two ideas from which this composition came to be. I was playing for a convention in Columbus and took along paper to write during my down time, and once I sketched out the base melodies for the second and third movements, I got a bit of writer’s block. I grabbed a third sheet of paper and began to doodle, and the first movement began to take shape as I switched between the other two. The fourth movement was written separately three years later when, as a music teacher, I had no appointments for parent-teacher conferences and took paper with me and wrote it that evening in my classroom. The piece fit nicely as a conclusion to the three movements I had previously composed, so I added it to the set.

Movement I, Of Indecision and Doubt, is written in 7/4 meter. Written in the midst of my study of 20th century music theory, the middle section takes the original melody and flips it upside down and moves it to the left hand. In addition, the divison of 7 beats switches from 4+3 to 3+4 before the original melody comes back to conclude the piece.

Movement II, Of Tragedy and Despair, contains the shortest melody and is written in Aeolian mode with the extra sadness portrayed by the absence of the lowered sixth and seventh scale degrees.

Movement III, Of Happiness and Joy, was the original conclusion of the suite. The melody, originally written in 2/4 meter, repeats at the octave, and then stretches in further occurrences into a 4/4 setting with embellishments.

Movement IV, Of Trial and Victory, was my first up-tempo composition. It begins in C major as do movements I and III, but instead of modulating up a half-step as in movement III, it ends up in Gb major via minor third modulation past Eb major. The movement concludes with an un-resolved plagal cadence.

Rondo in D Major - was an idea that came to me in a doctor's office waiting room. My son had an appointment, and I had paper in the car. A short time later, this piece was finished.

Dedication - This piece was written in honor of my father-in-law from my first marriage, who died after a short battle with cancer. His dedication to his life's work was very inspiring, and I first performed this piece at his funeral.