September 24, 2010
New Nocturne, New Solo Cello Piece and a New Home
After the events in the Gulf of Mexico since late April, Elsie and I decided to leave the sub-tropical paradise of Sanibel Island and brave a trans-continental move to France. It's been a dream of ours for years; Elsie has French citizenship, it was mainly a case of coming up with the nerve to risk the costs of the move, the costs of finding an apartment and the nightmare of navigating the different bureaucracies.
We've now parked ourselves in an empty 15th century apartment in Avignon, France with 5 giant rooms, 12 foot ceilings and a view of a winding street from 3 floors up that reminds one of Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies. The building we're in used to be the stables of the 15th century King Rene, his castle is around the corner. Avignon is a medieval walled city of incredible beauty and history. It hosts the largest annual festival of theatre and multi-media spectacles in Europe every July and our quarter is surrounded by theatres. We await the cross-oceanic delivery of our furniture, scores, books, cd's and paintings.
While spending the summer here in Avignon, I did manage to write 2 pieces, a new nocturne for piano and a solo cello scherzo.
Nocturne #7 for Piano - Realization
Nocturne #7
My new solo cello piece is a swirling, ecstatic mass of Middle-Eastern sound.
Scherzo for Solo Cello - Realization
Scherzo for Solo Cello - Draft Score
I'm presently working on a new solo flute piece, a very big new piano piece, and a piece for 2 19ET pianos. More news later!
Posted by jeff at September 24, 2010 06:12 AM