Frost Serenade

2024 . . . viola and strings . . . 14 minutes

Inspired by wonderful colleagues (and also my two daughters) who played viola, my love continues for its beautiful rich lyric voice.

The title is a double reference, both to the still iciness of an autumn night and morning, and to a great American poet. Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods” was the inspiration for Before I Sleep, a 2018 unaccompanied work for Texas State violist Ames Asbell. Much melodic material was drawn from it for this Serenade. The two parts, “Twilight bridge” and “Snowy dawn,” grow lyric lines out of intricately articulated harmonies of changing tonal “temperature.”

At this stage in my 60-year composing career, I feel free to explore whatever intrigues me and, however complex or simple, craft a tranquil listening experience.