Small: 4 Scenes from a New England Calendar
Expected to ship in 1-2 weeks.
- Composer: Mark Small
- Instrumentation: Guitar
- ISBN:
- Size: 8.9 x 12.0 inches
- Pages: 16
Description
I am a native New Englander whose ancestors arrived in Maine in the 1630s, and I've traveled throughout the six New England states during every season since my childhood. Calendars with glorious landscape photos on the walls of my home have been constant reminders of time and place throughout my life. The images have included scenes of fiery-hued fall foliage in Vermont valleys, New Hampshire's White mountains capped with snow, solitary lighthouses on Maine's rocky coast or sandy shorelines from any of New England's five coastal states, and fragile spring blossoms floating in azure skies signaling that winter has passed. I dedicate this work to my wife MaryAnn who has been at my side for more than forty-five journeys through the cycle of seasons.
The individual movements of Scenes from a New England Calendar are musical impressions named for months characteristic of their season. "January," marked Allegro con Brio, moves with relentless eighth-note chords gusting through shifting meters like icy winter winds. The brief movement culminates with a sprinkle of harmonics leading to a chilly in E Minor-ninth chord with a raised seventh degree. After a birdsong-like opening in 4/4, "April" awakens as a spring waltz. The main theme begins in A mixolydian mode and floats like petals on a breeze through the keys of G and E Major and quick-changing tonal centers before returning to A mixolydian to close. "August" is built on rolling waves of arpeggios, predominantly in 12/8 meter. Tonic and dominant pedal tones in the bass anchor harmonies that ebb and flow with gentle, added-note dissonances. "October" opens with four bars of slowly strummed six-string chords before a lyrical theme unfolds in D Major at a quicker tempo. Melodic statements on the upper strings receive answers on the lower ones as if conversing. in the B section, a Minor-key theme on the low strings becomes more dominant and modulates to F Major. Following a recap of the A section theme back in D, the sustained chords return, and the mood dissipates like fragrant woodsmoke rising from a chimney into autumn quietude.
—Mark Small
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Small: 4 Scenes from a New England Calendar
