Sempre Violin!

I generally enjoy mocking other people who appear to be either stupid or completely bereft of cultural sophistication. There are many places one might locate some of these people (shopping malls, Red Lobster, White Sox home games), but I decided to go directly for what was sure to be a very high concentration of ignorance, the local riverboat casino. I certainly was not disappointed.

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So, I’ve been really busy with various things, not the least of which was a long weekend visit by my parents, and I honsestly haven’t had a chance to post or work on the site much.  I will however, add a pretty picture of myself sitting in front of my computer for all to see.  I’ll be back to work on the site soon.

I’ve finished the Tchaikowsky arrangement and I’m now doing some work on a couple of original works.  The first has been ongoing for about two years.  It’s a Serenade for Violin and orchestra that is coming along nicely.  The first movement is about 2/3 done with almost the entire movement sketched and the solo part written.  This one will take a while to finish, but I’m still working on it.

The other piece I’m working on is a cute little trio for oboe, violin, and cello.  I’ve just started it, but the opening movment is shaping up nicely. 

This site itself is starting to take shape very well.  It’s now included in the Google index and is being seen by a few people here and there.  Hopefully things will really pick up here shortly.  Thank you for visiting!

Cubs fans will surely recognize this post’s title as the classic Jack Brickhouse and Harry Carey excalmations.  The Cubs won again tonite to remain in first place in the NL Central division.  What does this have to do with the violin and string music you ask?  Well, nothing, other than being my other passion besides classical music.

You see, I grew up here in Chicago going to games in the mid to late 70’s with Cubs teams that really really stunk.  These were the teams of Dave Kingman, Bill Buckner, Ivan DeJesus, Jose Cardinal, Bruce Sutter, and Rick Reuschel to name a few. 

In 2003, I went to game 5 of the NLCS in Miami and watched the Cubs lose to Florida.  Then there was that Steve Bartman thing in Chicago in game 6, and the rest, as they say is history.  So here we are, 100 years after the last World Series title, and 63 years since the last World Series apperance, and I have something to get excited about. 

You see, I have a strange feeling that my moving to Chicago this year will mean something special for the Cubs.  My Kansas Jayhawks won their first NCAA title in 20 years mere weeks after I moved in, and with the Cubs in first place and Sweet Lou Pinella at the helm, I think this just might be it (the billy goat thing aside).  Of course, I’m crossing my fingers and knocking on wood with my magic 8-ball in hand as I type this…

I am always interested in arranging interesting works for string orchestra or string quartet, and I am almost finished with a very interesting piece from Tchaikowsky’s 5th Symphony.  What started as a simple arrangement of the beautiful tune from the Andante 2nd movement has turned into a fine arrangement of the movement for cello and violin solo with string orchestra.  The solo parts are written for advanced players, but the orchestral parts could easily be played by a good middle school or intermediate ensemble.

Once finished (I’ve only to edit the score and then the parts), the score will be available at my SibeliusMusic page, for a nominal fee of course…

I do also take requests, so if you have a piece that you would like to see written for strings, please let me know and I’ll see what I can do to accommodate you.