Description
In Keep Sake Mill, each of the string instruments has an opportunity to voice the melodic ideas. Listen for balanced and beautifully shaped phrases as the melody passes from one instrument to the other. The steady churning of the mill wheel is represented by the i-iv6/4-V6/3 broken chord patterns in D Minor. The slurred accompaniment patterns reinforce the skill of bow distribution. The piano conveys the sound of the running water. These chamber pieces have been adapted from my original collection of piano solos, A Child’s Garden of Verses. The settings of these poems were composed to encourage developing musicians to explore the inherent poetry in music and to be bold in expressing that same poetry in performance. Performers are encouraged to tell the story of the poem in how they interpret and perform the music.
