Heavens On Earth (virtual CMSA En Masse Orchestra)

 

Heavens On Earth - CMSA 2020

From January 2007: 

• Ekin Avenue (mp3) (pdf) (pdf harmony)
• Winter Leaves (mp3) (pdf)

I shared the above video of the members of the Classical Mandolin Society of America En Masse Orchestra presenting a virtual performance of my mandolin orchestra piece Heavens On Earth on Facebook a week or so ago and, so far, it's been watched over 2,000 times. I thought I should put it into this blogpost also, just for the record.

It's an amazing virtual performance, conducted by Jim Bates and very artfully created by Jeff Brumley. We've all seen these Zoom type videos in the last few months but Jeff (along with all of the great musicians involved) created a first class presentation. I am so honored that my piece was used and it's one of the best performances of it ever.

Once again I am also presenting a couple of tunes from the early days of this blog for your consideration. "Ekin Avenue" and "Winter Leaves" both appear on my 2011 CD Mandolin Tunes and are still a couple of my favorites. If you haven't heard them in a while, or ever, take a minute and check them out.

In other news, I am honored also to have a piece of mine for solo mandolin included in Marilynn Mair's new Mel Bay publication The Complete Mandolinist, Volume 2. My Sonata in L(ou) was written for former CMSA President Lou Chouinard and appears in this new book alongside works by some of my favorite composers. I highly recommend the book.

Stay safe.

Welcome 2021 - Deer Tracks, December, 2020

 

1. Deer Track, December 16, 2020 (mp3) (pdf)
2. Deer Track, December 17, 2020 (mp3) (pdf)
3. Deer Track, December 22, 2020 (mp3) (pdf)
4. Deer Track, December 23, 2020 (mp3) (pdf)
5. Deer Track, December 31, 2020 (mp3) (pdf)

From January 1, 2007:  Shelter Dogs (mp3) (pdf) ; Needle in the Sawdust (mp3) (pdf)

    

This post, coming on the feast of the Epiphany and the traditional end of the Christmas season, marks the beginning of the 15th year of the So Many Tunes blog. Looking back at the very first post I can see that I never really managed to keep up with the tune-a-week idea, except for the year 2017. This is, however, the 314th post and, in those posts, I have made available well over 300 original tunes and compositions. If each tune is 2 minutes long (in reality some are longer, some shorter) that equals over 10 hours of free, recordings of my original music, almost always with accompanying sheet music.

Quantity doesn't always equal quality but, overall, I'm OK with the music I have presented here over the years. Hopefully the visitors here have found, at least occasionally, something fun or interesting to make their visit worthwhile.

I start this new year with a group of five short Deer Tracks pieces that I wrote in the second half of December 2020. In each case I wrote most of the tune on the day of its title, sometimes with a little tinkering on the next day or two. I know that these unusual pieces aren't everyone's cup of tea but they are a very important part of my overall musical life. I've also included links to the two tunes from the very first SMT blog post for readers who might have missed them back in 2007.

Every year I wonder if I have a plan for this blog and, usually, I don't. We'll just have to see how often I put new stuff up here. Many thanks to everyone who has read these postings over the years. It's really nice knowing that there are a few people nearby and around the world who take a little time to listen to my work and see what I have to say.

As everyone knows, 2020 was one of the strangest, if not the strangest, years ever. I hope we all have a very good year in 2021.