| This compelling work incorporates
elements of mystery and intrigue in a whirlwind of sounds,
colors, and textures. Written in a quick 3/4 time, this
engaging composition uses an attractive harmonic language,
expressive melodic lines, and clever orchestrations
to invoke the fairy-tale imagery of poetry collected
by Robert Louis Stevenson. The playful nature of this
work moves between a lilting quality and a more lyrical
expressive nature. An excellent change of pace for any
concert.
A Child's Garden of Verses is a suite for
concert band in three movements commissioned by my dear
friend Tom Thomas, director of bands at Mason County
Central High School in Scottville, Michigan. Each movement
is based on a poem from A Child's Garden of Verses,
a volume of prose and poetry compiled by Robert Louis
Stevenson, which was a childhood favorite for Tom and
his brother. (view recommended
reading) The poem that this work is based on is
called The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's
Feast and was written by William Roscoe (1753 —
1831).
Butterfly's Ball is the first of three works
that comprise this suite.
The remaining pieces are:
I. Butterfly's Ball
II. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
III. Summer Sun
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