| Robert Louis Stevenson,
the immortal author of Treasure Island, wrote
the poem Summer Sun just before moving to Saranac Lake,
New York in 1887. He lived less than a mile from the
cabin where Bartók would later spend the last
summers of his life. Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra
was composed in Saranac Lake, and this happenstance
is acknowledged with a subtle nod to Bartók.
Stevenson called himself The Penny Piper of Saranac,
because he could often be found playing a penny pipe.
A melody composed by Stevenson himself on his pipe is
used as source material here; morphed into a new melody
and rhythmic feel to capture the bright mood of the
poem Summer Sun.
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)
Summer Sun is the third 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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