(return to works for piano & harpsichord)

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A Little Book of Care and Laughter (1999) harpsichord solo 12'

1. Exuberance
2. Sad Song
3. In Tandem
4. Question
5. Revels
6. Tombeau (James Edward Avery in memoriam)
7. A New Life

Program Note

A Little Book of Care and Laughter was conceived in the Schubert Club Musical Instrument Museum in Saint Paul, an intimate gallery tucked away in the basement of an old castle-like building. I served as a docent for several years there, and had the use of a Hubbard and Robertson two-manual harpsichord, with which I taught myself about music in a "resistant medium."

I remember once hearing harpsichord music described as laughter. The Book begins with hilarity, but proceeds immediately to the lyrical "Sad Song." Manuals converse in "Tandem," and the sentimental "Question" provides no answers. In "Revels," two themes are contrasted and combined. "Tombeau" remembers Jim Avery, a dear friend, mentor and Northwestern University Chaplain, who died in 1999. The tune of the finale, which brings us round the circle, will be familiar as the Welsh New Year's carol "Nos Galan," sung in the States around Christmas as "Deck the Halls."