FOUR NEW ENGLAND PIECES (1988)

OVERVIEW

Dave wrote primarily sacred choral music, but his secular choral works shine a very intimate light on his personal life. Four New England Pieces was premiered in January 1988 by the Gregg Smith Singers in New York City, and was commissioned as part of "Art for All", a public art collection led by the Northeast Magazine of the Hartford Courant for the people of Connecticut. In support for the spirit of the initiative, the sheet music for Four New England Pieces was available for free to any Connecticut choral group in the public and private schools during the project.

DETAILS

(1988) 15 min.

FOUR NEW ENGLAND PIECES

I. Autumn in Our Town
II. Once When I Was Very Young
III. Two Churches
IV. How Does Your Garden Grow?

INSTRUMENTATION

Mixed Voices, SATB, a cappella, piano (optional guitar, bass, rhythm)

MUSIC

Dave Brubeck

TEXT

Dave Brubeck, Iola Brubeck, Michael Brubeck and John Jenney 

COMMISSION

Commissioned by the Advest Corporation and Northeast Magazine of the Hartford Courant, part of "Art for All", a public art collection.

PREMIERE

January 1988 by the Gregg Smith Singers in New York, NY.

PURCHASE & LICENSING

For more information contact Derry@BrubeckMusic.com

NOTES BY THE COMPOSER

BY DAVE BRUBECK

The “Four New England Pieces” were written in the late ‘80s when I would sometimes take my choral work to be “tried out” by the Wilton High School Madrigals led by Elissa Getto.

Iola wrote the words for “Autumn in Our Town”. At this point, neither of us can remember which came first, the words or the music. The first recording of the music was instrumental. I arranged it for chorus for the Gregg Smith Singers to perform in 1988 at an “Art For All” Gala sponsored by the Hartford Courant newspaper.

“Once When I Was Very Young” appeared in a little book of poems by my son Michael that he and a friend, John Jenney, put together as a gift to me one Christmas. Childhood memories are evoked in this setting of a poem. Such nostalgic recollections are common to us all, I think, especially those of us who grew up in small towns. I chose a harmonic setting, which harkens back to the familiar songs of my own youth. I was very struck by this particular poem, because it evoked such beautifully happy childhood memories.

I suppose the Charles Ives story about the two marching bands passing each other may have been at the back of my mind when I wrote “Two Churches,” but not consciously so. I imagined that I was walking down a country road on a Sunday morning. I came to a crossroad where there was a lively, rollicking church on one corner, and a not so lively, decorous church on the other. I stopped to listen. I could hear through the open church windows both choirs praising God, each in separate ways—hearing from one a rollicking gospel hymn, and from the other a solemn chorale. Then, I imagined what it would sound like to have them join together rejoicing over the oneness of God. It made me ponder the question, what qualities determine whether the music is classified as “sacred”? This piece, I think, would be fun for a madrigal group and a swing choir to perform together on a joint program.

Based somewhat on the old nursery rhyme, “How Does Your Garden Grow” really is about human relationships and how, as in a flower garden, so much “tending” is necessary for healthy growth. There are plots and angles and sticky tangles in human relationships, too. Constant tending is required for human potential to flower. We need to prune and trim and reach for the light. We need to nurture our families, and ask ourselves if they are growing straight and tall, or do some need braces and extra nourishment until they are strong enough to stand alone. The seasons come, the seasons go. A parent always seems to be in a race with time. Now is the only time we have. The planting moon is coming soon, so we must sow. I hope this piece to be a meaningful comment on life experience that young singers and audiences, young and old, can share. I wrote the words for the first verse, Iola wrote the second verse. Elissa said her students had fun guessing which one was mine.

© Dave Brubeck Music