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Sorbet (2007)
ensemble solo piano
commissioned by The Boston Globe
premièred December 18, 2007, New Haven, CT
Sorbet was written for Richard Dyer, on the occasion of his retirement from writing for the Globe, where he was chief music critic for more than 25 years. I was initially intimidated by the prospect of writing music for someone whose job it is to tear it apart. (Does anybody know any historical examples of this?) I ended up latching onto the first idea that came to me, namely that a critic spends most of his time doing what most people do only on special occasions. It's a pretty enviable position, on one hand, though I think it must take a whole lot of dedication to drag yourself to the orchestra night after night, or even to eat at restaurants all the time if you are a food critic. What I felt I could provide is the "sorbet" between courses, something of a light palette-cleanser that also would be a good preparation for listening to longer, heavier music.
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Recorded by Jay Wadley.