Homage for a Decent Man

Program Notes

The rural and environmental sociologist Fred Buttel was a man who gave a tremendous amount, as those who knew him can attest. This piece is a small gift to acknowledge all he gave.

Fred died after a long and brave struggle with cancer, and I originally conceived of the piece as a kind of metaphor of that struggle.  It begins with a life theme, confident and joyful.  Then comes a chaotic and tense section, representing disease.  The life theme comes back, though, in recollection of Fred’s long success at keeping the cancer at bay.  Then disease returns, more resignedly.  And in the closing bars, we hear the return of the life theme, cut short.

But some time has passed since his death, and I am now ready for a more optimistic reading of the piece.  I now hear it as a dialogue of emotions, a dialogue between thankfulness for what he gave and anger and sorrow over his loss.  And I now hear the last bars as a settling in the end on thankfulness. 

Performance Notes

This is moderately difficult piece, but accessible with some concerted effort by the non-professional player. It contains two sections written with a posteriori notes in which the performer is encouraged to modify the music in light of his or her own judgment and experience.

The duration of the piece is about 6 minutes.

Actual Notes

Performance: 192 bit MP3 of live performance (13 megs) by Fumi Nishikiori, Feburary 10th, 2006, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin.

Sheet music: PDF of first half.

For the full sheet music, please contact the composer.

 

All content copyright © 2002 to 2006 Michael Mayerfeld Bell. All rights reserved.

Page last updated March 7, 2006