I. Dawn
II. Dusk
III. Rain at Night

Program Notes: The City Vignettes began as a work for the mezzo-soprano and guitar group, the Malkin-Trybek Duo. The arrangement for piano was born out of necessity and practicality, and the cycle was subsequently arranged on request for Flute, Clarinet, Violin and Alto Saxophone. American lyric poet, Sara Teasdale, first published her set of three miniature poems City Vignettes in 1911 in the collection Helen of Troy and Other Poems. Though Teasdale regularly had bouts of depression throughout her life, which ended in suicide, she was the first person, man or woman, to receive the first ever Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1918. The first poem, Dawn, opens with the atmospheric line “The greenish sky glows up in misty reds,” set in the key of a minor, grows to despair and ends in loneliness. A very free and expressive solo begins the second number, Dusk, and continues into a dismal description of the austere city landscape. There is hope, seemingly, as Teasdale writes “A thousand yellow lights begin to gleam and over all the pale untroubled skies,” set to a rhythmic and bouncy accompaniment based on the introductory material. A distinctly metered pedal point is employed at the onset of the third stanza, Rain at Night, depicting the steady precipitation. A plaintive tune is sung or played over the raindrops and reaches a climax, through a shift in the pedal tone and its rhythmic intensity, at the line “and the rain is heard now loud and blurred,” before subduing itself back to a light drizzle and concluding the cycle.

Performance History:

-April 21st, 2014; Guitar; Silver Lake Public Library; Silver Lake, CA – 6PM

-May 14th, 2014; Guitar; Music at MiMoDa – Paper or Plastik Cafe; West Los Angeles, California – 8PM

-June 14th, 2014; Guitar; Noble House Concerts - Local Music Evolution; Sherman Oaks, California - 7:30PM

-June 19th, 2015; No. 3; Piano; Flute Workshop; University of Minnesota Duluth; Weber Music Hall; Duluth, MN

-October 29th, 2015; Piano; Metropolitan State University of Denver; King Center Concert Hall; Denver, Colorado

-December 4th, 2015; Piano; Portland State University; Lincoln Recital Hall; Portland, Oregon – 7PM

-February 8th, 2016; Guitar; University of Minnesota Duluth; Weber Music Hall; Duluth, Minnesota - 7:30PM

-November 28th, 2016; Guitar; Edith L. & Robert Prostkoff Memorial Concert Series; Curtis Institute of Music; Field Concert Hall; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 8PM

-May 10th, 2017; Guitar; Music at MiMoDa – Paper or Plastik Cafe; West Los Angeles, California – 8PM

-July 2nd, 2017; Guitar; Solerno International Guitar Festival; Solerno, Italy – 8PM

-September 30th, 2017; Guitar; Duo Contrappunti; Giovani per L’arte 2017; Festival Chitarristico Del Roero; Cuneo, Italy – 8PM

-February 18th, 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Café Muzeum; Cieszyn, Poland – 4PM

-February 26th, 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Základní Umělecká Škola; Hlučín, Czech Republic – 5PM

-February 28th, 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Opava Cultural Organization (OKO); Opava, Czech Republic – 7

-March 1st, 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Hudební Oddělení – Central Library; Ostrava, Czech Republic – 6PM

-March 4th, 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Klášter svatého Karla Boromejského; Prague, Czech Republic – 5

-April 8th, 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Gorolské Informační Centrum; Jablunkova, Czech Republic – 5PM

-April 14th, 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Kostel sv. Jana Křtitele; Stará Ves nad Ondřejnicí, Czech Republic 

-May 25th 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Poutní chrám Panny Marie na Chlumku v Luži; Luže, Czech Republic - 6PM

-May 25th 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Kostel sv. Kateřiny Alexandrijské; Heraletz, Czech Republic – 8PM

-May 25th 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Kostel sv. Jakuba Staršího; Raná, Czech Republic – 9:15PM

-July 14th, 2018: Guitar: VientoMarero Duo; Medzinárodný Gitarový Festival Modra; Kultúrne Centrum Modra; Bratislava, Slovakia - 7PM

-August 10th, 2018; Guitar; VientoMarero Duo; Renesanční sál Zámek; Kamenice nad Lipou, Czech Republic – 7PM

-April 8th, 2019; Guitar; The Voices of America; University of Redlands; Frederick Loewe Performance Hall; Redlands, CA – 8PM

-April 20th, 2019; Guitar; Senior Recital; University of Redlands; Frederick Loewe Performance Hall; Redlands, CA – 6PM

-April 28th, 2019; Piano; Tully United Community Church; Tully, New York – 3PM

-May 7th, 2019; Piano; The Oaks at Menorah Park; Syracuse, New York – 2PM

-May 18th, 2019; Piano; CMM Outreach Series; Nottingham Retirement Community; DeWitt, New York – 2PM

-July 14th, 2019; Piano; Tully Arts Council Recital; Tully Community Church; Tully, New York – 3PM

-July 21st, 2019; Piano; Society for New Music: Cazenovia Counterpoint; Stone Quarry Hill Art Park; Cazenovia, NY - ??PM

-August 21st, 2019; Piano; Skaneateles Outreach Concert; Skaneateles, New York – 6:30PM

-October 8th, 2019; Guitar; Cline/Cuestas Duo; Musical Club of Westfield; Westfield, New Jersey – 7:45PM

-October 9th, 2019; Piano; Civic Morning Musicals; Park Central Presbyterian Church; Syracuse, New York – 12:15PM

-November 12th, 2019; Guitar; Cline/Cuestas Duo; Nyack College – Room 2241; New York, New York - 7PM

-November 15th, 2019; Guitar; Cline/Cuestas Duo; Willow Hall at Passaic River Coalition; Morristown, New Jersey - ??PM