LULLABIES AND BIRDSONGS:
Nine Sketches From the Blue Ridge
(1988) solo piano, 11 min.

In the midst of work on a large-scale composition for piano, I began making small sketches as a diversion. Some were written for friends' birthdays; others for friends with newborns. Four of the pieces are lullabies based on old tunes from the Southern mountains. The five other pieces freely imitate birds which frequent the Blue Ridge farm where I spend much of my time. Lullabies and Birdsongs, much in the tradition of Schumann and Debussy pieces "for" children, is not so simple for children to play!