If you were to stray into the depths of a certain forest near Killingworth, CT, you would come upon an octagonal house lovingly restored by my friends and fans Randy and Millie Calistri-Yeh.

In that house these two musicians present for their own ‘friends and fans what they call “octagoncerts." Not long ago, at one of these, Randy gave an exuberant premiere performance of my “Variations on a Pirate Song” for solo cello.

The song begins with a quotation of “Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest” but quickly goes off in other directions.

Don’t expect to hear that tune right off; the piece begins with music that feels introductory. You’ll hear it again near the end of the piece. What seemed like an introduction is actually a musical "bookend."

After the opening "bookend," the tune is firmly stated followed by a series of variations in various moods, meters and tempi. Each variation is given a descriptive word, as follows:

pesante (intro.)
ruvido (the theme; ‘ruvido’ means ‘rough’)
swaggering
thoughtfully
slow, like a hymn
jig tempo
as slow as need be
vigorously
grazioso
“Greensleeves” tempo
mystical
pesante (intro again)
ruvido (theme returns in its original form)

The piece -- and my sharing of it with you on this day -- makes no particular point, offers no comment on anything specific, it has no reference to politics, for example. It merely offers a bit of fun and perhaps a brief respite from “the cares that infest the day.”

You probably recognize those words, the final verse of Longfellow’s comforting poem “The Day is Done.” I’ll quote it here:

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.

Or, with reference to this piece … I might paraphrase it thus:

“Shall board their ships, like the pirates,
And enthusiastically sail away!”

To hear Randy Calistri-Yeh’s fine rendition of “Variations on a Pirate Song,” click on the link above.

There's also a link to a PDF of the score.