Your life and mine are two short syllables in a great song, a neverending melody. We are saddened by the thought that the song proceeds on, leaving our syllable behind, for the syllable we loved so dearly is succeeded by others. A song is not static; it continues. There is also some comfort in that thought, some serenity to be had by pondering it.

I wrote the piece I want to share with you today, “The Neverending Melody,” partly as an homage to that magnificent song, infinitely more vast than any mere piece of music.
I also had in mind a technical matter having to do with the elements of music. Writing the piece was an experiment, a musical adventure. I attempted to write a melody that would go on and on, avoiding all caesuras, for as long as possible without flagging, without exhausting our level of interest. There would be no breaks between phrases. The work would be a single, unbroken phrase.

I nearly succeeded. There is only one break or pause in the melodic line. It occurs half-way through, at 2:50, just before the tonality moves into a minor key. It seemed appropriate to pause there, to savor the moment as the music hovered between two modes.

The cello carries the melody from start to finish. The piano supports the cello’s melodic line but grows and alters while doing so.
In the first quarter of the piece, the piano plays a “walking bass,” using quarter notes in a steady succession, outlining the harmony by “walking” between chords that are only implied, not sounded. The music is at first reminiscent of Bach’s “Air on the G String” and then sounds a little like the opening of Elgar’s first symphony. Both are composers you and I admire.

Then, at 1:18, the piano begins to blossom, becomes increasingly rich and full, joining the cello in a triumphant outburst, finally retreating from grandeur, making a wistful farewell gesture as the “syllable” is withdrawn.
The feeling that I’m left with, when this piece ends, is that the Neverending Melody has not ended. The music has ceased to be heard, yes, but the great song continues on without us, as it has always done and will always do, “forever and ever, amen.”

This is a new piece and hardly anyone has heard it yet.
The music I share win these ‘mpFrees’ was written at various times, some over forty years ago, some twenty years ago, some more recently. I wrote this one just last November.
To me, this is the music of a wise old man, serene and confident, who has nothing to prove, who is beyond trying to impress anyone. (Almost all of the people I set out to impress are long gone by now.) He writes the music he wants to write and ‘the world’ is at liberty to make of it what it will.

Who IS this guy? Is it really me? As my good wife would tell you, I am far from serene most of the time, though I have my moments. But expressing serenity and living serenely are two different things!

I returned to composing a year ago, after a ten-year hiatus during which time I wrote only a few short pieces. In the past thirteen months, I’ve written SIXTY new works, many of them substantial in length and content, sometimes two or three in a week’s time.

“The Neverending Story” is the FIRST of these many new pieces to be professionally recorded. More will follow. Stay tuned!

What brought me back to composing? It was largely the result of my writing this new book, “How Music Means,” which has just been published and is now available for purchase (see the p.s. below). Writing the book got me to thinking about music again, more deeply than ever. Soon ideas began to tumble forth.
Also, now that I am teaching only one morning each week, an abundance of leisure stretches out, boundless, before me. Composing is a pass time, a puzzle to figure out, an intriguing exercise that will occupy me for hours, even days.
Too, I am fortunate to be in touch with a couple dozen talented musicians who are eager to play whatever new pieces I write. And hundreds of listeners -- of which you are one -- who are genuinely eager to hear these new pieces. That is inspiring!
To hear “The Neverending Melody” played by two talented and enthusiastic Cincinnati musicians -- cellist Michael Ronstadt and pianist Beth Troendly -- click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.