One day, when there were no visitors in the galleries I was guarding at the Cincinnati Art Museum, I hummed and softly whistled my way into the mysterious realm where tunes are born. I found one there, waiting for me, a baby left on the doorstep. Right away, I knew it was a keeper — sweet and simple and heartfelt, like the best old American folk hymns.

When I sang it for Jo that evening, she said, "That's in your Grandma Moses style."

She was referring to a music critic's pronouncement: "Sowash has a unique style which I can only describe by saying that if Grandma Moses composed music, this is what it would sound like."

We laugh about it because I'm not sure if he intended the comparison as a compliment.

I like Grandma Moses' paintings just fine. I might have preferred a comparison to Grant Wood or Thomas Hart Benton, but Grandma Moses was true to her vision and possessed an instantly recognizable American style. I hope that as much might be said of my best work.

For my own amusement, I wrote a set of variations on the tune, keeping it simple enough for me to play on my soprano recorder, titling it, whimsically, "Variations on a Tune by Grandma Moses." The tune being hymn-like, I set up my music stand in the center aisle of my church one Sunday morning and played the variations during the Offertory.

Then I thought I should find some words to sing with this hymn-like tune so that it could actually serve as a hymn. I found a versified setting of Psalm 23 that fell into place with the rhythms of the music. Then I expanded the hymn into an anthem for four-part choir and piano titled "Emerald Fields."

In the process, I cooked up a few more variations and rescored the Grandma Moses Variations for solo clarinet.

My various works for unaccompanied instruments are getting attention these days when musicians find themselves in confinement. One of my friend / fans who, like you, kindly permits me to send these email messages, is Toronto clarinetist Peter Stoll.

When Peter learned that I had no recording of this work, he worked up the piece and made a splendid youtube of his rendering of it.

To see and hear Peter Stoll's youtube, copy and paste this link into your browser:
https://youtu.be/CJIU0jHu0C8