For me, music has always been something to “play with.”

As a boy, I regarded the piano in our family home as a great big toy. I “played with” the piano in the same spirit with which I played with my toy soldiers. “Making up stuff” at the keyboard was very similar to setting up opposing armies of toy soldiers and then inventing battles and adventures for them to act out.

Having written eight books, I can say that words, too, have been, for me, an opportunity to play. And word play is one aspect of devising titles for musical compositions.

When a friend asked me to write a piece for her flute quartet, I thought “four flutes!” I relished the alliteration. Then I thought of the word “fanfare” and how its two “f” s would ring with the “f” s in “four flutes.”

For no better reason than that, I thought I’d write a piece that would be titled “Fanfare for Four Flutes.” But when I finished the fanfare, the music seemed to want to turn into a fugue. Or a “fugette,” which is a short fugue.

That resulted in a title for the piece:

“Fanfare and Fuguette for Four Flutes.”

A good title, I thought. But why stop there?

You see how the spirit of play functions? Playfully, I added a couple of alliterative adjectives and the full title became:

“A Fanciful Fanfare and Fastidious Fuguette for Four Flutes”

A little foolish, yes, but also funny and fun.

Further fabrication felt like fumbling.

“Phooey!” I figured. The title stands.

To hear the piece performed by Suzanne Bona and SEVEN of her flute-playing friends, click on the link above.

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

I'd love to know what you think about this performance; reply if you're inclined. But please don't feel that you are expected to reply. I'm just glad to share my work in this way.

As always, feel free to forward this message to friends who might enjoy it.

Anyone can be on my little list of recipients for these mpFrees (as I call these musical emails). To sign up, people can email me at rick@sowash.com, sending just one word: "Yes." I'll know what it means.

Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
May 12, 2024
www.sowash.com

P.S. All of my compact disk recordings are now available on line through Kickshaw Records.

Please visit their website to purchase CDs of my music for $15 plus shipping.

The latest CD is titled “Voyageurs,” and features music for clarinet, cello and piano.

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