I recently shared a piece that featured two Shaker hymns. In this week’s offering there are no Shaker hymns quoted but the Shaker influence is there, all the same.

It’s my new Piano Trio #6, subtitled ”Brickdust & Buttermilk.”

The subtitle refers to a Shaker invention: they mixed brickdust with buttermilk to make the rust-colored paint with which they decorated their distinctive furniture.

Did you know that Shaker furniture is the ONLY uniquely American furniture style? All the others mimic styles and fashions derived from elsewhere.

The Shakers’ commitment to simplicity, utility and honesty is reflected in everything they did. Their achievements in furniture design, architecture, cuisine, music and other fields astonish me.

Music? Yes. Every Shaker learned a simplified system of music notation so that, when God transmits a new hymn tune to them, they can jot it down, quickly, and remember it.

I love how they took it for granted that God would gift them with tunes. Even as they saw to their daily chores, they were alert, listening for God’s tunes!

God did not disappoint them. There were a total of 18,000 Shakers in the two hundred year history of the sect. Partnering with God, they co-authored 24,000 hymns. That’s nearly 1.5 hymns per Shaker!

They routinely met practical challenges with creativity. Did you know that the Shakers invented the clothes pin? Who exactly came up with that? We do not know, just as we do not know who composed “Simple Gifts”, nor who designed the first Shaker chair or highboy or staircase. Practicing humility, individual Shakers took no credit for their achievements. Their works are anonymous.

Just as the Shaker paint blended brickdust with buttermilk, the piece I want to share today blends contrasting elements.

This is a single-movement work with three distinctive sections: A - B - A1.

The opening and closing sections are in B minor, the middle section is in C major. Contrasting melodic shapes are presented in Sections A and B, and then mixed in the final section, a reconciliation of opposites, like paint that mixes brickdust and buttermilk.

The melodic ideas are in sharp contrast. One expresses bricks: strong, regimented, anti-Romantic, a musical image of bricks lined up like soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, in rows and columns. The music is harsh and gritty..

The contrasting music is Romantic: creamy, soft, leisurely, lyrical -- the music of buttermilk!

In section A, the emphasis is on the repeated sixteenth notes, a regimented rhythmic energy, while in Section B the emphasis is on the melodic line. --

Then, in section A1, the two combine.

That is how opposites are aligned on the macro level. Another alignment happens on the micro level: the opening motif, played by the cello, DESCENDS by steps, just a minor third down, and then goes back up to the note where it started. The violin answers by doing the opposite: it RISES by steps, to a third above where it started and then returns. In other words, the cello and the violin present two melodic arches, misaligned. You’ll hear this right away.

These two ‘arches’ oppose one another. At the very end they connect into one circle, played, at last, simultaneously, delivering, at last, completion and closure in a circle of sound.

With a duration of 12:12, it’s longer than the music I usually share in these emails. I hope you’ll listen to all of it. Some musical ideas require more time to fully develop.

Much of my music has a lighter touch, but this one has an emotional depth and an intellectual, structural integrity that are uncommon in my work. A lot more could be said about this piece. But if music requires explaining, then there is something wrong with it. Good music speaks for itself.

Let’s see if it speaks to you. As you listen, remember that you are almost the first to hear this music. It was written last year and recorded only a month ago. It will be the final track on a new CD of my recently written music to be issued next year titled “Ronstadt Plays Sowash, Vol. 1.” Many of you helped fund the recording with your contributions. Thank you.

Nothing is for sale in these messages I send. No Bibles, no golden shoes, no crypto currency. But recording music is expensive. Musicians and engineers require compensation. The costs are in the thousands. That is why I say, “All contributions gratefully accepted!” Use Venmo or Paypal or send a check.

Or not. You are already helping just by listening. Truly. Without listeners, there is no point in composing and recording new music. You confer meaning to all this work.

To listen to my Trio #6 for violin, cello and piano, subtitled “Brickdust & Buttermilk,” played by the Trio Apéritif (Annette Misener, violin, Michael Ronstadt, cello and Phil Roberts, piano), 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 music; feel free to 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
August 31, 2025