“How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

That’s the short answer. It seems to cover all bases.

It’s acceptable, yes, but that’s all. If our relationship with the asker is sufficiently intimate to warrant a more detailed reply … and if we feel confident enough of this to invest the time… if we believe that the asker genuinely wants to know … we might venture a more comprehensive answer, “Spiritually, I’m in great shape!” That’s an answer I often use with friends, implying that I am well in some important respects but perhaps less than a hundred percent, physically. Which is true. If I think they really want to know, I might list the attendant ills that come with my health issues: the aches and pains of osteoarthritis and the fatigue and shortness of breath associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Tedious.

Even that answer falls short. My health is but one narrow aspect of “how I am.” There is much more to me than arthritis and heart disease. My composing, for instance. My on-going project to get my music recorded and “out there.” My teaching at the University of Cincinnati’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. My cooking. My caring for my home, my garden and my good wife, who has had pneumonia for more than a month now, if you don’t mind my saying so. (She is slowly improving).

Even if I went into all of that, the reply would still be incomplete. Aristotle wrote, “Man is by nature a political animal.”

You wouldn’t know it from reading these weekly emails, but I am intensely engaged in politics, closely following the daily news, often deeply stirred by it.

Last July, when America observed our 250th Independence Day, I composed a piece of music expressing precisely how I feel about present day America … expressing it MUSICALLY, not verbally.

I titled the piece “We Hold These Truths” and scored it for flute, oboe, two French horns, viola, cello and timpani. I recruited seven musicians to rehearse and record the piece. Today I am going to share it with you. You will be the first to hear this music. (The piece will be featured on a forthcoming album of my music, to be titled “American Landscapes.”)

It does not address issues or take political figures to task. Instead, it expresses how, in the context of present day America, I FEEL about those opening words of the Declaration of Independence.

These words are foundational to my country, my culture. But how I feel about them is of little consequence. I’m just one citizen, after all. I’m no pundit. It’s not my calling to try to shape public opinions or perceptions. I’m just one out of 350 million Americans who happens to be a composer.

My opinions speak only for me. Conversely, my FEELINGS about all things political might resonate with a great many Americans right now, including possibly yourself!

Listening carefully to this music, you will discern the emotional content. It might stir something in you. It may express how WE feel about holding “these truths.”

The rhythm of that four-word phrase -- “we hold these truths” -- forms the opening four-note motif of the piece. Each instrument “says” the phrase in turn, right off. Then they all come together to “say” it in unison -- that is, to play notes that share the rhythm of the entire phrase -- “We hold these truths to be self evident…”

The instruments play the rhythms of the phrase with intense feeling. They emphasize the last two words -- SELF EVIDENT -- because the truths that follow are obvious to everyone … or ought to be … or would be, if we insisted that our country be governed so as to be consistent with all that the mystic phrase implies.

Which attributes, then … which emotions … are you expecting this music to evoke?

Pride? Outrage? Hope? Despair? Vitality? Helplessness? Joy? Anger?
Celebration? Indignation? Sternness? Playfulness? Happiness? Regret?

The musicians who performed in this fine recording are: Betty Douglas, flute; Yo Shionoya, oboe; Doug Jones and Danielle Cain, French horns; Rick Elliiott, timpani; Rose Gowda, viola; Michael Ronstadt, cello. Michael also served as recording engineer.

To hear “We Hold These Truths,” click on the link above. There's also a link to a PDF of the score.

I know what feelings I hear in this music.

I'd love to know what feelings you perceived; reply if you're inclined. But please don't feel that you are expected to reply. I'm glad to simply share my work in this way and let it go at that..

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
October 4, 2026
www.sowash.com