Late August, sunny days, yes, but also unusually gloomy news stories.

It's an apt moment to hear the finale of my most frequently performed and broadcasted work, Trio #1 for Violin, Clarinet and Piano, Sunny Days.

Corinne Cook's North Carolina-based violin-clarinet-piano trio named their ensemble "Sonsa" (the Russian word for "sun") because all three musicians have family in Belo-russia and because the trio was planning a performing tour of that country.

in 1994, Corinne asked me to compose a work the trio could premiere on the tour. Thinking that Belo-russian audiences might like to hear what an American composer could do with their country's folksongs, I asked Corinne to send me a selection of some of the better-known ones.

I gave those folksongs an "American" treatment, intending to offer a metaphor of hope, cooperation and mutual appreciation between former Soviet Union countries and America in the post-Cold War era. Let us cherish that hope all the more today as relations falter between our country and Russia.

The character of the piece is sunny, hopeful, optimistic, even humorous.

If you listen carefully to the beginning of this movement, you will recognize the delightful folk-like tune Prokofiev assigned to the Cat in Peter and the Wolf. (Alright, that tune is not a Belo-Russian folk song; but close enough.) I gave it an American inflection by changing the meter, adding a pinch of Copland and a dash of the Blues. The famous tune is only briefly recognizable; it quickly goes in new directions.

When you hear it you might smile, despite the gloomy news stories.

The modified Cat tune is followed by my Americanized version of a rollicking Belo-russian folksong. You'll see what I mean: it really does sound both Russian and American, odd as that may seem.

To hear the final movement of Sunny Days played exuberantly by violinist Paul Patterson, clarinetist Anthony Costa and pianist Phil Amalong, click on the link above.

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

Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
August 24, 2014

🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶

The folk tune that opens the first movement of the Trio #1 is entitled, “The Sun Also Shines.”

We don’t usually think of Russians as having “a sunny disposish,” but as I set about writing this piece, images of sunshine seemed to pour in. I didn’t resist. Who wants yet another grim and grumpy piece of music? Since my music was turning out to be sunny, hopeful, even humorous, I titled the suite, “Sunny Days.”

The piece begins with an Introduction: stern, impressive, mighty and momentous, as if three powerful world leaders are taking their positions behind three podiums on a stage before the United Nations. Picture them, ‘dressed for success,’ their postures stiff, their faces deeply serious. They seem poised to announce something sombre, sweeping and grandiose.

Then comes a surprise. The introduction gives way to an ‘oom-pah, oom-pah’ in the piano … and the three leaders smile, embrace and, laughing, they begin to dance!

ah, HA!

To hear the opening movement of Sunny Days played exuberantly by violinist Paul Patterson, clarinetist Anthony Costa and pianist Phil Amalong, click on the link above.

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

Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
July 24, 2016

🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶

In October of 1942, a time as dark as our own, in his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “The Skin of Our Teeth,” the great American playwright Thornton Wilder scripted these words for his protagonist, George Antrobus:

“Every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for, whether it is a field or a home or a country.”

That assertion can be understood in at least two ways.

Either it’s depressing, because it says right out loud that we will never achieve a lasting victory in these battles we’re fighting over disease control, health care, feeding the poor, income inequality, climate change, the environment, peace and justice for all …

Or it’s exhilarating, because it says right out loud that we will never surrender, that we will do what needs to be done and that humanity will prevail, albeit ‘by the skin of our teeth.’

It was a desperately needed affirmation in 1942, as it is today, as it always will be, let’s face it, at every moment of our long journey.

Bear that in mind as you, please, let me share a little piece of music that attempts to make that same affirmation: we will prevail.

The violin-clarinet-piano trio named "Sonsa" (the Russian word for "sun") chose that name because all three musicians have family in Belo-russia and because the trio was planning a performing tour of that country.

In 1994, the trio asked me to compose a work they could premiere on the tour. Thinking that Belo-russian audiences might like to hear what an American composer could do with their country's music, I asked Corinne to send me a selection of some of the better-known folksongs.

I gave those folksongs an "American" treatment, intending to offer a metaphor of hope, cooperation and mutual appreciation between former Soviet Union countries and America in the post-Cold War era.

The character of the piece is sunny, joyful, optimistic, even humorous.

If you listen carefully, you will recognize the delightful folk-like tune Prokofiev assigned to the cat in Peter and the Wolf.

I gave it an American inflection by changing the meter, adding a pinch of Copland and a dash of the Blues. The famous tune is only briefly recognizable; it quickly blasts off in new directions.

The modified ‘cat tune’ is followed by my Americanized version of a rollicking Belo-russian folksong. The music really does sound simultaneously Russian and American, odd as that may seem.

To hear the final movement of Sunny Days played exuberantly by violinist Paul Patterson, clarinetist Anthony Costa and pianist Phil Amalong, click on the link above.

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

🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶

May I share a couple of paragraphs that had made me feel very happy? and some music that might make you feel happy, too?

It’s an email message from Maxine Ramey, clarinetist with the Sapphire Tiro, a violin-clarinet-piano trio.

“We are playing your "Sunny Days" at Drake University next month. We should have kept a record of how many times we have played it, both nationally and internationally! It is always a hit. We use it as an opener and as a closer. Sometimes we use the last movement as an encore. It has certainly been a vehicle for our mission as a trio for international diplomacy. We played it on several tours in the Middle East, as State Department Cultural Ambassadors, and at International Clarinet Festivals.
So thank you, again, for this wonderful piece!”

It’s been thirty years since I wrote “Sunny Days,” the first of four trios I’ve composed for that combination of instruments: violin, clarinet and piano. Yet it will be brand new to the audience at Drake University, bless their innocent ears!

Then, on Friday, another email message arrived:

“Hello Mr. Sowash! I go to Riley High School in South Bend and this week, we had some professional musicians present a master class and they played a piece you composed.

I just wanted to reach out and express my appreciation for your music and style! I was truly captivated. I think the dynamics between the instrument parts really worked perfectly and I was moved.

Thank you for sharing your talent and art with the world! I am forever grateful for people like you.

Sincerely ….”

Immensely satisfied. That is how these paragraphs make me feel. And grateful, too, to have lived long enough to be on the receiving end of messages like these. It is one kind of harvest.

The March weather notwithstanding, these messages have made this week’s days “sunny” for me.

To hear that last movement from “Sunny Days,” which the Sapphire Trio has often used as an encore, this time played by violinist Paul Patterson, clarinetist Anthony Costa and pianist Phil Amalong, click on the link above.

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

🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶

Six weeks ago I shared with you my new “Hymn of Hope,” scored for woodwind quintet. Introducing it, I ventured some thoughts about the importance of maintaining hope, even when despair may seem more logical.

Several of you kindly replied by sharing “sayings to live by” that have been helpful to you … which begs the question, what sayings do I live by?

Please let me briefly share some of them before we get to some beautiful music.

1) Pursue happiness as Aristotle defined it: “the exercise of vital powers along lines of excellence in a life affording them scope.” (Finding “scope” for my own vital powers means building an audience for my work, one listener/reader at a time, i.e., these Sunday emails and the recordings of my music I produce and send to classical music radio stations.)

2) “Invest in yourself.” (This week, at the insistence of our daughter, I am finally getting hearing aids, after putting it off for years. Producing recordings of my music and publishing my books are other forms of self-investment.)

3) “If you don’t ask questions, you don’t get answers.” (I ask questions of people who are smarter and / or wiser than myself. I also “google” frequently. Mostly about practical matters. This week I found a video sharing an ingenious way to yank dead arbor vitae out of the ground. I ask myself questions, too, like these: “What does this musical idea want to do? Where does it want to go?)

4) “More people will be inspired by the fact that you are DOING your art than will ever be inspired by the art itself.” (People who don’t even like classical music nevertheless enjoy knowing that I compose classical music and that I work at putting it “out there” where it can be heard. Which leads to the next saying …. )

5) “Do your work. Then step back. The only path to serenity.”
-- from the “Tao Te Ching.”

6) “If it’s not fun, make it fun.” (Not always possible, but I try)

7) “Even if I knew the world was going to end tomorrow I would still plant my little apple tree.” -- Martin Luther

8) “Learn and use people’s names.” (Especially those who provide service: clerks, receptionists, tellers, food servers, mail carriers, flight attendants, people who repair things. Tip generously.)

9) “Do your best.” (That way, when we fail, as we often will, we can at least say, “Well, I did my best.”)

10) “If you’re bored, you’re boring to be around.” -- Sol Gordon

11) “It’s in God’s hands.” (Which is to say, it’s not in OUR hands; don’t waste energy in worry or regret; just say: “It’s in God’s hands.”)

12) “Never carry gasoline in your trunk unless it’s in some kind of a container.” -- Red Green

Ha, ha. I love Red Green. People say I look like him. Check out the photo below.

I like to discover sayings people live by. Send me some of yours.

Now let’s listen to the bittersweet “Waltz” from my Trio #1 for violin, clarinet and piano, “Sunny Days,” played tenderly by violinist Paul Patterson, clarinetist Anthony Costa and pianist Phil Amalong. Click the link above.

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