Still Kicking

Composer's Note:

Still Kicking (2022) was written during the pandemic for clarinetist extraordinaire, Chester Brezniak, for whom the composer's Four Humors was also written and recorded 20 years ago.

The piece is about 15 minutes duration and is in five short movements: Prelude, Tango, We Who Are Left, Ghost Waltz, and Klez for Brez. The third movement is the longest and is an elegiac reflection on the losses experienced in 2021 by those of us remaining. The Ghost Waltz has lots of trills and tremolos along with a few easy multiphonics.  The klezmer movement is meant to be life-affirming,  exuberant and fun, and has an opportunity for improvisation, a favorite musical activity of Chester who also contributed numerous suggestion for the klezmer movement as well as for the other four.