FEBRUARY 24, 2019
Richard Cerchia
Sinfonia Piccola
for brass trio
The pdf is for viewing only. Please contact the composer for further use.
PROGRAM NOTES:
SINFONIA PICCOLA for Brass Trio (Trumpet, Horn and Bass Trombone)
1. Heraldry: Heraldic fanfares and general brassy doings!
2. What’s the Buzz About?: A fly interrupts an elderly couple’s nap in the living room. The Trumpet is the fly and the Horn and Trombone the elderly couple. The movement starts with the man and woman yawning and getting comfortable. As the buzz of the fly starts you can hear the ruckus of them trying to hit it. In the middle they think they have killed it and celebrate with a phrase from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. But to no avail. The fly recuperates and is back to buzzing about. You can hear the woman say (Horn) “what?” and the man (trombone) saying “ I don’t know”. The battle ensues again with the fly having the last word!
3. Three Hymns from the Sea: Three hymns connected to the sea in one way or another follow each other twisting and turning in variations. Nearer My God to Thee is said to have been played by the orchestra on the Titanic as it was sinking. It Is Well With My Soul was written by hymnist Horatio Spafford while crossing the Atlantic. His family was in a ship that left before his. While aboard he got a message that his children were lost in the first ship’s sinking. His wife survived. Jesus, Savior, Pilot Metalks of “life’s tempestuous sea” with many maritime references.
4. Fanfarondo!: A combination of fanfares in Rondo.
Any of the four movements of this “Little Symphony” may be played as a separate entity apart from the whole. The entire piece runs approximately 18 minutes.
STATEMENT OF FAITH:
I have been at this composing thing for most of my life. I even remember when I was in elementary school that I would make up little tunes on my guitar. It was in my heart all along to be a composer. When I finally came to the Lord in faith and commitment in my 20s is when the battle began. The attacks and doubts about what I was doing and why. My journey with the Lord has had it’s ups and downs, but through it all I have learned that HE IS FAITHFUL. Through all the doubts and fears in my life; the steps backward and repentances, He has never left. The struggle as an artist for me is always – why am I doing this? The only real answer I have is that God gave me this passion. I can’t NOT do this. It’s part of the way He wired me. How many times I thought I can’t do this anymore. That I would stop. Then, of course there would be an inspiration and off I would go composing again. In the movie “Chariots of Fire” Eric Liddle, a runner says “He’s made me fast. When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” That’s the way it is in my life. When I compose I feel His pleasure and at peace that I am in the right spot doing the right thing.