Curious Assortment
David Rubinstein
for piano
14 minutes
composed 1998-2002
Curious Assortment consists of five pieces:
• The Ping Pong Prelude
• Sorry, Wrong Cabaret
• February 29th Birthday Waltz
• Short Piece with Tango Inside
• Sleepwalking in Los Angeles
The pieces in this collection are a kind of program music, meant to represent the peculiarity of the subconscious world rather than reality. They may be performed individually.
What does a volley of ping pong sound like on the piano? This is what I decided to find out, and the results of my research are heard in The Ping Pong Prelude. After the imitative opening measures, however, the game continues in a dreamlike state, while still making use of the initial musical motifs.
Blair McMillen performing The Ping Pong Prelude
Sorry, Wrong Cabaret was conceived as an imaginary dance number with multiple short themes, none of them predominating. The vaudevillean effect is purposely disjointed, and a person entering this cabaret realizes that he has arrived at the wrong place and time.
February 29th Birthday Waltz was composed as a gift for an octogenarian friend, Judi P. Craven, who celebrated only some twenty-odd birthdays. It peeks into the mysterious plight (or blessing) of one who does not have a birthday every year. The date is spelled out musically, using the notes F,E,B and the second and ninth intervals.
Short Piece with Tango Inside begins with short, conversational motifs against an ostinato accompaniment. A tango inexplicably appears on the scene and promptly departs as the opening ostinato reappears. It is up to the listener to decide the raison d’etre of this tango.
Sleepwalking in Los Angeles was sketched out on an extremely hot summer day, so unbearable that it felt more like sleepwalking than being awake, or for that matter, composing. Little else could be done other than sketch out the strange opening melody and improvise some possibilities for a conclusion to be completed later. -D.R.
The orchestrated version of Short Piece with Tango Inside is now available.
Most of the pieces in this set were premiered by the composer in April 1999 at the Donald Wright Auditorium in Pasadena, California. The composer has also played the set at various venues around the L.A. area. The Ping Pong Prelude was performed by pianist Blair McMillen at the Avian Orchestra’s Play Ball!!! concert in New York City in January 2004. This concert was later webcast on the NewMusicBox website of the American Music Center. Three pieces from the set were performed by German pianist Thorsten Kuhn at a concert in Vienna, Austria, September 2004.
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