The piece is an entirely tongue-in-cheek take-off on Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.1 and uses a combination of Tango, Ragtime and Classical music styles to bring a farcical story to life. Those familiar with this Beethoven sonata will recognize the harmonic structure and progression and may be able to hear my reverence for Beethoven quoted intermittently.
Program Note: A young farm boy schemes, planning an escape from his father’s bountiful beet farm and dreaming of one liberation scenario after another. The day arrives with the boy running for his life. Safe within his pre-planned hiding spot, however, he has time to think, grows anxious, and then dutifully returns to the beets before his father is even aware of the perfidious desertion. The second movement overlooks a small stream on the same farm on a misty morning. We trace the stream’s course across a field, over a small waterfall, through an eddy, and then along some wildflowers where children are playing. The final movement imagines a run-away harvest truck prompting an argument, of course, between the farmer and his wife. Fortunately, the truck has careened clear down into the shallow creek-bed and the beauty of the scene helps resolve the conflict. A new day dawns and work of the farm begins anew which includes getting the truck out of the stream bed and a few more arguments here and there.
Instrumentation: Part 1 may be played by flute, oboe, clarinet (Bb), or violin. Part II may be played by clarinet (Bb), bassoon or cello. Piano is employed in all combinations. The download above gives you parts for all instruments, together with the Flute / Cello / Piano score. Other scores can be found at the bottom of this page. You can listen to an MP3 file played by NotePerformer below.
My thanks to Ruth Eldredge Thomas, MMA, and Esther Megargel, MMA, for their assistance in the arrangement of this piece.
To listen to Version 1 for Flute, Cello and Piano
Movement I: Escape from the Farm (6:00)
Movement II: The Rivulet (3:40)
Movement III: The Runaway Harvest Truck (3:20)
To listen to Version 2 for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano
Movement I: Escape from the Farm (6:00)
Movement II: The Rivulet (3:40)
Movement III: The Runaway Harvest Truck (3:20)
To listen to Version 3 for 2 Clarinets in Bb and Piano
Movement I: Escape from the Farm (6:00)
Movement II: The Rivulet (3:40)
Movement III: The Runaway Harvest Truck (3:20)
To listen to Version 4 for Violin, Cello and Piano
Movement I: Escape from the Farm (6:00)
Movement II: The Rivulet (3:40)
Movement III: The Runaway Harvest Truck (3:20)
Other Scores for different instrumentation