Category Archives: Felsina

“The Bird at Pilate’s Basin”

Albumleaf 169: July 6, 2020 (Bologna) So, below is a rough recording of this Albumleaf that I wrote over the summer. Since then, I’ve revised and rerecorded it for a very exciting project that I expect to be announcing in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the recording below does give a sense of the final version. […]

“Dall’orto se ne vien”

Albumleaf 165: March 24, 2020 (Bologna) “Back from the orchard she comes.” After Filippo Azzaiolo (d. 1570) Click here for recording.

“Nebbia / Torre dell’Orologio”

Albumleaf 164: February 11, 2020 (Bologna) Click here for recording.

“Boschereccia n. 3 — Il Museo della Musica”

Albumleaf 163: October 18, 2019 (Bologna) The third boschereccia resembles the first in its wildness, but it is a well-lit room, where we have not lost our bearings.  We contemplate quietly a pair of horns and harps in a display case.  The sounds of these instruments mingle in our mind with the opening phrases of […]

“Boschereccia n. 2 — Palazzo d’Accursio”

Albumleaf 162: October 10, 2019 (Bologna) This boschereccia is a more civilized room, with symmetrical, framed frescoes and a much less reverberant acoustic.  Perhaps a social gathering is underway, the music blending with the small-group conversations scattered around the room.  The homophonic texture continues from the first movement’s conclusion; repeated notes evoke the play of […]

“Boschereccia n. 1 — Palazzo Hercolani”

Albumleaf 161: June 5, 2019 (Bologna) The first boschereccia is a dim, echoy room whose frescoes spill unframed from wall to wall and up onto the ceiling.  We seem to be in a real forest, the wind carrying hints of horn calls from the distance.  A melody emerges from and subsides into the waves of […]

“Plier Tree Revisited (Odin at the Spring)”

Albumleaf 136: July 3, 2018 (Bologna) If ever a title required explanation, this is it. Back in November 2012, I began writing an Albumleaf inspired by Mooney Warther’s wooden sculpture “Plier Tree” (pictured below). I quickly became mired in “masterpiece mode,” completing page after page of sketches, throwing away music, starting and restarting, and so […]

“Slow Mozart”

Stick with it: the title doesn’t give it all away. Albumleaf 129: April 19, 2018 (Bologna)  

“Idea for a Barcarolle”

Albumleaf 126: March 14, 2018 (Bologna) Click here for recording.

“Urna biconica”

Be warned: it’s a quiet one. (It’s an urn, after all.) Albumleaf 123: February 16, 2018 (Bologna)     Click here for recording.