We spent this past weekend in Asheville, NC, and I have to recommend it highly.  Great food, fabulous art, and a kick in my creative pants!

One of the most fun things we did was to go to a bar/club called Lex 18, at which a DJ spins electroswing on Friday nights.  Do you not know what electroswing is?

Here you go:

Or here:

Or here:

You’re welcome.

The dance floor was filled with young persons who knew what they were doing, and it was fabulous.  (We also danced, for the record.)

Anyway, we visited studios and galleries and ate fantastic meals, and I’ve been inspired to get back to work.

Before heading up to Asheville, we went to Athens to hear Peter Schickele in concert.  He is now 80 and in a wheelchair, but his music has lost none of its charm, wit, or éclat.  It made me want to get home and produce music of my own.  For a change.

So this morning I sat down and got back to work on Five Easier Pieces, which has been on my plate for several years now.  I actually started a new file and played with some motifs, but when I went to save the file I found that I had a small flock of abortive attempts, so I opened those to see if there was anything worth looking at.

Lo! and also behold! most of them were actually pretty good, so I set aside this morning’s work and picked up two of them and filled them out.

And so, I present to you…

Five Easier Pieces (a companion to, and a partial apology for, Six Preludes (no fugues))

I.  No. 1 (Invention) | score [pdf] | mp3

II.  No. 2 (Waltz) | score [pdf] | mp3

There will be further reportage on the Asheville venture.