Driving through the rain down Hunter Boulevard,
Kieran smiles and waves as we leave our cars.
Bounding down the stairs, I break into a grin.
Oh what fun it is to play with Elizabeth, Camille and Kim! 

Oh Lake and Park, Lake and Park,
What’s there not to like?
Everyone feels happier when
riding on a trike!
Oh Lake and Park, Lake and Park,
Every day feels like vacation
And not just when we’re at the beach
Or in a fire station,

Fridays are the best when we do all school clean,
Scraping off the moss with Elsie and Oisin.
I hate to say goodbye to Jamie and Marian.
Later Quynh, farewell Eileen,
And see you soon McKenna!

Oh Lake and Park, Lake and Park,
What’s there not to like?
Everyone feels happier when
riding on a trike!
Oh Lake and Park, Lake and Park,
No place I’d rather be
Than here in the beginning room,
All my friends and me.

Happy holidays from the Grad/Kovarovic family!

Lake & Park (Happy Holidays from Felix Grad)

Words and music by Aaron Grad. Augustin Mercante, countertenor.

Old-Fashioned Love Songs: Love In A Minor Key

Aaron Grad:  Strange Seasons (excerpts)
John Lenti, electric theorbo
Jeff Renner, narrator
Alexander Weimann, conductor
Seattle Baroque Orchestra
Recorded live at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, WA
November 11, 2017

Strange Seasons - 1. Autumn (Excerpt)

Strange Seasons - 2. Winter (Excerpt)

Strange Seasons - 3. Spring (Excerpt)

Strange Seasons - 4. Summer (Excerpt)

Words and music by Aaron Grad
Gus Mercante, countertenor
Aaron Grad, electric theorbo and bass drum
Recorded live at the Chapel Performance Space, Seattle, WA

Battle Cry from Old-Fashioned Love Songs

Excerpt from “Old-Fashioned Love Songs” (2014), an 80-minute song cycle with words and music by Aaron Grad. Performed by Augustine Mercante, countertenor and Aaron Grad, electric theorbo. 

“Old-Fashioned Love Songs” features my own love poems and music, as well as an instrument I designed and built: the electric theorbo, a hybrid of a 14-string bass lute and an electric guitar. One of the possibilities with the electric theorbo is the use of tone-altering effects, like the subtle tremolo (pulsing) heard in this excerpt. The song “Love in a Minor Key” acknowledges and challenges the degrading impact that passing time will have on any great romance.

Excerpt from "Old-Fashioned Love Songs"

Excerpt from “Strange Seasons” (2017), a 35-minute concerto for electric theorbo, strings and harpsichord. Music and accompanying poems by Aaron Grad. Performed by John Lenti, electric theorbo, and the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Alexander Weimann, music director.

This concerto for the unique instrument that I created puts a Seattle spin on the Baroque style exemplified by Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” Like Vivaldi, I wrote sonnets that correspond to the musical images; the Winter movement, excerpted here, is titled “Gray, Gray, Gray Emerald Blues.” The music mashes together a 12-bar blues pattern with the Baroque tradition of an aria with walking bass.

Excerpt from "Strange Seasons" (Concerto for Electric Theorbo)

Excerpt from “The Father Book” (2011), a 37-minute suite for 7-string electric guitar and electronics, composed and performed by Aaron Grad. 

I recorded all of the sampled sounds on a clavichord (a Baroque keyboard instrument) built by my late father, and then I assembled the tracks into a pre-recorded accompaniment over which I played live electric guitar. It results in a disembodied duet with my father, meditating on his memory and continuing presence in my life.

Excerpt from "The Father Book"

Excerpt from "Honey sweet we sing for you

Music by Aaron Grad, libretto by Jennifer Bullis. Performed by Burning River Baroque. Co-commissioned by Burning River Baroque and Early Music Seattle.

Aaron Grad

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