Classical

Largo from Sonata no. 3 in B Minor by Chopin

Beethoven, Sonata In A Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 69

BLIZZARD

DASH

10 SNIPPET prod. 5kjordn1

Prelude and Fugato from Mama Dee’s Notebook is a tribute to my grandmother, an extraordinary woman. Born the thirteenth child to a coal miner in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, she lived through the full force of the Great Depression. Despite the hardships of her upbringing, she earned multiple college degrees, her first being in music.
During the pandemic, as I sorted through some of her belongings, I discovered her harmony notebook from the spring of 1938. It was filled with routine theory exercises, but at the back were several short sketches, only a few measures long, labeled "atonal, March 1938." In those fragments, I glimpsed the workings of a fascinating musical mind. They reminded me of the times I’d heard her improvising organ preludes for her congregation— moments of pure, spontaneous creativity.

Inspired by those sketches, I crafted this Prelude and Fugato. The work draws from her ideas and evokes the rich, resonant sounds of a pipe organ, the kind that fills the space of a large church. As you listen, I hope you hear echoes of the music my Mama Dee might have composed had she pursued the life of a composer. 
Commissioned by World-Wide Concurrent Premieres and Commissioning Fund, Inc. this work is dedicated to Dr. Matthew McInturf.

Puckett Mama Dee Prelude and Fugato premiere SHSU McInturf

Prelude and Fugato from Mama Dee's Notebook

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Largo from Sonata no. 3 in B Minor by Chopin

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