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The Unexpected SATB - Alto Muted - Joshua Fishbein - 1/1

This piece was written for Project: Sound under Robert Heath.

"Americana Variations" is a composition/arrangement/compilation of eight Stephen Foster songs. Each song is written in the style of eight prominent American composers since the mid-1800s. Besides the first song, "Old Folks at Home," being in the style of the original
composer, the seven composers are John Phillip Sousa, Charles Ives, George Gershwin,
Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Philip Glass, and John Wililams. All of them have unique voices that has influenced Western music. There were few others in consideration, such as John Cage, but that would've added another 4 minutes and 33 seconds to this piece. Being a fan of both high-brow and low-brow humor, I hope this chamber wind ensemble work will
be enjoyed by both performer and listener.
P.S. There is a "mystery composer" hidden towards the end. Try and see if you can find it.

Instrumentation: 
1 Piccolo
1 Flute
1 Clarinet in Bb
1 Bass Clarinet in Bb 
1 Soprano Saxophone
1 Alto Saxophone 
2 Trumpets in Bb 
2Horns in F
1 Trombone
1 Euphonium 
1 Tuba
1 Piano

Americana Variations ('Murica!) for wind ensemble

Of the Ages (2018)for SATB Chorus unaccompanied
Music by Joshua Fishbein
Words by Elizabeth Hart Pennell, Laurence Alma-Tadema, and William Butler Yeats
Commissioned by The Esoterics (Eric Banks, Founding Director), supported in part by funding from the Montgomery County government and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (Maryland)

Performed by The Esoterics
Eric Banks, conductor
June 9, 2018
Holy Rosary Catholic Church, West Seattle

I. Youth and Age
II. Playgrounds
III. The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water

I. "Youth and Age" (1921) by Elizabeth Hart Pennell

Youth has music on his lips
And in his hurrying feet,
Rhythm in his finger-tips
And in his laughter sweet.

Age has silence on his tongue-
Never a note or sound;
But his heart is often wrung
By music all around.

Youth has tongue, but lacks an ear-
He whistles, pipes and sings.
Age is still, but he can hear
Silence and growing things.

-From "Poetry: A Magazine of Verse" (1912-1922)

II. "Playgrounds" (1903) by Laurence Alma-Tadema

In summer I am very glad
We children are so small,
For we can see a thousand things
That men can't see at all.

They don't know much about the moss
And all the stones they pass:
They never lie and play among
The forests in the grass.

They walk about a long way off;
And, when we're at the sea,
Let father stoop as best he can
He can't find things like me.

But, when the snow is on the ground
And all the puddles freeze,
I wish that I were very tall,
High up above the trees.

-From "Songs of Womanhood" (1903)

III. "The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water" (1903) by William Butler Yeats

I heard the old, old men say,
'Everything alters,
And one by one we drop away.'
They had hands like claws, and their knees
Were twisted like the old thorn-trees
By the waters.
'All that's beautiful drifts away
Like the waters.'

-From "In the Seven Woods" (1903)

Of The Ages: I. Youth And Age

The Unexpected
for SATB Chorus and Piano
Music by Joshua Fishbein
Words by Paulo
(Note: Paulo is one of several talented young poets served by Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop. Free Minds uses books, creative writing, and peer support to awaken DC youth incarcerated as adults to their own potential. Through creative expression, job readiness training, and violence prevention outreach, these young poets achieve their education and career goals, and become powerful voices for change in the community.)

Commissioned and Premiered by the Thomas Circle Singers with support from the Nora Roberts Foundation
James Kreger, Artistic Director
Aaron Goen, Piano
Recorded live at Church of the Epiphany, Washington, DC on May 18, 2019

The Unexpected
by Paulo

The doors open and I am escorted in
Wearing an oversized orange jumpsuit
I glance around and find myself being stared at
The air circulating the room 
Brings goose bumps to my skin
I just want to run away
I want to hide
And erase the moment
The judge calls out my name
Within minutes, my future is called out
I am left speechless
Escorted out, I struggle to move my legs
My knees want to give up on me
I cannot hold myself together
I am still adding the numbers 

From The Untold Story of the Real Me, 84. 
Washington, DC: Shout Mouse Press, 2015. 
Copyright © 2015 by Free Minds Book Club 
& Writing Workshop. Used by permission.  

Of The Ages: I. Youth And Age

Joshua Fishbein, composer

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