Clayton Run-Around (2004-2006, for solo violin) came about as a result of my first trip to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. I have written for solo violin on several occasions, and my interest has usually focused on the Norwegian "Hardanger" style of playing. Not knowing much about Cape Breton fiddling, however, I stumbled into my first Céilidh (fiddle party), and was a goner. That night I started the "Clayton Run-Around", and did a considerable amount of work on it during our week-long vacation there. On our way home we stopped at the Celtic Music Centre, where a fiddler added some of the island's distinctive ornaments to the work-in-progress. The resultant piece, finished in 2006, still retains the feeling of the Hardanger style, but the ornaments are Celtic. It is, in essence, a "classical" piece of Island music.
The title was my reaction to seeing eight kittens running around outside the farm we stayed at while on Cape Breton--Clayton Farm. The music attempts to echo their efforts: building up to a crescendo, and then madly dispersing.