THE FOLLY STONE: FIVE DETAILS FROM THE PAINTINGS OF HIERONYMOUS BOSCH

1. The Folly Stone              
2. Monster with a Basket                                     
3. Fool with a Bowl                    
4. The Team of Demons                                 
5. Paradise

About THE FOLLY STONE, the composer writes:
“As the titles suggest, each movement represents my musical fantasies
about a detail from one of Bosch's paintings. The main figure in THE
CURE OF FOLLY is a seated man. His madness or "folly" is being cured by
the surgical removal of a stone from his head. Having lived in the stark
and grotesque atmosphere of my composition, I felt somewhat relieved
when it was finished, and I was able to resume life in a sunnier, less
monster-ridden world. I decided to name the entire piece after the first
detail. In a sense, it represents my "folly" during those dark days. The
operation seems to have been, at least temporarily, successful.
"The piece was completed in March, 1966. It has several obstacles for
performers (the ensemble precision, the enormous gulps of air required
in the low brass at the end of THE TEAM OF DEMONS, the switch
from C to Bb piccolo trumpets for PARADISE, and sheer stamina in
general) which are beautifully overcome in this [NWCRL302] recording."