Burton Beerman

Solo Violin

Composer's Note:

Nothing better tells the story of the earth than the sounds and even life-giving smells of our fragile world through the hums of the violin. Carried on the shoulders of rough-and-ready pioneers whose music was as necessary to them as breathing the, then, clean air, not yet threatened by tall buildings and concrete. Our planet sits crying, storms pleading to get our attention for its neglect. Selfish, greedy leaders interested in wealth rather than a safe place for our children to grow, ignore the clear voice of science warning us. Three Moments for Solo Violin reminds us of three brief junctures of our recent past when the land welcomed our young country to its bosom.

Prelude and Moment One gives a glimpse of road-weary pioneers, gathering around a warming fire at the end of the day to sing and dance. Moment Two is the voice of the snow-covered mountain peaks, echoing the song of the violinist; It is a soft and gentle serenade seeming to be coming from the body of the violin as a duet. Moment Three is the clogging dance learned not from antiseptic schools and a restrained society but from the uninhibited energy and excitement of the mountain men. Postlude is a winding down and call to sleep, hoping to wake in the morning that we are losing the fragile planet loaned to us from the pioneers.