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| The Earth's Jig | |
| Date Completed: | May 11, 1987 |
| Duration: | about 3 minutes |
| Instrumentation: | piano |
| First Performance: | December 6, 1987, Chris Vassiliades, Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York City July 3, 1991, Bennett Lerner, Alliance Francaise Auditorium, Bangkok, Thailand |
| Comments: | for Bennett Lerner; available at newmusicshelf.com |
| Program Notes: | Bennett Lerner asked if I would make a solo piano version of the last part of my quintet The Single Earth. I agreed on the condition that he would actually perform it. The Earth's Jig uses all the main features of the quintet's three movements (including a little tune that is a kind of homage to Guillaume de Machaut), sometimes with as many as three ideas superimposed, but with the ending changed to wander off in a slower tempo - implying, perhaps, that the earth continues with or without us. The Earth's Jig was first performed by Christopher Vassiliades on December 6, 1987 at the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York City. Bennett Lerner kept his end of the bargain by giving a second "world permiere" in Bangkok, Thailand at the Alliance Francaise Auditorium on July 3, 1991. |