Commissioned by the Chicago Recorder Society in 2021, these three movements are composed in memory of Hildé Staniulis (1920-2020).

Hildé founded their Biennial Composition Contest, in which I won First Prize in 1997 with Prelude & Fugue No. 1 in D minor for SSATB Recorders (SMM100). While I credit winning the contest as the spark that got me started publishing my music, Hildé half-jokingly liked to say she “discovered” me. She has always held a special place in my heart as the visionary who helped me share my music with the world.

The music is approachable for a typical American Recorder Society chapter with a wide range of playing levels. No part is overly complicated, but occasional harmonic turns require familiarity with some accidentals.

The first movement is a mashup of two themes. Theme 1 opens the piece with a canzona rhythm (long plus two shorts), then the curtains part in measures 10-11 to make way for Theme 2, which has a more jazzy 3+3+2 rhythm. The two themes alternate during the rest of the movement, with Theme 1 getting the last word. The second movement is more introspective and expresses sorrow for the loss of such a vibrant lady — but not so much that she would find it overwrought. And, as with nearly all my contest submissions, the third movement is a fugue, in an upbeat style that Hildé would have enjoyed. As a special honor, her name appears in Renaissance-style solmization in the Alto and Tenor parts. In this treatment, the vowel of each syllable is assigned a pitch according to which degree of the hexachord it rhymes most closely with (Ut, Re, Mi, Fa/La, Sol). Hildé’s name renders as Mi-Re Fa-Mi-Ut-Mi, sung in long, smiling whole notes.

As in all my music, tasteful ornamentation is welcome and encouraged.