Uncle Bertie’s ankles are subjected to quite a bit of abuse in this song.  In subsequent verses, they’re bitten, kicked, broken, stung, and burned.  Finally, he’s eaten by a bear, leaving the ankles unharmed.  Poor Uncle Bertie!

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A round about time.

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I write musical acronyms by taking the first beat of every measure from a given piece.  For the first one, I chose Haydn’s sparkling piano sonata in C major, XVI/35.  The result keeps much of the character of Haydn, but is shorter and a bit more abrupt.  It’s still surprisingly coherent, though; Haydn’s clarity shines […]

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I’ve always felt sorry for Jesus’s brother James, destined to be overshadowed.  But then, he wasn’t crucified, either.  Here are the first four verses of six.

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I found a musical cipher on a tearsheet from an old encyclopedia, so I wrote a quatrain to try it out. This is what it sounds like.

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A round on one of life’s eternal truths.  

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A round on a bit of verse by Ambrose Bierce.  

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Again, I don’t know how old I was when I composed this series of descriptive pieces.  Nor do I remember why I used only two pitches.  (Those stray Fs in the first piece are obviously an error.)  I do remember, however, that I insisted my father play them, because I wanted to hear them played […]

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I’m not sure how old I was when I committed my “Opus No. 1” to paper.  Six?  Seven?  Unfortunately, I didn’t date it.  At any rate, it’s a curious little piece, with the virtue of brevity.  The key signature in the bass at the beginning is probably an error.  And there seem to be sketches […]

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There’s a glorious town at the end of the earth…  It’s a wonderful place, but, unfortunately, they won’t let you in. Here’s the start of it, with its doleful three-part harmonies.

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