I have a problem. As a composer, I’m supposed to write Extremely Serious Music (ESPECIALLY for orchestra). My problem is that, as a man of my age, I listened to a lot of music from the ‘80s. And I still do. I have several pieces in my catalog which draw on ‘80s hits and abstract them, toy with them, and generally have fun with them. Each of these movements was a pure joy to write and continually made me laugh through each stage of the compositional process.
These four short movements were composed for the Central Michigan University orchestra. Bonus points if you can name all the quotes! The first book of Songs My Radio Taught Me was for solo marimba.