Romantic Variations

Such an exciting time in my life, alongside composing a new piece for violin duet.

Baby Sabine arrived in May. I started Smule with Ge in June. I had major surgery to repair my broken jaw in September, just before I took my qualifying exams at Stanford, and the next day we launched Smule's first product, the Sonic Lighter. Ge is such a serious rock star. Coached Noah's basketball team (tough season!), now assistant coach on his baseball team (go Giants!).

Ocarina in November. Orals last month. Working on Schumann's Waldszenen. Buried in there is my gem of gems, my multi-talented daughter Charlotte, whose many gifts include the monkey bars.

Jonathan is still hanging in there with me, and via his Winter quarter seminar, Livia and Janet will perform the first (and at this stage only) two movements from a new set of variations I'm writing for violin duet. Modeled after Brahms's Schumann variations, I'm threading my own theme (really a bi-tonal harmonic progression) across a handful of works from other composers, in this case, Chopin and Debussy. The progression is never explicitly stated, only implied. Livia and Janet are performing the pieces tonight at Stanford.

I'll be sitting in the back row.

Romantic Variations Score, April, 2008