For Flute and Alto Flute | 2015

Program Note for Variations on Mel’s Song

Variations on Mel’s Song are dedicated to the memory of my late Zen teacher,
Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi, one of the most eminent Zen masters of the last fifty
years, usually addressed as “Mel” by his many friends and students. Mel was an
avid recorder player, and for many years we enjoyed playing chamber music
together, sometimes joined a second player, Rick Levine. Variations on Mel’s
Song began as a duet for Mel and Rick, recently revised as a piece for two flutists.
The theme, “Mel’s song”, is a gentle, lilting melody. The variations gradually
become livelier, only to be interrupted by an almost static variation featuring
several long silences. The quick tempo returns, becoming faster and faster until it
reaches a sudden climax. Another long silence leads to a quiet final variation,
and the piece comes to a quiet end.