Michael Cooke

In crafting music that speaks from the heart, I often reflect on the words of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In a letter to his father dated November 8, 1777, Mozart wrote:

I cannot write poetically, for I am no poet.
I cannot artfully arrange my phrases so as to give light and shade.
Neither am I a painter;
Nor can I even express my thoughts by gesture and pantomime, for I am no dancer.
But I can do so in sounds.
I am a musician.

This profound declaration inspired me to create a collection of pieces I call Love Letters. Each piece is a musical expression lasting approximately 3-5 minutes, dedicated to someone dear to me. These compositions are my way of conveying emotions and memories that words alone cannot capture.

Dancing to the original.

Minerva’s Dance is inspired by Minerva, the goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic, and notably, the inventor of music. This piece holds a special place in my heart as it was originally composed for my wife and for our first dance as husband and wife in 2004. and our first dance together as a married couple in 2004. Inspired by her love for tangos and the enchanting music of Astor Piazzolla, I set out to create a composition imbued with deep personal significance. In my studio, the creative process began with laying down initial tracks, and soon, my friend and bandmate Andrew Wilshusen added vibrant percussion elements.

Although the piece originally included extensive improvised sections with only minimal portions formally notated, I revisited it in the summer of 2010 to fully document and enhance the orchestration. The revised composition features prominent solos for flute and soprano saxophone—offering options for either improvised solos or detailed transcriptions of my original performances. At the premiere on September 25, 2010 SFCCO, at the SFCCO concert, the flutist performed the written solo, while the saxophone solo was spontaneously improvised.

An interesting twist occurred when my friend Erling Wold initially slated to play the accordion for the concert, unfortunately sustained a leg injury due to a car accident just before the performance. Despite this setback, the concert was a profound embodiment of the creative and resilient spirit of Minerva.

Tags: flute, Love Letter, saxophone

This entry was posted on Monday, October 25th, 2010 at 11:35 pm and is filed under Composition, Jazz, Orchestral. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.