il dolce stile nuovo

for violin, cello and piano

duration: 10 minutes

premiered by Jan Valta, Lukas Polak and Jan Petr in Prague, Czech Republic in November, 2001

il dolce stile nuovo (in English: The Sweet New Style) begun as a song for voice and piano.  After I had written the intro, I called the poet only to have her tell me that she didn’t want me setting that particular poem.  Dismayed, the piece sat in a drawer for a few months while I tried to figure out what to do with it.  Finally, I got an idea to compose a piano trio, and use the introductory material as a basis for the piece.

This piece for me is just about the joy of writing and playing music.  It brings together all of my major musical influences – rock, jazz, heavy metal, renaissance and baroque music, classical Japanese music, and modern concert music.

AUDIO: il dolce stile nuovo, Jan Valta, violin – Lukas Polak, cello – Jan Petr, piano