No Grit No Pearl

program note

Having spent decades in higher education, both as a student and faculty member, I have heard my share of commencement speeches. Most are well-intended, but come and go...that is, except for the first commencement speech I ever heard in 1991, given by Dean Eileen Cline in Baltimore, MD. She intended to prepare the new undergraduate class I was in for hard work in the semesters ahead. She gave an analogy how hard work can often be frustrating initially and yield small gain initially, a very common occurrence with a music major who spend hours practicing often with “little result,” so to speak. But with perseverance and determination, our sustained effort can transform our previous efforts into results that we would never have imagined. Of all things, she gave an analogy of dirt. She said: “What happens when you squeeze dirt? You get coal. And what happens when you squeeze coal? You get diamonds.”

That analogy has always stuck with me. And it is the inspiration for this composition, No Grit, No Pearl. The slow, introspective opening movement reflects the raw, unpolished aspects of my potential. It is brooding, moody and barren. The movement crescendos in intensity, and when the initial theme returns, it is accompanied by new material, reflecting the “coal” aspect of the analogy, hard work and initial pressure to the raw material. The second and final movement, however, reflects the joy and euphoria when the given material has transformed into something new and unexpected. This movement is based on a now transformed-theme taken from the first movement, and, at the conclusion, quotes the slow opening movement, but this time transformed in a positive, luminous character.

This work is dedicated to Alecia Lawyer, founder of ROCO, who has seen her share of “dirt to diamonds,” including the diamond of the orchestra she persevered in bringing us today.