Remembrance of Things Past

“Remembrance of Things Past” is the second movement of symphonic length tone poem, “A Musician’s Life" – a parable of reconciliation inspired by the life and death of Robert Blanshard”. The music convey's the story of a suddenly deceased musician who lands in the underworld and has no idea of what has happened to him. During the first movement “Tribulations”, the musician revisits the underworld version of the places that were of significance to him in life trying to remember his life.

By the second movement “Remembrance of Things Past”, the musician regains his memory of the great ‘Lost Love’ of his life. This music is a rich Adagio which features an intimate interplay between first violins and cellos signifying the two lovers.

The music quickly transitions to a lively “Country Dance”, featuring Bob Blanshard’s own tune “Russian Blues”. The musician remembers the country dance where he performed and first met his love. The music is arranged using an iconic country bowing called “Hokum Bowing” which is a rhythmic cross string pattern. The fiddling starts in the strings and then is taken up by the woodwinds with the strong syncopated accents in the brass and percussion. The movement ends in frenzied energy for the whole orchestra.

A “Musicians Life” was commissioned to honor the life of Robert Blanshard who died unexpectedly in 2018. Bob was an excellent classical string bass player and also a bluegrass musician - a virtuoso on the mandolin.