Program Notes

“Completed in 1983, these Intermezzi were written for Richard Stoltzman, and premiered by Stoltzman and pianist Thomas Stumpf on May 3, 1983 in Jordan Hall. The Intermezzi were originally commissioned through the National Endowment for the Arts.”

—William Thomas McKinley (© 1986), from 2 Dec 1986 program.

“An Intermezzo is unimaginatively defined as a short movement connecting the main part of a composition. But because WilliamThomas McKinley’s life is a composition—imagine barely opening a door, gently, and hearing a song—almost a dream of a song already begun, slowly spinning, beautiful in long breathed simplicity. Imagine listening, almost motionless, the door slightly open, transfixed. Then, slowly, closing the door, hearing the music no more yet feeling it flowing on and on inside you, inside the door. You have heard a moment of McKinley; a brief breeze from the mountain of McKinley’s compositional life—an Intermezzo.”

—Richard Stoltzman (© 1983), from the printed score.