Amuses-Bouches

This piece is subtitled “A tasting menu for unaccompanied flute and trumpet” and was written with the invaluable help of my son-in-law, Gerad Gabehart, who is a wonderful, creative cook and who also wrote the menu and supplied the accompanying recipes. The ten pieces are suitable for either recital performance or for use in the studio as a series of short duet studies. However, for fullest enjoyment it is suggested that one could use both the pieces and the dishes together in sequence at a warm, celebratory and affectionate house party with friends and family.

The menu is devised in such a way that there is one ingredient in every dish that is carried through to the next in sequence, giving the entire menu a progression of flavors even as the styles of the dishes change. The final Chocolate Lemoncello Martini refers back to the previous Peach Crepe in its use of chocolate, but also returns full circle to the lemon
(lemon butter reduction) used with the initial Crispy Fried Calamari.

Musically, the piece is a little less structured in that way, but one will often find certain thematic and musical elements repeated, re-used and also transformed in ways that bring to mind the flavors and ingredients of dishes previously savored, absorbed and enjoyed. I offer these “Amuse-Bouches” with great thanks, affection and also amusement of both
the taste-buds and the embouchures from the “Top Chefs” and musicians in my own family to those in yours.