How an idea, inspired by a photo of Black Marigold emblazoned pint glasses, became so much more...
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"Love the beer photo of Black Marigold! That gave me an idea. How about a quintet with the movements about different types of beer? Stout, IPA, porter, wheat beer etc. or your favorite craft brews. Could be fun."
...and that's how it all began, a spur of the moment email to Black Marigold. Originally I conceived a simple five movement structure based on general beer styles, but after several months of discussion we decided the piece should be about Wisconsin beer, specifically craft brews hailing from the Madison area. Since proper inspiration was required, we all agreed that I should visit the brew pubs and sample the beers in person. Enter the "Beer-Bender Weekend". Over a three day period in April of 2016, Black Marigold took me on a whirlwind tour of Madison's vibrant craft brew scene, sampling over 50 beers. To capture each brew's unique character and personality I created a special Beer Music survey. It posed questions like; "If this beer were a weather phenomenon what would it be?", "What human personality type characterizes this beer?" and "If this beer were a member of the animal kingdom, which would it be?". I soon realized , as each brew came to life, that the piece needed to be about the individual beers. So, looking over the survey notes, I chose beers who's descriptive elements possessed immediate musical character, work began right away. When it was all done, Beer Music would grow to feature 18 beers (or movements) ranging in style from the bluegrass twang of Banjo Cat to the Stravinsky-esque Ya Gotova. In essence, a musical tasting celebrating our fondness for this ancient fermented beverage and everything that's great about craft brewing. But was I finished? Not exactly, there was one more idea to explore. Very early on I imagined the final movement to be a German style drinking song, written as to be performed in a "drunkenly" manner. I asked the group if they'd be agreeable to a bit of "theatrics", the response was a resounding "Yes!". So work began on what would become the 19th and final movement Finale: The Beer Baron (Bier ist Hier!). And what a great way to wrap up Beer Music, best described in this excerpt from the Tasting Notes: a celebratory German drinking song, suggesting how a wind quintet might sound if they were imbibing during the gig instead of after. Cheers! |
World Premiere: June 22, 2017
Black Marigold 2017 IDRS Conference - Lawrence University, WI 
Promotional Video
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Black Earth Porter
Banjo Cat
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PsycHOPS
Finale: The Beer Baron (Bier ist Hier!)
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Get a free download of these
three Beer Music tracks as recorded by Black Marigold 
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Beer Music is published by TrevCo Music Publishing - available in three Flights & Finale
Flight One
1. Black Earth Porter 2. Groundskeeper Willie 3. PsycHOPS 4. Big Slick Stout 5. Hopalicious 6. Parched Eagle Golden Ale |
Flight Two
1. Crop Circle Wheat 2. Madtown Nutbrown 3. Josephine Nitro 4. Stella's Four-Legged Doppelganger 5. Sticky McDoogle 6. Banjo Cat |
Flight Three
1. Fantasy Factory 2. Silk Scorpion 3. Hopticity Jones 4. Champagne Tortoise 5. Ya Gotova 6. Nectarine Finale The Beer Baron (Bier ist Hier!) |