A composition assignment where "Children's Pieces"
meant that each piece fits on one page. So I composed
six easy pieces about a specific child: me. Age eight,
1953, no internet, no TV, but a world of imagination
and a schoolyard full of kids across the street more
than made up for it. The salient memories:
I-Gotcha. Playing tag was common at the schoolyard. All
one had to do was touch someone else and say "gotcha"
and the game was on.
II-Starlight. I would wake in the night and stare a...(+)
A composition assignment where "Children's Pieces"
meant that each piece fits on one page. So I composed
six easy pieces about a specific child: me. Age eight,
1953, no internet, no TV, but a world of imagination
and a schoolyard full of kids across the street more
than made up for it. The salient memories:
I-Gotcha. Playing tag was common at the schoolyard. All
one had to do was touch someone else and say "gotcha"
and the game was on.
II-Starlight. I would wake in the night and stare at
the stars. I imagined wondrous things there: people
made of glass, cities a mile high, etc.
III-Rabbits. Wild rabbits invaded our vegetable garden
every morning. We loved how they hopped about as mama
shooed them with a broom.
IV-Trains in the Night. It was the end of the age of
steam. There is no lonelier sound than steam whistle in
the early hours.
V-Sidekick Shuffle. All the cowboys had theme songs,
but never the lowly sidekicks. Here we right this
musical wrong.
VI-Soon it will Snow. Little Rock had lots of hill and
no snow removal equipment. A modest snow and school was
closed and we were out in it as soon as we could find
our mittens. Doesn't get any better than that for an
eight year-old boy.
SHEET MUSIC