Note: This score is at sounding pitch. Parts available upon request.


Commentary by Left Brain vs. Right Brain: RB: "Inspiration comes from the darndest places. In a nutcase, it truly is Left Brain vs. Right Brain: best 2 falls out of 3. In this case, it's The Third Man meets Shallow Hal. The music is not based on those films, but old Vienna and big sweet Rosemary kick-started my imagination, so by golly I went with the flow. Classical music oughta be fun, s... (more)

Note: This score is at sounding pitch. Parts available upon request.


Commentary by Left Brain vs. Right Brain: RB: "Inspiration comes from the darndest places. In a nutcase, it truly is Left Brain vs. Right Brain: best 2 falls out of 3. In this case, it's The Third Man meets Shallow Hal. The music is not based on those films, but old Vienna and big sweet Rosemary kick-started my imagination, so by golly I went with the flow. Classical music oughta be fun, so I had a ball composing this. Hey, now our readers look like bewilderbeasts. Lefty, you got some 'splaining to do!" LB: "Firstly, as my world premi?re concert (see my Theme and Variations in G Minor for Contrabassoon and Orchestra) approached, the soloist recommended that I create another score for the conductor. Secondly, as Coordinator of the Classical Music SIG (or Special Interest Group) of American Mensa, I researched the history of the waltz for our November newsletter. Thirdly, I saw the 1949 film The Third Man by Graham Greene and Sir Carol Reed, set in postwar Vienna. Therefore in October I began to structure an orchestral waltz, but alas my themes were rather lackluster." RB: "You're pretty lackluster yourself, structure boy. Good thing my half of the brain came to the rescue, in my usual inventive way. Against your better judgement, I also caught the Farrelly Brothers' 2001 movie Shallow Hal. The locales were verrrry familiar, due to my engineering projects in Charlotte, North Carolina. Above all, I absolutely loved the charming character of Rosemary, so I bought the DVD. Well, not exactly bought. Would you believe ... a truck full of their DVDs flipped over on the Autobahn, so I lept into the flaming wreckage and claimed one?" LB: "Hardly. Yet I concur that the Farrelly Brothers transcended their sophomoric jokes to achieve true poetry when the conflicted Hal reaches a crossroads in his life. He agonizes and ultimately shuns his shallow past, because the caring Rosemary is indeed the love of his life, all 300 pounds of her. In the final analysis, it is a most touching film. Some viewers have noted a subtle reference to Emily Dickinson in this film. Instead, I was mindful of Mark Twain in Chapter 28 of Following the Equator: 'Given the circumstances, the Man [or Woman] will appear, even if he is a thousand miles away, and has to be discovered by a practical joke.' To which I add: True Love can take an equally convoluted path." RB: "You believe that baloney? Emotions are my department, ya know. Sometimes it's a royal pain to be lodged in the same skull with you. Anyway, even though the music isn't directly based on the film, the character of Rosemary did inspire a boatload of new themes. They fit like a glove, or what? My old themes went into the electron shredder, and finally my old-Vienna-style waltz came to life. Rosie is generous, intelligent and warm, but kinda ungainly, shy and hesitant too. I needed multiple personalities to cook up a main theme for her, so I rolled up the sleeves of my straitjacket, upgraded my padded cell to a Paderewski cell, and voil?! Just like the time I fell into the river in Paris and went 'in Seine', I gave my imagination free rein, and later reeled it in. Woohoo, it worked! After an introduction, the big sweet violas play Rosemary's big sweet theme ? la viennoise: she's humorous and sad, radiant and wistful, gracious and heavy, etc. Oh, my God. She's beautiful!" LB: "Completed in October 2004, this piece has elements of rondo, variation and sonata forms melded with the standard Viennese waltz in A Major, with episodes in its dominant keys of E Major and E Minor. Incidentally, perceptive listeners have noted that the first 9 notes of the flowing main theme are the 8 notes of the A Major scale, plus 1." RB: "You betcha. Kinda like Spinal Tap, eh? Their amplifiers went up to 11, only my scale goes up to 9." LB: "One final comment: Although I tried my best never to be shallow, perhaps Shallow Hal struck a chord because I myself reached a crossroads 3 decades ago, and through my own immaturity I too nearly lost the love of my life." RB: "I wasn't much of a smooth operator in those days. Thank goodness I came to my senses before it was too late, and married the only girl I've ever loved. In January 2005 my wife & I celebrate a quarter-century of happy marriage with yet another romantic ocean cruise. Life is beautiful."

All Reviews

There is 1 review for this score

You Said It Yourself
Well, I don't know what I like more about this, the score, or the programme note! I agree with everything you've said about the piece, and the theme, and it's good to get some background behind it too, it makes it all the more enjoyable. A very entertaining piece with excellent writing for the individual instruments, especially the viola, and later on the trombone. I'm glad I followed the link on the chat-page, it intrigued me to listen to this delightful piece. MJL

Matt Loveridge