Don’t Stop
cl, db, elec. gtr, perc, pno, vc
Duration: 9:30
Date of Composition: 1995
PROGRAM NOTES:
Don’t Stop doesn’t have to stop – ever. In design, it is a circular piece, a rondel, traversing all twelve keys before returning to the beginning tonality. Each of the twelve modulations saliently mark important musical changes in the treatment of two alternating themes. In musical style it draws on the diverse worlds of American ragtime and the early 13th-century organa by Perotinus Magnus of Notre Dame, Paris. Add to this mix the influence of rock. Don’t Stop was composed during October of 1995, for the New York based ensemble, Bang On A Can All Stars.
N.B. The repeat marks at the end of Don’t Stop are to be considered more an allusion to the title than to be taken literally. But there is always the possibility… -James Sellars