NOTE: An MP3 file, using Kontakt sounds, is available online at this site for listening.

"Romance for Strings," which began as a musical valentine, is the elder sibling of "At Close of Day." Both are at once musical self-portraits and designed as "growth pieces" for young (or, for that matter, older) musicians - i.e., enjoyable, yet challenging, works. �Romance� also is a conscious tribute to Frederick Delius, one of my three favorite composers, along with Ralph Vaughan Williams and Sir Edward Elgar, and a figure whose enormous talent and brilliant originality have been largely overlooked by most music historians. The middle section of �Romance,� with its chord streams, is a clear nod and smile in the direction of Vaughan Williams. "Romance" has been performed by select members of an award-winning, literacy-based elementary school orchestra program, but they had assistance from alumni who then were members of first-rate middle school and high school orchestras, including several Texas All-State musicians. All but the most advanced players said that is was a "toughie," but all agreed that it was an enjoyable challenge.