This piece is based on an experience I had shortly before its composition,

noticing the profound effect on shoppers (including me) in a mall, as

a violinist, who was selling his CDs, played familiar classical music

amplified everywhere. In this work the piano is made to represent the

shoppers. The piano plays alone at first, as directionless as they are

themselves. After quietly sounding each string, the violin interrupts with

a loud melody, startling the customers. A medley of classical favorites

ensues. The piano talks softly in the background, then joins in the music,

even singing along. The mood of the entire mall becomes calm, then rises

in emotion, dissolving into a happy frenzy. It is then that the violin seems

to implore the people to make their own music. They do so at first, if a bit

hesitatingly, but then as the violin vanishes, they drift all too quickly back

to their directionless beginning. This piece can be taken on two levels,

reminding us that though music is indeed lovely, it takes more than music

to make someone's life become lovely forever. So the violin, representing

more than a violin, has the last word, a quiet note of hope placed at the end.