Tapestry was commissioned by a Danish ensemble known as the Tivoli Trio for their 1996 American tour. A number of years earlier I had composed a solo piece for the pianist of the trio. That earlier work (entitled In Memoriam, In Tribute) had been written to commemorate the courageous efforts of the Danes in saving Danish Jews from Nazi capture during World War II. The heart of the trio consists of a revised and greatly expanded variant of the earlier piano piece—reconceived not only with regard to timbre, but in formal structure as well.The dominating texture of Tapestry is a fabric of quoted fragments, interacting and colliding with one another. Most prominent among these quotations are snippets of music created by Jewish composers imprisoned at Theresienstadt, and a folk song—familiar to Danish schoolchildren—that speaks of innocence, serenity, and hope for the future.

Phoenix 14'47"
Charles Kaufmann, bassoon
Elliott Schwartz, piano
January 1999 / Portland, Maine, USA / The Studio, Portland, Maine / Steve Drown, Jim Begley

Vienna Dreams 8'53"
Fibonacci Sequence:
Yuko Inoue, viola
Julian Farrell, clarinet
Kathron Sturrock, piano
December 1998 /  The Warehouse, London, UK / Panda Productions, Surbiton, Surrey, UK - Producer: Amanda Hurton Arne Akselberg, Graham Kirkby

Rows Garden 10'21"
The Prometheus Chamber Players:
John Boden, horn
Greg Newton, bassoon
Thomas Parchman, clarinet
Krysia Tripp, flute
Michelle Vigneau, oboe
November 1997 / Carlisle, Massachusetts, USA / Blue Jay Recording Studio / Mark Wessel

Equinox 19'45"
JeugdOrkest Nederland
Roland Kieft, conductor
April 1998 / Nijverdaal, Netherlands / de Haske Sound Services bv, Heerenveen, Netherlands  / Jos Boerland, Marcel de Vries, Sjoek Nutma