Sixes and Sevens
for Unaccompanied Cello

    4 movements, 7:30

• Composed for and dedicated to Stephen Drake, Nashville Symphony cellist, studio musician, and Principal Cellist with the Parthenon Chamber Orchestra
• Premiered March 23, 2017 by Stephen Drake at Middle Tennessee State University

When the composer was young he loved to spend time at the home of his maternal grandmother Sallie Lipscomb, who was his first piano teacher. “Mama Lipscomb” lived in a large rambling house in the suburbs that had a magical yard filled with old trees and a back patio replete with inviting lawn furniture. This work paints a warm summer evening spent on that patio, beginning with settling into a comfortable chair to enjoy sunset followed by the emergence of fireflies, an impressive moonrise and a meteor shower.

Whenever Mama Lipscomb was asked how she was doing, she always answered, "Oh, the same old sixes and sevens!" The title of this composition is extracted from that cheery reply.

Published by Metamorphic Music.