Stumped

Stumped

by

Kitty Allen

 Available on Spotify, Pandora Plus & in most digital music stores.

An original instrumental tune composed  & performed by Kitty Allen on pedal harp, midi-keyboard, flutes, didge box, laptop & analog synthesizer.

Inspired by a fallen tree spotted in the woods during a country drive in Connecticut.  The beauty of nature lived on with grace, stillness & renewal.  The tree humbly presented itself perfectly as a grizzled & fractured old stump, though one with a history, as displayed by its shredded bark,  random twigs & the young green tendrils that enveloped it.

A Downy woodpecker, current resident maintaining a nest within the tree stump, validated the old tree's checkered past.  "Not a home for the timid!" it squawked. "Been filled with ants, worms, raccoons & skunks for decades. Not to mention numerous holes drilled by other bird bills. A decrepit old relic. Always groaning, whistling & churning during strong winds,  too. Merciful that it finally split itself in half...easier to dine on the vermin..."

© - Kitty Allen  2019

Fanfare in F for Flutes, Frogs, & Fast Food Cart

Fanfare in F for Flutes, Frogs, & Fast Food Cart

by

Kitty Allen

 Available on Spotify, Pandora Plus & in most digital music stores.

An original instrumental tune composed & performed by Kitty Allen on pedal harp, flutes, midi-keyboard, laptop, analog synthesizer, & melodica. 

Three part tune in form ABCA. Parts B & C include a twelve tone row performed forward & in retrograde by flutes & melodica.

Additional sounds are contributed by various species of frogs & toads found in New England & the Midwest. Examples include:
 - Southern Leopard Frog
 - Bullfrog
 - Eastern Spadefoot Toad
 - Crawfish Frog
 - Fowler's Toad
 - Green Frog
 - Pickerel Frog
 - Spring Peeper
 - Wood Frog
 - Western Chorus Frog
 - Northern Leopard Frog

Please also enjoy the bullfrog serenade shown below.

© - Kitty Allen  2019

Ictus Pileactus

Ictus Pileactus

by

Kitty Allen

Available on Spotify, Pandora Plus & in most digital music stores.

Original instrumental tune composed & performed by Kitty Allen on pedal harp, flutes, midi-keyboard, laptop, & analog synthesizer. 

Additional sounds of nature within the tune include a variety of calls contributed by numerous pileated woodpeckers. The birds were observed & recorded throughout wooded areas located within Mackinac Island, Michigan & Easton, CT.

No woodpeckers were injured or harmed in any way during the recording process for this tune.

© - Kitty Allen  2018

Croatian Crustacean

Croatian Crustacean
by 
Kitty Allen

Available on Spotify, Pandora Plus & in most digital music stores.

Original instrumental tune composed & performed by Kitty Allen on alto and C flutes, pedal harp, midi-keyboard, laptop and analog synthesizer.

Sounds of Croatia within the tune include:
- Dubrovnik clock tower chimes
- Pula cathedral bells
- Forging blacksmith at Pula Roman festival
- Croatian cicadas at Plitvice Lakes National Park
- Croatian sea organ

No cause for worry or alarm. Some of the effects you're hearing in the second and fourth minutes of the tune are sounds of the Croatia sea organ. For more information, please click on the link shown below. Enjoy!

SEA ORGAN - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_organ

Please also enjoy the sight and sound of the waterfall shown below. It's located in Plitvice Lakes National Park - Plitvicka jezera, Croatia.

Or enjoy the crustacean shown below, though it was not found near the sea organ nor in the national park. 

© - Kitty Allen  2018 

Risque Toupee

Risque Toupee  

A Musical Poem for Your Dome

by

Kitty Allen

 Preview

Full tune available on Spotify, Pandora Plus & in most digital music stores.

Original instrumental blues-ish tune   comprised of many moods. Composed and performed by Kitty Allen on pedal harp with effects, midi-keyboard, flutes, implements, tap shoes, laptop, analog synthesizer, melodica, and jaw harp. Inspired by an acquaintance who shall remain nameless. Very audacious and certainly shameless.

Harp Heels

For the harpist needing a very portable instrument...one with a kick!

© - Kitty Allen  2018

Taking the Plunge

Taking the Plunge

by

Kitty Allen

 Preview

Available on Spotify, Pandora Plus & in most digital music stores. 

Original instrumental tune composed & performed by Kitty Allen on pedal harp, analog synthesizer, midi-keyboard, laptop, & flute. Dove coos provided by  white doves.

An alternative wedding march processional for the poly-rhythmically inclined bride. One who's in a hurry.

Inspired by a visit to Mercati di Rialto alongside the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. On a rainy & cold late Saturday afternoon in March, there they were by themselves. Surrounded by history & beauty, they only had eyes for each other.

Amare il momento.

Overheard from  mother of the bride a slight distance away: "Tomorrow she'll be washing his socks."

© - Kitty Allen  2018

Globetrot

Globetrot

by 

Kitty Allen

Available on Spotify, Pandora Plus & in most digital music stores.

Original instrumental tune composed & performed by Kitty Allen on pedal harp, flutes, chromatic harmonica, didge box, Yamaha analog synthesizer, midi-keyboard, & laptop.

To represent the photo, background, & title of this piece, it seemed fitting to write &  perform the music as a three-part round (or canon). The canon is performed by three flutes with instrumental accompaniment. Embellishments occur during & between three melodic segments that are performed by the three flutes in round form.  

This Sphere Within Sphere, also known as Sfera con Sfera stands tall as the centerpiece of the Courtyard of the Pinecone at the Vatican Museum. A bronze structure that appears golden when the sun shines down on it, the statue is slightly over 13 feet in diameter. It is also one of a series of sculptures created by Italian sculptor, Arnaldo Pomodoro. Depicting an enormous metal sphere with a cracked surface that reveals another cracked interior sphere, Pomodoro originally created this piece for the Vatican Church in the 1960s. He later began building additional versions for other organizations. They can be found in prime locations all over the world. Examples include the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City, Trinity College in Dublin, Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Columbus Museum of Art, & Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Additional information on the artist and his work can be found at multiple websites. One  such example is the video interview shown below. 

© - Kitty Allen  2018