In 2010 I received a commission from Douglas Back, long time member of the Classical Mandolin Society of America and founder and director of the Fretworks ensemble at Baldwin Magnet School in Montgomery, Alabama, to compose a piece for Fretworks as part of the centennial celebration of their school building.
The building began its life as Sidney Lanier High School and then changed its name to Baldwin Middle School before becoming the Baldwin Arts and Academics Middle Magnet School. Because Sidney Lanier was a poet the original school's athletic teams were known as the Poets. Hank Williams, one of the great American poets, was an alumnus.
Fretworks has a long history, under the direction of Doug, of being a first rate young musical ensemble and I had great fun tailoring a piece for them. The piece was premiered in the spring of 2011 and there is a fine video of the concert performance available on YouTube. (Poets in Time video)
I have decided to make PDF copies of the score and parts for Poets in Time freely available for download here under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Generic License linked below. Feel free to make as many copies of the score and parts as are necessary for your orchestra.
If you find Poets in Time to be a good addition to your repertoire and you feel inclined to make a donation in support of my work you can use the PayPal Donation button below. Again, this is not required, I just hope that you enjoy the music. I would, however, love to hear about any performances of the piece. PDF copies of concert programs are especially appreciated.
Published by Rosie and Earl Music (ASCAP)
John Goodin, February 25, 2021
Created on February 25, 2021