Last Call at Hawley-Cooke is an arrangement for mandolin orchestra of a simple waltz that I composed in 2008. This arrangement was created originally for my good friends in the Louisville Mandolin Orchestra, in honor of the LMO's 20th anniversary. In the summer of 2009 I had the great pleasure of re-joining the group for a recording of this piece and a performance of it during a concert at the St. Meinrad Archabbey in southern Indiana.
For 25 years the Hawley-Cooke bookstores were the places where I discovered important books, magazines and recorded music. No trip to Louisville was complete without a stop at one of the stores. They were open late but many, many times I was still there at closing time. In the later years our whole family would be there, sometimes we were the last customers of the day.
The basic tune was written during the period when I was reading Alex Ross' wonderful book The Rest is Noise. There is nothing remotely "modern" about it but, somehow, reading about the great music of the early 20th century brought this set of chord changes and melody into my mind. The mandolin orchestra arrangement simply adds a little to the basic tune. It certainly sounded lovely when performed by LMO in the high-ceilinged church at St. Meinrad.
Please feel free to print as many copies of the score and parts as necessary for the use of your group. My hope is that you will enjoy playing this music and that you will convey that enjoyment to your audiences.
As you can see I am presenting this sheet music under a Creative Commons License. My intention is to make it clear that you can use the written music for any non-commercial purpose as long as proper attribution is given. I would, however, very much like to know of any performances of this music for my records.
John Goodin, September, 2009
This music is free for your use as outlined in the Creative Commons License below but I am, with some hesitation, offering the opportunity to make a small donation via PayPal (whether you have a PayPal account or not) to help support this kind of publishing. Print out the music, try it with your group, it really is free. If you want to make a donation any amount is fine. You might consider asking each member of your orchestra or ensemble to donate a dollar, or you could "pass the hat" at a rehearsal or performance. No donation is necessary, my main interest is in sharing the music.
It's also perfectly all right to send a donation via personal check to: John Goodin, 408 Center Ave., Decorah, IA 52101.
Created on September 26, 2009 : last updated on November 26, 2013