An entire concert unto itself, this upbeat 80-minute work consists of twenty-four affectionate portraits of “animals that touched my life”. Nine dogs of various species are depicted, seven cats, three birds, and one each of raccoon, lamb, koala, fish, and frog. Not always whimsical and light-hearted, there inevitably is some pathos, tragedy, despair and loss when dealing with “family members” that have a shorter life span. Shifting key centers or tonalities reflect the ephemeral nature of life for these creatures. There is a preponderance of compound meters (6/8, 9/8) because of their association with freedom, gaiety, and innocence, and these energetic pieces flit from idea to idea with a minimum of development. Ranging in length from 1 1/2 to 5 minutes, the pieces exhibit heavily syncopated rhythms reminiscent of American popular, Asian, and Middle Eastern musics. These viola pieces can be presented in a variety of ways, and animal portraits can be done individually or in smaller groups. There are two formats for the accompaniment: it can be performed on piano (there is a conventional viola / piano score), or it can be rendered on a multi-channel sound system by CD or DVD containing synthesized sounds. Furthermore, the DVD edition contains videos of the animals. This work joins J.S. Bach’s “Well-Tempered Klavier” and Paul Hindemith’s “Ludus Tonalis” as collections of twenty-four pieces employing all of the existing keys in our tuning system. However, because of the nature of this work, it sometimes is more difficult to determine key. Only a few of the pieces stay with the same tonal center from beginning to end, and with many of them it is impossible to say they are major or minor; more correctly, they are major–minor. Consequently, there are twelve pieces where the tonal centers at the BEGINNING and twelve pieces where the tonal centers at the END correspond to the twelve notes of our chromatic scale. Kenneth A. Jacobs (D.M.A. University of Texas at Austin) is a composer and artist. He has been awarded The American Prize, International New Music Composers Prize, and awards from City College of New York, Brown University, Texas Music Educators Association, and the Tennessee Music Teachers Association. PET TALES Pt. 1 1) SNUGGLES Snuggles the dog is one of the few real success stories of this family. Appropriately named, she lives to be cradled and cuddled. Many would consider twenty pounds to be a little heavy for a lap dog, but nobody told her! She has lots of allergies and has to take frequent injections, but she is one happy dog that lives to please…and snuggle. 2) HERMAN Frogs come and go in a young person’s life, but they all leave a mark. There is nothing quite so fascinating to an impressionable youth as a slimy, bug-eyed creature that can jump incredibly high with so little preparation. They’re not exactly cuddly or gushing with affection, but they are “riviting”, nonetheless. I never destroyed one by carrying it in my pocket, as a friend of mine did, but unless you confine one to a life of indoor servitude, it is hard to consider a frog a pet. It is more like an acquaintance. I used three as my inspiration. 3) KIP Kip (or Kippy, as we sometimes called him) was one of the first dogs I remember from my youth. He was a big part of my life until I was about nine. His job was to lie around, play ball with me, and just be the center of my social world. The worst that could be said of him was that I spent what seemed an inordinate amount of time trying to shake him off my leg—I was much older before I figured out what possessed him. Most days, it was my job to walk Kip, and unless the weather was bad, this was a happy event. Unfortunately, a neighbor down the street acquired a trained killer of a dog to protect her home. I don’t know what breed it was, but it frequently would get out of the house or yard and make straight for my smaller dog, which was on a leash and not vicious at all. A terrible fight ensued, and I was powerless to stop the attack. My father had to come to the rescue. I never forgave myself for being too small to protect Kip from injury—probably the reason that I as an adult am over-protective of the ones I love. 4) TWITTER “Am I the problem, or are the birds not healthy to begin with?” I asked myself this question frequently between the ages of 7 and 13. Every year, I diligently strove to win a parakeet at the summer festival held only two blocks from my home. I was determined to excel at whatever skill was required for that particular year. Much to my mother's dismay, I usually came home with a prize and felt very proud. I loved the bird I would win, but unfortunately they never lasted quite a year, so I would be ready to win another one the following summer. 5) KEYO At the time we acquired Keyo the dog, I was in high school, and he already was advanced in years. He was a Dalmatian with unusual brown spots. His previous keepers had decided their cold northern climate was affecting his lungs and joints, so they sent him south to live with us. He was extremely well behaved and always acted like an aristocratic gentleman, never undignified. He also was very smart and knew a lot of words. We would have to spell words like “F-O-O-D” and many others, but he quickly caught on to this, as well. My brother liked to torture him with peanut butter, which would stick to the roof of his mouth, but he lived to a ripe old age of seventeen. 6) BUFORD An orange tabby, Buford Cornelius (a.k.a. Buffy) was one of the most affectionate pets I ever had. Unfortunately, he was attracted to all the wonderful smells wafting from my neighbor’s house by way of the screen door into the kitchen. He was only two years of age when I looked out my window one day to see the screen door swing open violently. In the next moment I saw the ex-football player occupant drop kick my cat at least thirty yards across the lawn. Buffy died of internal injuries that night in spite of the vet’s best efforts, and I moved shortly thereafter. 7) DAISY Daisy, one sweetheart of a dog, was acquired from a shelter with a donation. During the three days that I had her at home, she languished at a terrific pace, prompting me to seek medical attention for her. I was informed that she had Parvovirus and subsequently discovered that all of the residents of the shelter had been infected and were put to sleep shortly after I brought Daisy home. Over the course of a week, I spent many long hours sitting beside her cage at my vet’s office, talking and singing to her, hopeful that she would rally to a miraculous recovery. She never did, but she made a lasting and loving impression. 8) BUTTON There’s nothing quite as striking as a calico cat. This one belonged to my neighbor, and her favorite haunt was (surprise!) the warm hood of my car. I couldn’t get too angry because she was just too cute-as-a-button! Nearly everyone in the neighborhood knew her and would take time out from their daily walks to give her a few strokes on the head. She came to expect it and rarely roused herself from her rest. I learned to live with paw prints on my car’s hood—a small price to pay for all the joy Button provided. 9) OZZIE Okay, I never had a pet koala. This falls into the category of the “fantasy animal” that I never owned. But I always wanted one, thinking that they were the cutest of the cute, the cuddliest of the cuddly. When I finally visited Australia, I even held one in my arms and stroked its soft fur. But that’s about as far as it went. I was able, though, to photograph them both in the wild and in captivity. Because of their nutritionally poor diet, they are only awake for a couple of hours a day. 10) CLEMENTINE Clementine the cat came from an animal shelter, moved with me to three different states in my days of young adulthood, and ultimately shared my existence for nineteen years—the longest of any of my pets. She was a ferocious mouser and birder, and in spite of the brilliant white color and the bell I made her wear on her collar, she managed to corral some unsuspecting creature nearly every day of her life. In her later years, she would moan from arthritis each time she rolled over. This prompted several people in the neighborhood to “command” me to have her put to sleep to stop unnecessary suffering. I never did, and we were close to the end. She passed away on her favorite front porch sleeping peacefully one evening. She is buried in the backyard of that home, under her other favorite haunt—a giant tulip poplar. 11) BOOMER Boomer was a rambunctious, high-spirited dog with a zest for living. Although a great pet in many ways, I spent three years of my life trying to keep this one legally confined to my fenced yard. Boomer would be sleeping contentedly and suddenly, as if responding to radio signals from outer space, would jump up and begin a journey out of the yard. I experimented with high voltage wires of various configurations to discourage climbing and jumping, buried steel pipes to discourage digging under the fence, tethers that invariably and patiently were chewed through or broken, but nothing could prevail upon such an independent spirit. Curiosity may have “killed the cat”, but it was an automobile ultimately that killed Boomer. 12) FREDDIE Freddie the raccoon was the most fascinating pet I have ever known. He lived in my neighbor’s basement—at least part of the time. I would visit as often as I could, thinking it was just too cool to have a raccoon as a pet. He really was quite tame and lavishly affectionate, and he loved to eat right alongside my friend’s family. I would feed him snacks from my hand, and he was as gentle as any cat or dog. The expression on his face and his playfulness always led me to believe that he had a great sense of humor. Ultimately, the joke was on us, when my friend and I discovered that Freddie was leading a double life and had a family on the outside! PET TALES Pt. 2 13) TINKERBELL Tinkerbell was a very sweet kitten. While she was an amazing huntress, she also was affectionate beyond my wildest imagination. One of her favorite haunts was the child seat that usually resided on the living room floor or sofa. If it was not occupied by one of my small children, she would climb into it herself and play with the toys attached to its frame. The kids, in turn, were intrigued to see her play with their toys. They would watch her with endless fascination. Perhaps my fondest memories of her came when she was about two years old, and I was remodeling a house. Every morning, she would climb the step-ladder to reach the level of my face and touch her nose to my cheek in what I called “cat kisses”. 14) MERLIN Merlin—a little dog—had a personality that was unique. Inquisitive, attentive, and affectionate are the words I used to describe this dog. But she seemed to be more intelligent and crafty than anyone around her. She looked like she always had a trick up her sleeve—a regular magician! 15) SKIPPER Skipper was the first dog I remember having. He was a great companion and very affectionate to a youngster like me, but he liked to roam. Born and raised in the country, he made one foray too many. He came home minus two legs, an ear, an eye, and his tail. Altogether, someone had put a dozen or more bullets in him. He dragged himself up the driveway, and my mother gave the mailman my father’s rifle and asked if he would put him down. It took another ten rounds to finish him. My mother never knew that I (five years old) was standing at the window witnessing the whole episode. Some creatures hang onto life with a fierceness that is awe-inspiring. That day I learned what tenacity was. 16) FRISKIE When I was five and living in the country, my parents presented my brother and I with a ewe and a lamb each. I named my lamb “Friskie”. We became pretty close over the following months. I used to love to watch it romp and play. Such boundless energy it had! What I didn’t know was that one morning I would awaken to the horror of finding them all shipped off to the slaughter-house. My parents put the money earned into my bank account, as if that was some consolation. But then, a year later, when I withdrew the money, I was horrified once again to learn that the shiny silver dollar that was part of the money I had deposited was not returned to me. No, it was a different (paper) dollar. Too many hard lessons! 17) PRINCE Prince was not a young dog when my family acquired him, but he still had plenty of life in him. He was very popular with the neighborhood kids because he had the best disposition of any dog I had been acquainted with during the first nine years of my life. A border collie, he acted so refined and dignified that I wondered if he somehow had lived up to his name. Unfortunately, he went to live with someone else when we moved across the country, and I miss him to this day. 18) PEEVE Peeve the cat belonged to a neighbor. I was endlessly fascinated with him because I thought he had the cleverest name ever given to a pet. Like most youngsters, he could create a lot of havoc and would play for hours with everyone in the neighborhood, but then he would sleep with as much intensity. Upon awaking, he once again would become “Pet Peeve”. 19) TOMMY Tommy was a great cat and one of the few belonging to my family that had not been neutered. He taught me all the songs of feline courtship outside my window at night. He also kept my feet warm in the cold Chicago winters, but only when I smuggled him into the house after my mother went to sleep. He would wrestle and play fight with me endlessly, and neither one of us ever got tired of the other’s company. After six years with this wonderful companion, my family moved across country. My parents insisted that Tommy could not go and would be better off with the family that bought our house. I didn’t believe it for one minute, and two weeks after we moved, he ran away and was never heard from again! 20) ORPHEUS While driving on a Vermont country road one beautiful morning in June, I came to a “T” crossing. But just before stopping, I realized there was a bird standing on the pavement directly ahead of me. Getting out of the car, I saw that it was a dove, proprietor of some of nature’s most beautiful sounds. He would not move, even as I approached. But then I realized why he was standing there: his mate had been hit by a car and was lying dead in the road. I knew that this species mates for life, but this fellow’s grief made him oblivious to danger even from a moving vehicle. He put tears in my eyes, and I knew at once that he had earned himself a place in my “Pet Tales”. I pronounced him “Orpheus” taking the lead from the ancient Greek who defied all dangers, descending into the Underworld in search of his beloved Eurydice. 21) JAWS I had many fish growing up. I would win them throwing ping-pong balls into small fishbowls every year at the summer festival near my home. I would walk a couple of blocks, win a fish, and take the fish and bowl home with me. I was not an expert on fish care, and no one else in my family was either, so the fish never lived very long. I think I fed them too much. Rarely did I have more than one at a same time, so this is my tribute to all the pet fish. 22) SMOKY I had Smoky for fourteen and a half years, and he would still be here if he hadn't darted across the road in front of a truck. An indoor / outdoor cat, he was pretty vigorous—when he wanted to be. But mostly he surveyed his property and slept under the piano when I was composing. He was very affectionate and at times could be quite funny. He always knew when I was sick or injured and came to see what was wrong. And he frequently reminded his canine housemates that he was the boss! 23) TOUCAN SAM I never had a Toucan, but my neighbor had several of these gorgeous birds. I always was fascinated by their activities, watching them eat their fruit or seeming to play. My friend named each of his birds "Sam", which I thought was a little strange. But then I was reminded of my maternal grandfather, who named every dog he ever had in his entire life Mitzi! 24) THUNDER Thunder is a Great Dane with remarkable coloring who belongs to my neighbor. I never had a dog as big as this! He looks like a force of nature—something to be reckoned with. Weighing in at 180 pounds (82 kg), he is as big as a miniature horse. Thunder looks like he is the Genghis Khan of the canine world and has an impressive stance to complete the look. In reality, he is a wimp who easily can be backed into a corner by a lap dog. But he is a beast of grandiose beauty with a bark to match—a fitting conclusion to this tribute. ©2017 Kenneth A. Jacobs