The title of this album is based on a Costa Rican expression "Eso es un arroz con mango" meaning a mix of things which are good but don't usually go together (presumably not many Costa Ricans go to Thailand!) The image of the rice and mango was photographed by Terence Ong under Creative Commons. Serenamente (with serenity) is a sweet number for flute and guitar from my suite Times of Change - a nostalgic look at my early inspirations. Ding Dong merrily on high is based on the traditional Christmas carol; here I offer a version for bells and one for brass sextet. (The vocal version can be heard on the album "Matthew Curtis sings David W Solomons choral music in many styles") The five German folk songs are arrangements for clarinet, flute and guitar of traditional folk songs: Jetzt gang i ans Brünnele Was hab' ich denn meinem Feinsliebchen getan Feinsliebchen du sollst mir nicht barfuss gehn Ach Elslein liebes Elslein mein Mädele ruck ruck ruck an meine grüne Seite Friends from Childhood is a re-creation of a trio that I wrote back in the early 1970s for my penfriends in France and Germany - we performed them together at the time on trumpet, violin and piano, but this rather more sophisticated version is for flute, viola and harp The following three pieces each called "European trio" are closer to the original 1970s versions, except that I have replaced the trumpet with a clarinet for a better aural mix. Feuer und Wasser also goes back to those old days - it is based on a poem by a mutual friend of the group who was bewailing the fact that he and his girlfriend were breaking up beacause "Fire and Water do not go together" Railway song, a more recent piece, is one of various arrangements based on the old 19th Century German folk song about the Swabian railways, a simple and catchy tune which has developed into something quite complex and fun. The forces here are piccolo, flute, alto flute and bass flute The Tristan variation is based on the famous Tristan chord from Wagner's opera. Various members of an online composers group (La Musique Petite) did variations on the theme back in the late 1990s, including the late lamented Eleanor Dimoff. This is my version. The next four pieces are in the major pentatonic scale and incorporate Chinese instruments such as the Hulusi (a reed instrument which sounds like a cross between a clarinet and flute) the guzheng (also known as Gu-CHeng) which is a sort of zither similar to the Japanese Koto, the Suona (a sort of oboe or shawm very loud and brash), the Erhu (a sort of fiddle) and drums and gongs etc in various combinations The noonday jig is a crossover between Celtic and Chinese styles. Nocturne sans sommeil (sleepless nocturne) for violin and piano is based on an idea I had many years ago based on the idea "Say it in words and you cheat. You cheat the indefinable". Klezomaticus for flute solo is a Jewish sounding piece which takes the Klezmer style a little further.... The two Orientations pieces are in various pentatonic scales, almost but not quite Japanese in their musical language. Chinese New year is a string quartet version of my Chinese New Year Celebration, also in the major pentatonic. Musette is a parody of bagpipe music based on the rhythms of MacNeice's poem by that name. Cheng 7 is an improvisation in which I sing and also play the Guzheng (or Cheng as I was told to call it back in the old days) Bassoon tandoori is an interesting "rice and mango" mix in its own right, involving the sounds of the Eastern sitar and the western Bassoon. Professor Burble's fourth invention is a semi improvised composition for piano, gongs, snare drums and strings in a relentless 5/4 rhythm with fugato passages. A dark goddess for flute and string orchestra is based on my setting of Melissanthi's poem "Hour Zero" (Ora mithen), in which a cat (the feline goddess) from the time of the Pharoahs predicts the downfall of mankind due to its destruction of the ecology. Celebration for Native American flute and strings is the final movement of a multi-composer suite for Native American Flute and string orchestra. Other movements were written by other members of the Delian Society (www.deliansociety.org), at the suggestion of flautist and fine exponent of the North American Native flute James Pellerite (www.jamespellerite.com) who plans to premiere the whole suite in due course. The music is entirely tonal except for one or two atonal passages where the flute and violin soloists have a curious duet - this was incorporated almost as an in-joke for the Delian Society. Filmscape 1 for strings, harp, wind (flute, piccolo and saxophone), organ and Riq (Arabian tambourine) is the first in a series "Filmscapes" ie soundscape music for films that don't yet exist. This first one, which is almost atonal, starts with the Arabian tambourine (Riqq or Riq) reminiscent of the theme sound for the Klingons in the early Star Trek films but then goes on to some winding saxophone solos and, in the quieter moments, the piece reflects the romantic flute of the Caprica series (not a direct copy of course!). The harp and strings provide the thematic "glue" for the piece and the organ comes in occasionally to provide some different moods. As with all the filmscapes that are still to come, this piece also serves as a basic "statement of musical intent". Filmscape 2 uses a fraction of the instrumentation of Filmscape 1 and is more gentle and held back, a slow waltz in effect, and the harp makes important use of its harmonics.