TITLE: Regret
COMPOSER: Dave Brubeck
ORCHESTRATION: 7 cellos
LENGTH: ca. 5'30"

Audio SampleThe Yale Cellos (Naxos 8.557816)

Regret
Regret was composed for string orchestra in 2001. I explained in the notes for the London Symphony performance that Regret expressed "a sweet sadness, a longing for lost moments, might-have-beens, and a past that cannot be re-lived. Perhaps it is an emotion unique to someone who has lived as many decades as I." However, that fragile emotion seems to be more universal than I imagined. The Russian National Orchestra string section has performed and recorded it. The Chattanooga Choral Society, under the direction of Philip Rice, has recorded it using only vowel sounds and the word "regret". I have great respect for each of the conductor's individual performance. What, I wondered, will happen with the Yale Cellos under Aldo Parisot's guidance? The premiere performance of Regret for cello ensemble took place at Carnegie Recital Hall in 2003. As I took my seat and was handed the evening programme my heart almost stopped. Villa Lobos, Johann Sebastian Bach, Mozart! Panic struck when I thought of the high violin parts for string orchestra, now being played by celli. Aldo stood before the ensemble and began to conduct the familiar strains, and after a few measures I could feel the hair on my arms standing up. Such richness of tone I had never experienced. The depth of emotion expressed left me breathless. I braced myself for the difficult passages that were yet to arrive. Derek Snyder had stayed with my original score most of the way, and being a cellist, I told myself, he surely would find a way around a too difficult passage or an impossible note. Hearing my music so beautifully expressed was an unforgettable experience. The Yale Cellos were brilliant, a perfect ensemble, but how could they be otherwise having been taught by Aldo Parisot, the master Maestro?

- DAVE BRUBECK