Excerpt of a performance by Ann Elliot-Goldschmid, violin.
Cluck Old Hen Variations
for solo violin
Duration: 10'
2004
Instrumentation: solo violin (also version for solo viola). Optional animation.
"Cluck Old Hen Variations," for solo violin (2004) is based on the traditional Appalachian banjo tune “Cluck Old Hen,” the piece is in fact more of a fantasy than a traditional variation form, with the theme threading throughout the piece in the manner of a leitmotiv. Numerous techniques and idioms from bluegrass music merge with classical material, to form a music that occupies the space between violin and fiddle repertoire.
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Video
Live performance by Karen Bentley Pollick
Animation
In 2014, artist Fred Kolouch created an animated film to be projected in combination with live performance of "Cluck Old Hen Varations," at the suggestion of Karen Bentley Pollick, for her violin-plus-video shows. Here is a performance from her "Violin and Video Virtuosity" show at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, Stanford University, November, 2014.