Realized on the Vienna Imperial, Schubertsaal.
https://soundcloud.com/marnest-1/sets/my-cousins-cats-suite-for-piano
The Hawaii Cats:
1. Bonnie
2. Mai Tai
The Boulder Cats:
3. Puff
4. Tino
These cats actually belonged to my wife's cousins, but, as Officer Lockstock says in "Urinetown," nothing can kill a show like too much exposition, and that probably goes for titles as well. The pieces may be played seperately, and you could probably even get away with playing Bonnie's Berceuse on its own, but the suite is conceived as a whole, with numerous connections between the movements.
Bonnie is a miniature Pictures at an Exhibition - or perhaps Pictures of an Exhibitionist? - as she appears as lover, mother, and hunter between short framing sections. Mai Tai would like to keep cool - but what's happening at the refrigerator? Like Bonnie, Puff is a prodigious hunter, but with a darker attitude. Tino is all acrobatics and fun.
In keeping with its playful nature, the suite abounds in quotations. Some are obvious, others less so; but I hope that all - whether it's the Norwegian national anthem, the Dies Irae, the theme from "Hawaii Five-O," Ravel's "Scarbo" or one of the others - are integrated into the musical vocabulary.
