The writing of this fic has been conducted under the
influence of the following masterworks of classical music. A
classical oboist myself, I've had a life-long love affair with
this music and the San Francisco Symphony and bringing it
together with my first passion, writing, has made Cadenza a
very special work of fiction for me. I've included the key
movements of each piece that inspired certain scenes and
were playing quite loudly on my stereo while I composed the
scenes or daydreamed about character development, etc. So
here we go in order of appearance in Cadenza.

1. Brahms Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Minor
 (Itzhak Perlman, violin)

Joshua's "signature" piece. He played this concerto (there is
a total of three movements) in Philadelphia the night the
bombs were discovered. He also won a Grammy for his 1988
recording of the Concerto with the New York Philharmonic
which earned him his three year world tour. Scully is playing
the solo cadenza section when the story opens. He also plays
a part of it for Mulder when he explains how he associated
Brahms with his grandfather.
 

2. Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor
 (Christian Ferras, violin)

The Mendelssohn is the concerto Joshua's rehearsing with
the San Francisco Symphony throughout the story. It's also
my most favorite violin concertos, it shows off the
instrument so very well.

Joshua's playing the third movement during the ruckus in his
apartment and the softer second movement during Mulder
and Scully's "day at Davies" make-shift office scene where
the photos go flying. He'll be playing the whole darn thing
during the premiere gala. The violinist in this recording,
Ferras, is my favorite virtuoso. I'd like to think this is Joshua
himself playing on this recording and the following Bruch.
 

3. Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor
 (Christian Ferras, violin)

The Bruch concerto is so filled with passion and suffering,
struggle, and joy, I based most of Joshua's personality on this
piece, especially the first movement. I listened to this while
writing the frozen barn scene and Joshua's first encounter
with the Thin Man and any time he remembers his past. The
first movement is the story of his life. The second movement
*might* be about love, but I'll let you decide. It also might
contain something that sounds like a lullaby.

4. Schubert String Quartet No. 14 "Death and the Maiden"
 II: Andanto con moto

A eulogy for Elise. Joshua plays the lead violin part in front of
the window for the portion of the quartet's slow, quiet
second movement I've included here. Is does sound less
lonely with the cello and viola.
 

5. Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D Minor
 I: Allergro ma non troppo

Beethoven at his best, it is almost a sin to put only one
movement of this greatest of symphonies on a tape, but hey,
I don't have room for 78 minutes--that takes a whole CD. But
you'd know that if you were paying attention during Mulder's
first classical appreciation lesson. Listen, and remember
Ludwig was completely deaf when he wrote this. If that isn't
enough to make you feel insignificant, ask yourself why you
don't own the complete symphonic works of Beethoven
already in a five CD boxed set. Shame! Get the Karajan
version, now!
 

6. JS Bach Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C Minor
 II: Adagio
 (Issac Stern, violin)

This is the piece that takes Mulder by surprise in a Berkeley
church. In Cadenza, I have Joshua playing alongside my
favorite oboist in the whole darn world, William Bennet, SF
Symphony principal oboist. I first heard him play at Davies
when I was 15 years old. I was a clarinet player at the time. I
changed to oboe that very day. Oboe is a beast of an
instrument to tame--it's finicky and temperamental, but
when it sings, it can cut into you like no other sound in the
orchestra. I have a tempestuous love/hate relationship with
my beloved Fox 400 grenadilla oboe. I've experienced the
greatest personal highs (nailing the solo in the Tchaik 4
onstage at the Hoffman with the Diablo Valley Philharmonic)
and personal lows (managing to cut my upper lip open and
splitting my reed in half during rehearsal of Mozart's
Marriage of Figaro Overture and missing the whole damn
solo) with this baby.

But back to Bach, I play along with my tape to this piece
quite a bit. It's beyond lovely. But get the C Minor version,
it's just plain better--Mulder will agree with me.

7. Beethoven, Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello
 and Orchestra in C major. "Triple Concerto"

This concerto is a hoot! It's a splendid example of
Beethoven's happier works. It's festive and requires the solo
skills of three virtuosos. I thought it would be the perfect
piece for Joshua and his "merry trio" to perform that
blustery Christmas night in New York during an endless
Beethoven festival. I've been to one of these at Davies. Don't
get me wrong, I ADORE Beethoven, but my ass was numb by
the time they finished the Sixth Symphony.

8. Vivaldi Concerto in D for Guitar

I don't know where I got this weird little tape, I think
someone left it at my house or something. It's one of those
99¢ things you see for sale in a big bargain barrels at drug
stores. It is a collection of Vivaldi Concertos transcribed for
various instruments. Some of its kinda weird, and the
labeling is all wrong, but right in the middle of the second
side is this guitar piece that is so...sexy...I decided that this is
what you hear during the softer love scenes in Cadenza, off
in the corner playing on Joshua's stereo. It's also the piece
Mulder pops in the stereo while Joshua's restringing the
Strad. It's a passion theme for them, cautious, yet leaden
with meaning. Try it while reading the Sonoma section--goes
well with wine.

9. Mozart, Don Giovanni, Act II, Commendatore scene

This is right out of the Amadeus soundtrack. (The best film
ever made IMO, but then I'm biased.) Those of you who have
seen the film can relate to this powerful trio between Don
Giovanni, the statue and his sniveling sidekick, Leporello just
before the commendatore casts them down into hell.
Mulder's rather confusing night at the opera watching over
Joshua went well with the strong male voices in this aria. The
whole opera is dark and angry and eerie. Don Giovanni is
also theorized to embody Mozart's struggle to deal with his
overbearing father's death. See a connection there?

Turn the volume up on this number while reading the section
where Joshua follows the thin man through the musty
backstage prop rooms of the War Memorial Opera House and
tell me you don't get all creeped out.

10. Rachmaninov, Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini
 (Philippe Entremont, piano)
 
Easily my favorite piano piece ever, Sergei Rachmaninov
almost made me cast Joshua as a pianist--just so I could
listen to hours of Rach piano concertos. Well, I'm listening to
them anyway! I think most true musicians can play a little
piano. Joshua can play some of the easier variations in this
piece. Rachmaninov took a theme by an Italian violinist and
turned it into one of the greatest works of piano music ever
written. I almost feel sorry for Paganini--even if he was long
gone dead at the time this was composed in the 1930s. I also
included this piece because it's so Russian and practically all
the composers listed so far were German! Don't get me
wrong, I adore Tchaikovsky, but his violin concerto just
didn't say "Joshua" to me.

The Rhapsody is a music composition form known as "theme
and variation." You take a simple theme and then rewrite it
over and over in a series of musical variations. Listen to a
first few minutes to get the basic tune and hear where Sergei
takes it. You may recognize some of the variations just like a
familiar line from Shakespeare you never knew was from
Shakespeare--that's how well-known this piece is. Some of
the chillier parts of this piece make me think of Joshua's
Grandfather struggling to flee the Ukraine in the dead of
winter with his infant daughter in his arms.

11. Prokofiev, Symphonic Suite, Op. 60, "Lieutenant Kijé"
 "Romance"--Second Movement

Joshua describes the "sound" of this piece best in these
words of his grandfather: "It sounds like emptiness and
wholeness--everything and nothing at all. I would listen to its
grand pause--'tishena,' my grandfather called it. 'Listen,
Sasha,' he would say to me when it was quiet. 'The sound of
silence is the most beautiful chord of all.'"

Prokofiev's "Romance" is one of the most delicate, chilling
and innocent pieces of music I've ever heard. Its theme is
familiar, we've all heard it at some point, but can't quite
place it. It begins with a sad, slow cello, straining through the
notes along with the strum of the harp. I see Joshua waking
before dawn and sneaking out the back of the barn with his
dog to listen to the morning. Its child-like theme is so honest
it will break your heart faster than any piece on this list.
Tishena, is Russian for 'silence;' it also means 'peace.' As you
read, you'll see how this theme carries through the story.

12. Schumann, Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 121
 (Christian Ferras, violin)

I'm not a huge Schumann fan, but this piece, which is part of
the Christian Ferras Double CD along with his recordings of
the Brahms, Beethoven and Sibelius concertos, is a stand-out
piece for violin and piano. Joshua plays this piece at
Zellerbach in Berkeley for Nana the first time she meets him
(as recalled in chapter 11)with that "beautiful" young man
who was to become is first lover later that night. The sonata
has a technical accuracy and grace that I felt would be fitting
of a young man coming into his stride as a virtuoso. The
piano gets equal billing in this piece, symbolic of their final
'coming together.'

13. Vivaldi, The Four Seasons
 Autumn--Adagio molto
 Summer--Allegro non molto
 Spring--Largo
 Winter--Allegro non molto, Largo & Allegro

Vivaldi's Four Seasons is probably *the* most well-known
work for solo violin and chamber orchestra. It was also
composed the year Joshua's Stradi was made, 1726. There is
a performing group called Philharmonia Baroque that is
formed from musicians playing on strictly historical
instruments. I knew I wanted to tell a lot of flashback history
for Joshua in chapter 12 and selections from the Four
Seasons made for the perfect musical fit.

Autumn's adagio molto is filled with quiet tension, which I
felt was perfect for the moments when the agents' car pulls
up in front of Joshua's old home and he looks out the
window at it, recalling how it looked when he was a teen.

Summer's Allegro non molto is the piece Joshua chooses to
play for his grandfather to warm his heart in early November.
It's vibrant and gleeful, and a wonderfully showy piece for
the violin, flirtatious.

Spring's Largo has a lonely, isolated sound to it. I figured
Joshua's little fingers would be healing by his first spring in
Philadelphia with his grandfather. The sound of this
movement was a perfect match to the struggle of a little boy
trying to find his way back to his art with scarred hands.

Winter's final three movements are some of the most
stunning repertoire in baroque literature. The violin solo
really breaks free in these chilling final pieces and so does
Joshua's state of mind upon receiving heartbreaking news
(chapter 12). Thank you, Vivaldi, for the inspiration.

14. ARIA: "Ebben? Ne andro lontano" from Catalani's opera
'La Wally'
  (Eva Marton, soprano)

My Italian sucks, so I have no idea what this aria means word
for word, but it does say "Sonoma" to me. I knew I wanted an
aria to go with my vineyard romance in chapter 14 and this
one fit the bill. I wanted a female voice that could carry over
fine wines and rolling hills. "Ebben? Ne andro lontano" is
filled with passion and freedom and beauty, yet within the
course of the aria one hears an eerie undertone that
eventually takes over the happier melody, culminating in
disaster. A perfect fit for the course of this chapter-- you can
all but hear those starlings taking flight right up into the first
fall of rain.

15. J. S. Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
 (various)

When Joshua hears the violin singing him to sleep, it comes
to him as a solo work from Bach. Just about any of the
hundreds of unaccompanied Bach violin recordings out there
will do. If you visit the classical music section of most stores
you'll find a wide variety of violin soloists of all ages
performing alone, the very foundation of music theory, Bach
sonatas and partitas.

16. Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem ("A German Requiem")

Probably the most famous of Brahms' work, his soulful and
powerful requiem is the musical inspiration I drew from for
the final mystical sections of Joshua's journey. The first
movement "Blessed are They," is what I heard when Joshua
finds himself on the country road and enters the woods,
meeting the little girl at the back of her ruined home. The
horror of the fire is the roar of flame I heard sung from the
male chorus in the second movement of this piece "Denn
alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras." I don't remember what that
means in English [bad Sharon, no biscuit], but it's very
creepy. I used those dark sections to color my thoughts
during most of chapter 19 as well--"The caged anger in his
eyes was terrible to see." Once again I found myself reaching
to the Germans for themes to fit a Russian tragedy. Can I help
it if Russian classical music is just too darn upbeat? Yeah,
Stravinski would have probably worked, but I'm a sucker for
the Romantics.

17. Jean Sibelius: Concerto for Violin in D minor (op. 47)
 (Christian Ferras, violin)

A post-Romantic Finnish composer, Sibelius' exceptional 20th
century work is among the most challenging and sublime
works composed for violin. It is my favorite concerto so I
saved it for last. If Cadenza has a main theme, the Sibelius is
it. The work is haunting, strange, powerful, delicate and filled
with strife, longing and love. When I first heard it, I thought I
was seeing 1930s Chutove as well as a secluded rustic room
overlooking the Napa Valley vineyards. Of all the pieces I
listened to while writing this novel, the Sibelius brought me
the most inspiration and its haunting voice opened up the
world of Cadenza to me. You'll find a part of its meaning in
almost every scene--but the second movement goes
especially well with the last few scenes of chapter 20.
 

I would strongly urge any of you to try and find a few of
these pieces, especially the Mendelssohn, Bruch and Sibelius
violin concertos. Half of what made Cadenza work for my
beta readers (they tell me) was having some, if not all, of the
music. Classical bargain CDs can be found for $2 to $9 at
most large bookstores and Tower Records. All of these pieces
mentioned in this novel are very popular and easy to find.
Some people have written to tell me they found some of
these pieces at their library or even in MPEG form online.
Give it a shot, you may discover a whole new art as Mulder
did!

--Terma99