Soliloquy

Cleveland native David Conte, professor of composition at the San Francisco Conservatory since 1985, has received numerous commissions for new organ music. The pensive Soliloquy, dedicated to Walter “Chick” Holtkamp, Jr., was premiered at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1996 as part of a weekend festival (“ChickFest”) celebrating his forty years of organ building. Conte describes the piece as being “in simple ABA form. The principal idea is an angular, lyrical melody, at once both proud and shy, first stated in the solo flute and accompanied by a gently pulsing ostinato. The central section becomes more animated and rises to a declamatory climax. The character of the opening music returns in the final section.”