Vaccin-A-tude

Description

For treble instrument in C and optional piano

Note from the composer:

In 2021, after the world had endured the global pandemic for about a year, and as the rage over whether to get vaccinated continued, I decided to write this “Vaccin-A-tude”, and to share it (free) with anyone who wanted it. To my surprise and delight, many played it, and also shared it, creating a kind of community around a common belief.

It was when trumpeter Jon Dante performed it with added piano accompaniment (which his accompanist created!) that I was MOST surprised and delighted; that anyone would further the creative process based on a simple idea I had sprouted. Again, building community. It is with permission that this version with piano accompaniment has been published.

The piece has many built-in musical puns surrounding the idea of getting vaccinated. First, the piece begins in A minor, hence satisfying the “A”-tude (etude) part of “Vaccin-A-tude.” Next, the initial note begins with a pointed attack, as if the needle has entered one’s arm. The tempo marking indicates “injected optimism”, which musically gets resolved when the piece ends in the relative C Major. The “modern-a” section is a pun on one of the companies offering a vaccine: Moderna. The music is therefore also more “modern” (and hinting at Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring).

That’s a lot to put into a one-minute piece of music, but hopefully, it might be used as an encore, or a light-hearted piece on a recital, which would be a nice break from the true dark reality that we all endured during the actual pandemic.

~ Jim Stephenson.
Solo etude originally written in 2021; piano accompaniment published in 2025.