Scenes from Breughel

Pieter Breughel, the great Flemish painter whose canvases display a remarkable range and forcefulness, and whose name admits to a remarkable variety of spellings, flourished in the middle of the 16th century. Although each of the six movements of "Scenes from Breughel" was inspired by one of the master?s paintings, I have approached the matter of period feeling in the same manner that he himself approached it: just as Breughel painted scenes from the Bible that feature contemporary European dress, architecture and landscape, so have I not hesitated to use textures from my 20th century American musical environment as well as older, European references. The title of the first movement, "The Land of Cockaigne", refers to the mythical land of milk and honey, where roofs are tiled with pies and pigs run around with knives handily attached to them. Some commentators regard this painting as a condemnation of sloth and gluttony, but I think it look like a wonderful place, and have depicted it as a kind of Eden. "Children?s Games" is one of Breughel?s busiest paintings; this movement is a compendium of children?s ditties ranging from old-time, old-world songs such as ?Fr