Jasmine was our cat for many years. We met her as a stray, and, after charming her way into Henry's heart, we took her in from the Michigan winter. Jasmine was strictly an indoor cat, and these pieces reflect some of the sights that perked Jasmine's interest as she sat on the windowsill.
Hopping Sparrows and Fly On the Window were written in 2001. The Stray Tom was completed in 2009. Christina Cuda Robertson premiered each piece.
The Stray Tom gets much of its quirkyness from the heavy use of a scale I call Anna's Scale. I derived the scale from an improvisation that my daughter Anna brought to me several years ago:
C D♭ E F♯ G A♭ B♭♭ C