The Cowboy And The Rattlesnake

When Dan Welcher was commissioned to create a solo work for the 2014 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition, it was suggested that he incorporate some local color-either Texan or American to commemorate the year's competition being held in Austin. Welcher found the traditional songs The Dying Cowboy and Rattlesnake, and made a two-part (slow-fast) composition. The first section consists of three "verses" of The Dying Cowboy, beginning simply and ending with virtuosic effects. This leads directly into a continuously varied rendition of Rattlesnake, a perpetual motion song about getting away from the varmint. The music is one long accelerando, with flashes of bravura and Paganini-like flourishes.