Composer’s Note:

Why Can’t the Sky Be Pink? was originally the first movement of my string quartet, Child’s Play, a piece completed in January 2006. At the suggestion of my colleague, Dr. Daniel Bernard Roumain, I orchestrated the movement in December 2023. The piece depicts the frustration that my daughter, Rebecca, then age 3, felt while playing a Winnie the Pooh computer game. She was told to help Piglet finish his paintings by matching colors, seen in a small sketch to the larger canvas. Rebecca disagreed with Piglet’s choice of blue and grew more an more annoyed with each attempt. The music describes the irritation and ensuing tantrum: each mouse click was followed by Pooh-bear’s soothing comment, “I think there might be a better choice.”