Parking Violation - OB/REVERB

Parking Violation
for oboe and reverb
by Marc Mellits (b. 1966) - American composer

Parking Violation is in five short movements, each one representing a different location in New York City where I have received a parking ticket, and the emotions that might lay behind it. Inspiration can be virtually anywhere. For example, movement III – 42nd St. & Greenpoint Avenue was particularly sad being as it was so close to home. In Movement IV – 96th St. & Broadway, I was running late, and was forced to illegally park for just one minute, run to my destination, then run back to my car, only to find that hated red-orange piece of paper on my windshield. The soloist plays this movement under one breadth. In all of the movements, I have tried to write music that is very clear, simple, and direct. It was written with amplification in mind, so that all of the tones would sustain. In writing this work, I have certainly learned one very important lesson in music: never drive your car in New York City.