Lost in a Good Book was commissioned by the American Fork Public Library to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the building. When I was approached about this project, I was told that they wanted a theme song for the Library that channeled elements of Classic Jazz. From there I began drafting stylistic and melodic ideas that would incorporate these elements.

The entire piece is based on a 9-note melody that spells out an anagram of “AF Library” (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: The 9-note Anagram

From there I extended the melody into an 8-bar phrase (see Figure 2) that hearkens back to elements of the original 9 notes. The piece explores this melody through a variety of developments and styles, and at the end returns to it’s original form.

Figure 2: The 8-bar Phrase

Despite being different from the typical music I write, Lost in a Good Book was a delightful project to work on that encouraged me to broaden my musical tastes. I had a lot of fun composing this, and I hope it is just as enjoyable to hear and perform.

- J.M. Whitchurch