Chapter 80

“Charles and I have two different recordings of the piece, and we were interested enough to do a little research,” Philip said. “One of the CDs I purchased after the concert today has both pieces on it.”

“Uncle Philip,” Steve said, “which piece did you like best?”

“Well,” Philip said, “don’t laugh, but I liked the final encore.” There had been three encores, each of which was an improvisation on a theme submitted by the audience.

“What?” I said. “Mary Had a Little Lamb?”

“Think about it,” Philip said. “He took that little tune and ran with it for at least five minutes, turning it upside down, sideways, and every which way but loose, and never once was it boring. At one point, he actually had a marvelous little fugue going. I know they teach people to improvise, but this guy seems to have a natural talent for it.”

“Point taken,” I said. “Nobody asked me, but I agree with Roger. I’ve always loved the Duruflé piece.”