Hyla Mother Popcorn Revisited for Violin, Cello & Piano

The title of Mother Popcorn Revisited comes from James Brown’s 1969 tune “Mother Popcorn,” and the piece is infused with the energetic rhythms and pointed articulations found in funk music. Brown was one of Lee Hyla’s strongest non-classical influences. The rhythms in Hyla’s music are essential to his aesthetic, as in funk music; Brown once wrote that the strength of his style “…was not in the horns, it was in the rhythm.” Mother Popcorn Revisited is more than a simple recreation of funk -- Hyla captures the driving rhythmic energy within frequent tempo changes and time signature, present in much of his music. (Bryan Hayslett)