B-flat clarinet, piano (2003, revised 2013)

The phrase “400 owls attempting to outwit a giant badger in the rain” first appeared in a story in which I described what it sounded like to shuffle a deck of cards for a game called whiskers six-draw in a saloon in Klegmore, New Mexico at ten past three in the afternoon.(The text is below the score.) This is its musical equivalent. (An even more splendid performance is available on The Third Highway.)