Roscoe is a violin concerto and it is my second work inspired by a novel of Pulitzer winning and esteemed author William Kennedy. The first, Eyeball High, is a tone poem based on Legs, Kennedy’s novel about the infamous New York gangster Legs Diamond. Whereas Eyeball High sought to capture the essence of the main character and the core thrust of the book, the four movements of Roscoe are each inspired by separate passages from Kennedy’s novel. At the premiere in Albany, NY, Mr. Kennedy read the corresponding passages before each of the movements.

The novel Roscoe follows Roscoe Owens Conway, a bigwig operative in the Albany Democratic Party as he faces off a Republican governor preparing a legal assault on the corrupt Democrats. The corruption of the political machine with which Roscoe is entrusted to protect is insidiously rampant involving gambling, prostitution, and a steady flow of under-the-table money.

Transpiring at the time of V-J Day, 1945, the story twists in a sordid love affair between Roscoe and Veronica, the mistress of fellow democratic moneyman Elisha who mysteriously commits suicide. As a protagonist, Roscoe sizzles as a clever, corrupt, and yet thoroughly likable character. Kennedy’s exploration of the darker side of the political enterprise, with its focus on the flawed individuals who man the wheels of power, has an unfortunately timeless appeal.