These were my first accordion pieces and so far my only published work. In naming the pieces I was thinking of the accordion as an external lung with left and right chambers.

Performed by Marian Kelly (accordion).

(for solo accordion) © 1996, Steve Mobia

Resuscitation/Diaphragm

It begins simply with breathing which grows more insistent, leading to the sharply accented chords of "Diaphragm." The diaphragm is of course below the lungs but produces forced vocalizing (shouts, loud singing, screaming, etc.). Here, every chord is played by reversing the bellows.

Alveoli

"Alveoli" are the little air sacks where the exchange of oxygen for Co2 takes place. The upward-bound trills represent these tiny exchanges.

Exhaltation

Begins with a short melodic tune that leads to an "exultant" running section with syncopated accents. The final section incorporates material from both.