As soon as I read Richard Meyer’s poignant poem “The Autumn Way”, musical images started to sound in my mind’s ear. There is a wistful quality to the poem, and yet a colorful one as well. There is rhyme but it has interesting slips to it. As I read it repeatedly, I heard the voice of a cello, with a starting motive that encapsulates the idea of the entire piece, and other motives that respond and enlarge it, just as the poem does through its ‘ababcc’ English sestet form. Just as the line “Something inward tells them so,” returns as “Something inward tells me so,” the musical motives twist back on themselves in a descending arc at the close of my musical interpretation. To honor the poem, and to reflect the musical connection, I also titled my composition for cello “Autumn Way.” I am delighted that Suzanne Mueller was able to perform the premiere.