Anna Rubin

for C flute and alto flute

Consulting the Oracle was originally composed in 2013 and was the winning work at the 2013 Competition hosted by the Women Composers Conference of Hartford. It was premiered there by the Dahlia Duo, Mary Matthews and Melissa Wertheimer. The work entails movement and the added twist of the performers wearing ankle bells.

A variety of flute timbres and extended techniques are using in this lyrical and whimsical work. I always held in mind the image of two women performing an alchemy of sound and magic to divine the future and their delight in making music together. Various scales are used in the piece with strong pitch centers anchoring the melody.

The piece has been performed several times including at the Broomfield Auditorium, Broomfield, CO, (2016), at the Mid Atlantic Flute Convention, Reston, VA (2016), Dairy Center for the Performing Arts, Boulder (2016).

Click here to view the score.

Click here to see a video excerpt.

Anna Rubin

for concert wind ensemble

ca. 9'28"

Chiaroscuro was commissioned by Dr. Brian Kaufman, director of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Wind Ensemble in 2016. The term 'chiaroscuro' is a term used in painting to refer to the dramatic treatment of light and shade. I exploit the many colors of wind, brass, percussion and piano to contrast and blend with each other. The piano in particular adds a brilliant coloristic component. The piece is highly rhythmic and builds to a rollicking climax where the full power of the brass section holds sway. The surprise ending is gentle, highlighting the upper winds.

The piece is recorded on Albany Records entitled Filtering, published in 2020.

Click here to view the score and listen to the recording.

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Anna Rubin

for soprano, flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, bassoon, horn in F, piano, violin, viola, violoncello, and contrabass

De Nacht was written while I was studying in Amsterdam with Ton de Leeuw in 1983. I composed it for a competion run by the Delta Ensemble and was awarded first prize. I assembled the text, which is an impressionistic collage drawn from several sources including Near Eastern mythology and Malcolm’s X’s own life. Words from several languages are used. I was very influenced by the mythological works of Joseph Campbell and his concept of the hero’s journey. The piece is in two broad sections. Melodic fragments are set against fast, pizzicato and staccato accompanimental figures in the first part. It builds to a dramatic climax and is followed by a serene closing section which is a setting of a Hawaaian creation song.

At a time when the earth was hot,

At a time when the heavens turned about,

At a time when the sun was darkened to cause the moon to shine,

The slime, the source of the earth, the source of the night, that made the night,

Intense darkness! The deep darkness, the darkness of the sun, darkness of the night, the night gives birth.

The piece premiered at The Icebreaker (Het Ijsbreker), Amsterdam, in 1983 was performed several times after by the ensemble.

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Anna Rubin

for flute, cello, and percussion

Marguerite’s Dance - Infusion Ensemble - was written while I was in residence at the American Dance Festival with the Composers Choreographer’s Workshop at Duke University led by Earle Browne in 1981. The EAR Unit premiered the work and has performed it several times since then as well as performances at The Barge in Brooklyn and at the California Institute of the Arts. Spiky melodies emphasizing major 7ths are passed between the instruments in a 3-part slow-fast-slow succession. I am indebted to Erike Duke Fitzgerald, Dorothy Stone and Dan Kennedy for their collaboration on this piece.

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Patricia Ann Repar

for flute, oboe, B-flat clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, violoncello, ocean drum, and voice

ca. 14'00"

There is the blue we feel

in the presence of human suffering and separateness

[stylish, solo voices, self-important melodies interrupting, competing]

And there is the blue we see from above

peaceful, swirling speck of beauty on the soul of our universe

[gentle voices reminding, connecting us to life before and beyond]

There are those who carry us from the one blue to the other.

I have written this piece in honor of them–

it is time to share in and realize their Vision of Blue

Click here to view the score.

Patricia Ann Repar

flute/piccolo, B-flat clarinet, voice, violin, violoncello, contrabass, and tape

ca. 11'00"

Note to performers and listeners: written in celebration of my cousin Jerry Leon who made the last of his many adventures on earth while skiing in February of 2004.

Note to self: Find the Hawaiian chant secretly embedded on the ‘Ulalena’ CD; And on ‘The Master Chanters of Hawaii’ use “e ulu, e ulu, kini o ke akua” (Inspire us, inspire us, O gods).

Note to Jerry:            whispers of other times and places

                                    both mythic and real

                                    souls and gypsies

                                    long passed and yet to come

                                    but I see you

                                    bright, strong, and clear

                                    like water

                                    atop, within, above, and beyond

                                    Red Mountain.

Click here to view the score and listen to the recording.

Patricia Ann Repar

for flute, violin, cello, percussion, and piano

ca. 9'15"

"In the pampas, down a tree lined lane, live three people who once saw the names of loved ones and strangers burned out life, yet they keep those names alive in memory. They give the names of those who vanished to birds so that the sky above their estancia is always alive with flying names."

--Lawrence Thornton

Imagination, memory, and breathing, all tend to be illusive in our lives–that is–until a moment of crisis when they become more real than all the Wheels of Fortune spinning us round about in our oh-so-busy lives. In Imagining Argentina Lawrence Thornton describes one of those critical moments and how the power of memory, imagination, and human breath, recreated and transformed it–ultimately dismembering the military dictatorship of Argentina. The performers and myself offer this piece in honor of Thornton–in honor of those many Argentinians who adamantly and courageously refuse to forget their own dreams and desires for beauty–in honor of you, may you hear the birdsong, remember the names, and re-imagine the moments of your lives.

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Patricia Ann Repar

for flute, oboe, alto saxophone, vibraphone, violoncello

ca. 10'15"

(out)(in)...the OPEN is written in honor of the legendary jazz singer/songwriter Billie Holiday. On the liner notes of Billie's 1956 recording The Essential Billie Holliday–Carnegie Hall Concert, Gilbert Millstein wrote that "Billie was the victim of a world which really could not have cared much less–either for her or for any artist whose talent might be grudgingly acknowledged or eagerly exploited, but who made society uncomfortable or uneasy." Billie's way of singing defiantly exposed herself and her listeners–an experience they yearned for and resented all at the same time. As a way of highlighting Billie's courage to be open, to say it and sing it how it is (not how we might want to hear it), (out)(in)...the OPEN is structured entirely around breath sounds. It is hoped that concentration on breath, by both performers and audience, will evoke some of this vulnerability that Billie and her listeners longed to experience.

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Caterina Calderoni

for flute, B-flat clarinet, violin, cello, and piano

ca. 8'00"

The formal structure of this work follows a spiral scheme based on a sequence of four sonic states (A: resonance – B: thickening – C: shattering – D: echo) that recurs four times, each time in a wider span of time. Moments of suspension (Tempo sospeso) frame and break in this cyclic process in order to reveal the sonic substance from which the spiral originates. Just like the shape of a shell (murex), the spiral suggests an endless process “towards infinity.”

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Rahilia Hasanova

for flute and piano

ca. 10'00"

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Rahilia Hasanova

for orchestra

ca. 10'00"

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Rahilia Hasanova

for chamber orchestra

ca. 15'50"

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Rahilia Hasanova

for flute and piano duo

ca. 11'12"

The original title of this piece, composed in 1973, was Sonatina/Sonata for flute and piano.

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Rahilia Hasanova

for solo flute

ca. 8'24"

Eastern philospohers recommend us to be in an accordance with our thoughts, words, and actions. Could we follow this rule? Could we ever find some consensus between our chaotic feelings, wishes, and everyday lives? Our behavior is a reflection of our inner dialogs that are mirrors of our understanding of what we are as individuals. Our everyday efforts to understand ourselves and fight through every hardship are reflected in our inner dialogs.

I hope that this short explanation helps to feel the idea of the sonata for flute consensus.

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Rahilia Hasanova

for orchestra

ca. 12'00"

Everything in Life is Vibration (Albert Einstein). Everything has its own unique vibration, frequency, and sound. It means everything has a unique voice that is an expression of its vibrations and frequencies. Everything...snowflakes, crystals, flowers, take on their shapes according to their particular vibrations and responding to multiple vibrations, sounds, and voices of the universe. The universe is a choir of the myriad of voices. Each voice has to find the shape and expression to resonate with the universe. Each voice, if it is out of the connection with the choir of voices of the universe, is the solitary voice.

The Solitary Voice was premiered by the symphony orchestra of University of Maryland Baltimore County on November 22, 2015. Conductor: E.Michael Richards

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Click here to listen to the recording.

Rahilia Hasanova

for woodwind quintet

ca. 14'00"

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Rahilia Hasanova

for orchestra

ca. 19'00"

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Rahilia Hasanova

for flute, oboe, clarinet in Bb, percussion, guitar, harp, piano, strings

ca. 16'20"

My composition Sema'a, for the large ensemble, is not an illustration of dancing dervishes. Sema'a is my thoughts about the mankind circling destiny, about the motivation of the nature to create, variate, and circle forms and circumstances again and again. Sema'a is my pray for humanity and my hope.

Sema'a was commissioned by the Nieuw Ensemble, the Netherlands and premiered in Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Hague in 1994. Conductor: Ed Spanjaard

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Click here to listen to the recording.

Rahilia Hasanova

for flute/piccolo, strings, and piano

ca. 15'00"

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Rahilia Hasanova

for chamber orchestra, soprano, and tenor

ca. 35'00"

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