- What Remains (2019)
-
Linda Dusman
for orchestra
ca. 11'15"
What Remains constitutes the second piece in a series of works embodying the concept of pis aller—“paths of last resort,” for me a fitting metaphor for our time of great immigrations, political extremes, and sudden local disruptive violence. What Remains explores specifically the human trait of obsession that often drives individuals to this final recourse, and that path’s potential for leading toward both great good and great evil.
What remains at its end? The air we breathe, the lives that air enables, our shared potential for good, and the possibility of an arrival at that end, rather than its opposite. What Remains stands as a reminder of humanity’s collective responsibility to walk a path away from obsessive violence and ugliness toward intentional peace and beauty.
The recording heard when viewing the score was recorded by the John Hopkins Symphony conducted by Jay Gaylin.
- Solstice (1997)
-
Linda Dusman
for wind ensemble
ca. 7'15"
Solstice was commissioned by the Hanover, Pennsylvania Southwestern High School Symphonic Band, Carey Crumling, director, in 1997. The title refers to my inspiration for the piece, which I found in the often turbulent weather changes that characterize the change from season to season. As a larger metaphor this reflects the emotional turbulence that characterizes the change from childhood to adulthood, which I expressed in the often bi-tonal language of the piece.
A recording of the piece is available on opening the score, performed by New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble, with William Drury, Director.
- Dance (2012)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for youth symphony orchestra
ca. 3'00"
This piece was premiered in 2015 by the UMBC Symphony under the direction of E. Michael Richards, and the video recording is linked below.
Click here to view a performance (YouTube).
- Diptych for Woodwind Quintet (1983)
-
Ruth Lomon
for woodwind quintet (flute, oboe, B-flat clarinet, horn in F, bassoon)
ca. 12'45"
Diptych was composed in 1983 while Ruth Lomon was a fellow at the MacDowell Art Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. It is a work for woodwind quintet in two distinctive movements which also share common structural elements. The first section is dominated by a melodic line which threads through the instruments. In both halves of the DIPTYCH there are episodes composed of trios for flute, oboe and clarinet. In the first trio the clarinet melody develops over a motoric rhythmic element, whereas the trio of the second part closes the movement with a haunting and improvisatory ending. DIPTYCH was composed for the Lyricum Ensemble (Massachusetts), and has been performed by numerous woodwind quintets including the Ars Nova (New York), Venti Da Camera (Bowling Green University OH), The Ariel Quintet (Boston MA), The Theophilus Quintet and New Mexico Woodwind Quintet (both of Albuquerque NM). In 1993 DIPTYCH was a finalist for Symposium VII for New Woodwind Quintet Music at The University of Georgia and was performed by The Metro Wind Quintet of St. Louis, MO.
- De Nacht: Lament for Malcolm X (1983)
-
Anna Rubin
for soprano, violin, viola, violoncello, contrabass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, and piano
- Onyx (1991)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for chamber orchestra
ca. 13'45"
This piece was commissioned by the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra.
- Devil's Punchbowl (1993)
-
Lois V Vierk
for orchestra
This piece was inspired by the twisted sandstone canyon in the southern California high desert in Angeles National Park called "Devil's Punchbowl". At this exquisite site you are always aware of both extreme beauty and also danger. Descending into the canyon the trail is rugged, rocky, and treacherous, and the head is scorching. But rising up from the deep gorge are steep, magnificent mountains with their cold streams and sweet smelling pine trees. The vistas are grand. Far in the distance, soft shapes and hues of the landscape melt into one another.
Devil's Punchbowl unfolds slowly. Musical materials are constantly developed, pushing the work forward from a relatively simple beginning to its dynamic and colorful climax. The piece opens with languorous brass slides downward. String phrases answer the brass, and woodwinds add color and wisps of melody. Gradually the strings begin their long ascending glissando, sweeping the woodwinds up to their highest register, ending the first section.
Immediately strings and low woodwinds enter with agitated multi-color, ever-changing trills and tremolos. Various instruments combine to form sinewy melodic shapes which creep slowly upward. Percussion becomes more pronounced. Brass adds rhythm and harmony. Each phrase builds on the one before as, little by little, the music becomes faster, louder, and rhythmically emphatic. Trombones and celli playing fortissimo glissandi in the lowest register propel the piece to its full orchestral climax. After the high energy of the climax the music returns briefly to the lyrical mood of the opening, ending gently.
Devil's Punchbowl was commissioned by the Bang On A Can Festival and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. The commissioning of this work was made possible by a grant fro the Meet The Composer/Reader's Digest Commissioning Program, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund.
The recording of Devil's Punchbowl is of the premiere, given by Victoria Bond conducting the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra on March 21, 1994. They performed the piece beautifully.
Below are two versions of the score. First is the final version, incorporating several sets of edits to the orchestration made after the premiere and over subsequent years, and which is dated 2009. The major changes to orchestration, emphasizing an expanded role for trombones, etc., are marked above the staves of the score.
The second is the original score as used by Victoria Bond in 1994 (with numerous indications marked for my first set of edits).
Click here to view the revised score.
Click here to view the original score.