- Dancing Universe (2019)
-
Linda Dusman
for piano trio
ca. 8'30"
Dancing Universe, composed in honor of my parents who both passed away in 2015, quotes fragments of their favorite hymns in memoria. While composing, I was also reflecting on T.S. Eliot’s monumental poem Four Quartets, especially these passages:
“And the bird called in response tothe unheard music hidden in the shrubbery…I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope…But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting…So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness thedancing.”
The recording heard when viewing the score was performed by the Trio des Alpes (Hana Kotková, violin, Claude Hauri, cello, and Corrado Greco, piano).
- Corona Bagatelles (2021)
-
Linda Dusman
for cello and piano
ca. 10'00"
Corona Bagatelles comprises a musical cryptogram of 1273 amino acids, which chained together create the spike protein of the COVID-19 virus. This protein enables the virus to bind to human cells and replicate itself, creating havoc in the human body. During the dark days of 2020, I took solace in contemplating the abstraction of this single cell, exerting a measure of control unavailable by any other means by “composing” it, imposing rhythms, melody, timbre, and form onto it. Each of the 5 movements is based on a subset of the entire amino acid chain, and its sounding motives suggested various characters or moments in my experience of the COVID quarantine (including an odd sequence where it quoted the opening notes of the Dies Irae, the mass for the dead), an experience all humanity now shares.
The final movement "Binding" celebrates the life of composer Wesley Fuller, who passed away as I was composing it. I had in mind one of my favorite compositions of his, Time into Pieces, and his joy in living expressed in his music, his poetry, and his love of family and friends. The final act of the coronavirus is to bind to our cells before it replicates itself. Binding to one another in shared purpose is perhaps our only way to survive. I also wanted to express this contradiction to close the set of bagatelles.
I offer my appreciation and thanks to the Duo des Alpes, Corrado Greco and Claude Hauri, for commissioning this piece; to Dr. Phyllis Robinson, who tutored me in biology while I composed it; and to our student Peter Bailer who as a biochemist and composer assisted with the translation into music.
- Mother of Exiles (2019)
-
Linda Dusman
for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, double dass, harp, percussion, and piano
ca. 9'30"
What must our Lady Liberty be thinking? Staunchly guarding the NewYork harbor, sending a beacon of light still, but now a museum, what are her sonic memories of mothers singing to comfort their children? Mother of Exiles, your huddled masses are now at our southern borders, where there is a wall instead of a beacon of hope. How do we create a more perfect union, when we are faced so dramatically with the imperfections of our past and our present? What would that union sound like?
I want to express my appreciation to the cultures that created the lullabies quoted in this work: Syria, Nigeria, and the Andes region. My hope is that our shared concerns of caring for the young might bring these disparate voices together to forge a sustainable future. Any royalties resulting from performances of this work will be donated to Unicef, the United Nations agency for children.
The performance was recorded by the Inscape Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Richard Scerbo.
- Thundersnow (2014)
-
Linda Dusman
for violin, cello, and piano
ca. 11'45"
This piece is dedicated to Trio des Alpes.
Thundersnow explores the concept of transformation and the union of opposites. Coarse, rock-like fragments twist in counterpoint, melting into metallic surfaces that eventually take flight.
The recording, available upon opening the score, is performed by Trio des Alpes.
- Interiors (2013)
-
Linda Dusman
for solo piano
ca. 8'00"
- Waiting for Spring (2009)
-
Linda Dusman
for solo piano
ca. 4'00"
Three short pieces for the intermediate pianist.
- Sweet Suite Errata (1997)
-
Linda Dusman
for solo piano
ca. 11'00"
Suite Sweet Errata is a set of five miniatures inspired by Joan Retallack’s book of poetry ERRATA 5UITE. Retallack uses errata slips from publishers as the source material for her poetry, which references a 5-line musical staff in its form. Each short piece takes Retallack’s “errors” as the starting point for a compositional process that I apply sometimes to fragments of pre-existing works (the Brahms Op. 118 A Major Intermezzo, for example), or that I use to create new material. This piece is dedicated to my son Sam, whose life as a 6-month-old also inspired the piece.
This recording of this piece is by Jacques Linder, and can be heard when viewing the score.
- States (2002)
-
Linda Dusman
for solo piano
ca. 6'15"
States was commissioned by the Summer Institute for Contemporary Piano Performance at New England Conservatory, Stephen Drury, Director, in 2002. The pieces are intended as tone studies for the early advanced pianist, and explore some contemporary notation techniques while reflecting on states of mind in adolescence.
This recording of this piece is by Jacques Linder, and can be heard when viewing the score.
- O Star Spangled Stripes (2004)
-
Linda Dusman
for piano and percussion
ca. 6'15"
The e.e. cummings poem “next to of course god America i” sourced O Star Spangled Stripes, which begins from parodies of American patriotic songs (including Stars and Stripes Forever, Johnny Comes Marching Home, It’s a Grand Old Flag, and The Star Spangled Banner). In the piece, I created a system for performers to progress through the musical material based in oppositional ideas of “democracy” and “advancing freedom,” two terms touted by the George W. Bush administration as hallmarks of US foreign policy. “Democracy” in its Greek origins translates loosely to “people working together,” while “advancing freedom” seems to me to be completely individualistic, perhaps even narcissistic, in pursuing a definition of freedom with disregard for others. To begin the piece, each player decides whether he will begin by cooperating with the other player (“true democracy”), or by disregarding the other player—exhibiting a self-involved narcissism (”advancing freedom”). The performers change their modes of ensemble playing asynchronously throughout the piece, and, in an ultimately non-utopian gesture, create a chaotic mix reflecting the American political system and its potential impact on world events.
This recording of this piece is by the Hoffmann-Goldstein Duo (Paul Hoffmann, piano; Tom Goldstein, percussion) and can be heard when viewing the score.
- magnificat 2: still (2003)
-
Linda Dusman
for B-flat clarinet and piano
ca. 8'00"
magnificat 2: still is the second in a series of reflections on the unison, in music and in life. This piece, composed for the Tanosaki-Richards Duo, establishes a continuum of relationships between the clarinet and the piano, from the most distant to the closest, as the players ultimately take over one another’s instruments. As such the piece becomes a metaphor for the long-term relationship, one in which we desire the simple perfection, the stillness, of union while struggling with the repetitions and tensions of daily life.
The piece was premiered by the Tanosaki-Richards Duo (E. Michael Richards, clarinet; Kazuko Tanosaki, piano).
- Elio: Visions of Light (1985)
-
Linda Dusman
for soprano, flute, cello, piano, percussion
ca. 7'30"
Elio: Visions of Light is a setting of fragments of poetry by the Greek lyric poet Sappho for soprano, flute, cello, piano, and percussion. It reflects my memories of the light in Greece during my travels there.
This recording of this piece is by Ana Spasic, soprano, and members of the Conservatorio "G. Nicolini" chamber music program in Piacenza, Italy, and can be heard when viewing the score.
- Diverging Flints (2008)
-
Linda Dusman
for violin, violoncello, and piano
ca. 13'00"
Diverging Flints was inspired by an Emily Dickenson poem (from which the title is a quote), in which the poet uses the spark created by struck flint as a metaphor for human interaction. In the interactions among the trio members and in its harmonic and rhythmic development, my composition celebrates the chance meeting, and its potential power to change forever the individuals involved.
The recording of this piece is by the Damocles Trio (Adam Kent, piano; Airi Yoshioka, violin; Sibylle Johner, cello) and can be heard when viewing the score. It was recorded at the Livewire Festival in 2010.
Click here to watch a performance (YouTube).
- Night Lantern (2014)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for piano and CD
The "dreamy textured" tape (electronic process by the composer) builds on improvisations by the great soloist Manos Avarakis, playing harmonicas, recorders and the exotic kalimba, all recorded over a period of time specially to be used in creating this piece
Click here to listen to the piece (YouTube).
- In Limbo (2016)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for cello and piano
In limbo: a state of uncertainty or unresolved status, inbetween a sense of fleeting moments.
- The Mirror (2007)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for solo piano
5 miniatures
This piece was commissioned by the “Living Composers Project” (London, 2007) for a concert where all the pieces had the same commitment , 5 short miniatures for solo piano. “The Mirror” was inspired by a poem with the title “It is me” written by a Greek poet-psychologist, Eirini Protopapadaki. Vagueness, detection, conflicts, shadows, contradictions, senses: each miniature follows a path related to these terms.
- Vides yia stravoxyla ("Cranky Pasta Recipe") (2006)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for soprano, saxophone, cello, tuba, piano, and actress
ca. 10'30"
- Workshop of Dreams (2005)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for flute, clarinet, cello, piano, and percussion
Written for amateur players or players unaccustomed to contemporary music
- The Mystery of r/r/r (2009)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for piano quartet (violin, viola, cello, and piano)
The piece, written in 2004, is built from three parts with bridge passages between each part in the form of solo piano sections. The mystery refers to my esoteric world at that time as well as to several abstract senses that I could not explain to myself. The ostinato of the third part is based on a Greek word meaning 'unsolved', with the mystery ending up in this way.
The linked video recording was performed by Airi Yoshioka (violin), Maria Lambros (viola), Gita Ladd (cello), and Audrey Andrist (piano).
Click here to view a performance (YouTube).
- Inconsistency (2000)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for piano, cello, and small percussion
ca. 7'15"
- RCSC (2001)
-
Annea Lockwood
for solo piano
ca. 4'15"
RCSC was commissioned by Sarah Cahill as one of a set of seven short pieces by women composers in honor of Ruth Crawford Seeger. The title is a near palindrome of their names and for its pitch content the piece draws on a ten note row from the Final movement of Crawford Seeger’s second string quartet.
Video recording was performed by Ricardo Descalzo.
Click here to watch a performance (YouTube).