- Remembering (1988)
-
Anna Rubin
for mezzo soprano, piano, and fixed media
ca. 14'56"
Remembering is a lyrical and evocative meditation on the horrors of World War II. It is in three major sections. The two outer sections are accompanied by electronic sounds. The first part is dominated by word fragments which are gradually revealed to be names of concentration camps and other sites of horror. The middle section is without electronic sounds and is a setting of the Jewish prayer for the dead, the Kaddish and is in the original Hebrew. The last section again features a collage of vocal sounds as a background for the soloist and brings a gentle resolution to the work.
The work has been recorded on NEUMA Records with the late Judith Kellock, mezzo soprano, and Karl Paulnack.It has been performed many times including performances at the SEAMUS Festival of Electroacoustic Music (1996), Oberlin College (2000), University of Maryland Baltimore County (2010), and the Piano on the Rocks Festival, Sedona (2021).
Click here to view the score and listen to a recording.
Click here to download all performance materials.
- Chiaroscuro (2016)
-
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.
Click here to download all performance materials.
- Ludwig Dreams of Igor (2021)
-
Anna Rubin
for solo piano
ca. 2'00"
This short piece is part of the ‘Diabelli Recomposed’ project conceived by Claudia Bigos. Fifty worldwide composers participated in composing variations on the famous tune made famous by Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. Furore Verlag (Germany) has published this piece in “Diabelli Recomposed,” Edition 10413.
Ludwig Dreams of Igor is a whimsical smash-up of well-known fragments of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps with the opening tune of the Diabelli Variations. The famous bi-tonalism of Le Sacre pervades the variation while melodic fragments of each composer are intertwined. The shared love of bombast cements their true brotherhood.
The piece premiered as part of a grand performance of all fifty pieces at the Hanover Music Academy in 2023.
Click here to watch a performance (YouTube; go to 2:12:23).
Click here to download all performance materials.
- De Nacht: Lament for Malcolm X (1983)
-
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.
- Vision of Blue (1999)
-
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
- Re-Imagining (1995)
-
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.
- I Duo/I Duo Not (1991)
-
Patricia Ann Repar
for bass marimba and piano
The percussionist is performing a character who is wholly engaged by and delighted in the sound of his or her instrument. The character seems unreachable at times, almost unreasonable – uninterested in extremes with regard to speed, volume, and various other forms of complexity. Entirely committed to every sound s/he makes, no matter how simple, his/her physical gestures may change tempo but are never dramatic or flamboyant or employ more energy than required. The pianist-percussionist is performing a character who fluctuates rapidly in feelings and behavior.
Click here to view a performance (YouTube).
- Color Prayer (1998)
-
Patricia Ann Repar
for B-flat clarinet, piano, and voice
ca. 7'15"
The text of Color Prayer is comprised of excerpts from the following sources: Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman, the Islamic Call to Prayer, Mexican folk songs as sung by Linda Ronstadt, the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass, and Memoirs from the Women's Prison by Nawal El Saadawi.
The body was now a broken, twisted piece of meat. Carrion, birds, rodents, insects, and worms came to feed on the decomposing flesh [Allahu akbar] that I had once imagined to be me. Time passed faster [Mata me cielo] and faster and the days flashed by and the sky became a rapid blinking, an alternation of light and darkness [A donde estas?] flickering faster and faster into a blur. The seasons changed and the remains of the [Hablan me montes y valles] body began to dissolve into the soil enriching it. The frozen snows of winter preserved my [Christe eleison] bones for a [Speak to me valleys and mountains] moment in time but as the seasons flashed by in evermore rapid cycles even the bones became dust. From the nourishment [Donde?] of my body [Lord have mercy. Gritenme piedras del campo] flowers and trees grew and died in that [A donde?] meadow. Finally even the meadow disappeared. I had become part of the carrion birds that had feasted on my flesh, part of the insects [Kyrie eleison] and rodents, and part of their predators in a great cycle of life and death. I became their ancestor—
Hablan me montes y valles. Speak to me. Gritenme piedras del campo. Allahu Akbar. Christo. A donde? Christo. Traga me tierra. Donde? Donde? Traga me tierra. Christo.
Every morning I wait for him and I hear him. I raise my head towards the piece of shy visible through he bars. Can't see the curlew. I'm satisfied just to hear him without seeing him. Enough that I hear and that I can move my arms and legs and jump up and down on the floor of the cell, that my heart beats, the sweat pours, my body goes under and shower and the thick water falls, and that I dry my hair and light the gas..."
Click here to view the score and listen to a recording.
- Turbolenze del Blu (2014)
-
Caterina Calderoni
for violin, cello, and piano
I happen to visualize sounds as a color spread by means of broad brushstrokes over the timeline. Its shade, although apparently even, discloses ripplings, thickenings, and nuances that make it restless and sometimes violent, like the blue of deep waters or moonless nights.
- Murex (2010)
-
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.”
Click here to view the score and listen to the recording.
- Three Pieces for Solo Piano (1970 - 1974, rev. 2009)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for solo piano
ca. 16'00"
These three pieces can be performed individually or as a cycle:
Chaconne (1974), ca. 5'00"
Scherzo (1973), ca. 5'00"
Theme and Variations (1970), ca. 6'00"
Click here to view the scores.
- The Sea (1997)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for two pianos and saxophones
ca. 14'00"
Deniz (the Sea) originally was written for two pianos and two Saxophones. A year later I made the second version and revised this composition for two pianos and bass clarinet that was recorded in 1998. This composition is dedicated to the most mysterious sea in the world - the Caspian Sea.
Performers:
Farida Ahmadbayova, piano
Maya Sadigzade, piano
Nizami Zeynalov, bass clarinet
Click here to hear a recording of the version for pianos and bass clarinet on SoundCloud.
- The Rhythmical Streams (2009)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for flute and piano
ca. 10'00"
- The Mystical Moon (2010)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for orchestra
ca. 10'00"
- Warrior's Itinerary (1968-1988, rev. 2018)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for piano solo
ca. 20'00"
Warrior's Itinerary for five pianos is dedicated to a hero and represents a hero's life from his childhood to his death. The hero could be somebody who lives and fights for his ideas, wellness, and prosperity of his country, and entirely for the earth.
Click here to listen to a recording of this piece.
- Vernee (2010)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for chamber orchestra
ca. 15'50"
- Symphony No. 3 (1983)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for orchestra
ca. 14'34"
Click here to listen to the recording.
- Three Ghazals (1986, rev. 2017)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for mezzo soprano and piano
ca. 5'55"
Also titled "Three Gazelles," this is a vocal cycle for mezzo soprano, with lyrics by Samed Vurgun.
Her bagin, her bagchanin...
Alemin seyrine gel...
Elimin vurgunayam...
- Amorousness (1973, rev. 2023)
-
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.
- The solitary voice (1979, rev. 2008)
-
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
Click here to listen to the recording.