- 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.
- Vides yia stravoxyla ("Cranky Pasta Recipe") (2006)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for soprano, saxophone, cello, tuba, piano, and actress
ca. 10'30"
- A Fantasy Journey into the Mind of a Machine (1985)
-
Ruth Lomon
for soprano and alto saxophone
ca.14'30"
For soprano and alto saxophone with extended techniques. Settings of six poems drawn from the first book created by the Racter computer program. Fantasy Journey was commissioned for the University of Kansas Opus Three ‘Women in Music’ conference. Fantasy Journey was choreographed by Peggy Brightman and has also been performed as a theatre piece. The songs may be sung in any order and may be programmed individually.
- Iridium Gone Gold (2015)
-
Patricia Ann Repar
for soprano, alto, tenor, baritone saxophones and digital accompaniment
1 iridium flare: a surge of light
marking the revolution in satellite telecommunication
(wire shattered and adrenals gone mad)
launching us forward to do it faster, spread it further, say it louder, push it harder,
leaving us dark in the night and cold on the ground
like the hard, dense, silvery-white metallic sheen of iridium.
2 iridium flare: a surge of light
marking the call to remember
(even if in the midst of desolation)
the overwhelming vulnerability of clouds reconfiguring, kisses colliding,
and human hearts floundering in the space between life and death
like the deep lustrous yellow of iridium gone gold.
Thanks to Willie Johnson for ‘Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground’, one of the 27 samples of music included on the Voyager Golden Record launched into space in 1977.
Click here to view the performance notes.
Click here to view a performance (YouTube).
- (out) (in) . . . the OPEN (1992)
-
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.