Notice: This is a digital rendering using Vienna Symphonic Library. I am always looking for an ensemble to play this piece live for performance and recording. Email me!
Octet For Woodwind: 2 flutes, oboe, english horn, 2 clarinets + bass clarinet, bassoon.
Since a long time I have been thinking of composing a piece for 8 woodwind instruments, and now the time seemed right. I have always been in awe of Stravinsky and heavily inspired by his music. For my octet I especially kept tempi and rhythms in mind and the junxtaposition of instruments in the higher and in the lower registers.
Here are the first 4 movements in a first version. These are basically short two or three minute pieces and the octet will have six or seven movements in all at the time of completion. The one-minute intro is where the instruments introduce themselves.
I hope the piece will be a joy for musicians to play and for audiences to watch and listen to.
Notice: This is a digital rendering using Pianoteq Classical Guitars (Modartt).
Esperançoso ("Enquanto houver música, há esperança.")
Hopeful (“As long as there is music there is hope.”)
With the arrival of the brandnew virtual classic guitar by Modartt's Pianoteq, I was eager to test the sound of all of the available guitars. Also, we live in Portugal now and I got totally smitten with their traditional fado.
I started improvising on the keyboard a little and found myself pleasantly surprised how wonderful it sounds especially on the emotional level. Fortunately Pianoteq stores everything you play as MIDI and in Dorico I was able to edit the rough composition without loosing the effect of an improvisation.Of course, this piece could be much improved and tightened, but it is probably better to leave it as imperfect as it is. I hope you enjoy it!
Notice: This is a digital rendering until a much needed live recording becomes available.
(Sound samples: Joshua Bell Violin and Vienna Symphonic Library's Violin, Viola and Cello)
- 1. La vie dans le pommier n'est pas compliquée (La terre)
- 2. Au secours, le ciel fuit! (Le pluie)
- 3. NEW: Interlude - Que l’avenir commence! (Le soleil)
- 4. Les chatons n'ont pas peur du tout (La neige)
Here are the 4 movements separately:
Images from my childhood / A children's drawing
For all 7-year olds in the world, little and big.
In 2021 my brother Ernie unearthed the 1955 "Kittens in an Apple Tree" photo from the family archives (see cover). The picture strongly evokes a childhood memory reminding me of the drawing I made of those kittens in that tree.
I was 7 years old and we had just moved into a big new house with a sprawling backyard and even our own piece of forest land. I remember well that pathetic dead apple tree behind the house. Reimagening the scene when I was a young boy, I still get the raw emotion of having started a new life in our own little paradise. Capturing this image in music is something else and quite a challenge but nevertheless worth a try; this time in notes and me being more than ten times older now.
The first movement with its simple theme (introduced in bar 7, 8) is reminiscent of a nursery song expressing the ignorance of these furry softballs, oblivious of any peril. I titled it ironicly, Life in the apple tree is not complicated. The second movement depicts nature's challenges, the lack of shelter for the rain. The next short part (III) is a kind of interlude, reflective of my personal emotions starting a new life in a new place. The fourth movement, The kittens have no fear at all, reflects besides on the kittens themselves onto myself as well: me, the easily excited youngster of 7, not unlike all 7-year olds at the time, I suppose.
Notice: This is a digital rendering until a live recording becomes available.
(Sound library: Synchron Solo Strings, Vienna Symphonic Library)
This duet starts out with a classic theme, after about two minutes transitioning to the main segment: a slightly atonal and a mostly dissonant back-and-forth between the two players followed by a brief variation on the opening theme leading up to the Ennio Morricone tribute starting at around 5:50 minutes.
The beloved Italian composer Ennio Morricone wrote over 400 film scores in a vast variety of styles in addition to 100+ classical works. Most impressive and memorable for me as a young man were the soundtracks for the so-called "spaghetti-westerns" evoking so effectively and suspenseful the loneliness of the desert.
Morricone passed away July 7, 2020 and I listened to a few of his most famous compositions once again with great joy!
Notice: This is a digital rendering using Pianoteq's Petrof Grand (Modartt).
Pendulum is written as an experiment or rather a musical exploration; an almost mathematically constructed piece, based on a repeated 5-bar baseline consisting of a phrase of 19 quarter notes (no, it's not not a "12-tone series"), on the rhythm of a grand-father clock. The piece evolves through five right-hand variations (introducing syncopation and eighth notes along the way) then morphing into a classical sonata passage, including 16th and 32nd notes, and ending in a repeat of earlier dissonant chords.
Notice: This is a digital rendering using Pianoteq's Petrof Grand (Modartt).
Just a short study for piano in classical style, and as the title suggests: suited for ballet.
These pieces are relatively simple and quite relatable; virtuosity is by no means required and certainly high drama does not come into play. And yes, the sixth piece Grand Jeté, the finale, is a lighthearted scherzo kind of thing.
The titles are all ballet moves, honoring the original idea behind suites as a series of danceable tunes. (A hint of tango in III?) The pieces can be played independently, but the order in which they appear in this suite is quite deliberate.
- I. Saut de Chat
- II. Gargouillade (starts at 4:06)
- III. Carré (starts at 7:45) NEW
- IV. Sur tes orteils (starts at 11:40) NEW
- V. Cabriole (starts at 15:21)
- VI. Grand Jeté (starts at 19:06)
The six movements are loosely related and most of them (especially III, IV and V) could be played on their own outside of the suite. VI should be fun as an encore; as the finale, it is a lighthearted scherzo kind of thing. In general the pieces have a percussive feel to them and rarely venture into the realm of romanticism. Carré reminds of pop and it swings a little; the piece, Sur tes orteils ("On your toes") is a bit of an outlier and, as the title suggests, rather suited for ballet in my opinion (watch the music video on YouTube).
Inspired by Jacques Brels's "La Chanson Des Vieux Amants"
Recorded at the Corthell Hall, USM School of Music, November 26, 2019 (Thank you, Lori!)
Performers: Josie DiPhilippo, Piano and Aaron Emerson, Oboe
For this duet, in the style of the French chanson, specifically written for the gifted oboist Aaron Emerson, I borrowed three significant quotes from the song as my inspiration for, and the interpretation of the subject matter as I finally came to see it. The quotes serve as the titles of the movements.
René
- I. Chambre Sans Berceau
- II. Éclats Des Vieilles Tempêtes (starts at 3:10)
- III. Je t'aime Encore, Tu Sais, Je t'aime (starts at 6:48)
I. Chambre Sans Berceau (Room without crib)
The relationship between two people-in-love is challenged and tested, causing anguish and friction, when their marriage remains childless. Blame and guilt slowly drives a wedge between them, despite attempts to hang on to their committed love.
II. Éclats Des Vieilles Tempêtes (Shards of old storms)
After twenty years the echos of raging old storms are still audible and shards of broken dreams still visible in the corners of that room. But every now and then, when the taste for fighting is lost, a clear and hopeful tune can be heard ringing throughout the house.
III. Je t'aime Encore, Tu Sais, Je t'aime (I still love you, you know, I love you)
Despite decades of resentment, neglect and infidelities, in the end the love survives; though un-passionate and non-exuberant, as a given it persists, pure and simple, as on the beat of a slow, never-ending three-step dance between two kindred souls.
- I. English Horn Solo
- II. Flugelhorn Solo (starts at 3:22)
- III. Alto Sax Solo (starts at 7:00)
Download the full score
(A license is required for performance of any or all three pieces. Contact Damen Digital.)
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