Currently focusing on writing traditional European chamber music. These are some of the fruits of this exploration.
Asperges me For Chamber Group:
A tribute in honor of victims of political violence
For Chamber Group: Flute, Bassoon, Trumpet in Bb, Trombone, Violin, Cello, Piano
Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed:
Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.
Asperges me For Chamber Group:
A tribute in honor of victims of political violence
For Chamber Group: Flute, Bassoon, Trumpet in Bb, Trombone, Violin, Cello, Piano
Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed:
Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.
Interlude for Chamber Orchestra No.1 Andante in C.
Interlude for Chamber Orchestra, No. 2. Allegretto in B
Mnemonic Hymm is an adaptation for string quartet of an oud solo written from an inspiration of an ancient Greek mode attributed to aulos player Olympos.Still working with the notation software to correctly represent the exact pitches, this at the moment is in equal temperament, which is incorrect. The Cb and Eb should be flatter than heard, about 20 cents.
Menomic Hymm arranged for 16 wind instruments.
Versailles I. Ô Versailles, par cette après-midi fanée, for Spoken Voice, Flute, Clarinet in Bb, Violin, Violoncello, and Percussion, (2021) is a setting of the French Symbolist poet Albert Samian’s Versailles, its first sonnet. The music attempts to explore the goal suggested by Mallarmé, “to depict not the thing but the effect it produces,” through a play between word and sound; or more specifically through symbol and harmonic/ melodic contour. So, it is the job of color, odors, or a vague suggestion to paint the picture for a soft embrace of loneliness and loss. Here, Versailles is not just a regal status symbol, but an imprint of memory — not ‘a’ memory, but Memory Itself.
Versailles
I Ô Versailles, par cette après-midi fanée, Pourquoi ton souvenir m'obsède-t-il ainsi? Les ardeurs de l'été s'éloignent, et voici Que s'incline vers nous la saison surannée. Je veux revoir au long d'une calme journée Tes eaux glauques que jonche un feuillage roussi, Et respirer encore, un soir d'or adouci, Ta beauté plus touchante au déclin de l'année. Voici tes ifs en cône et tes tritons joufflus, Tes jardins composés où Louis ne vient plus, Et ta pompe arborant les plumes et les casques. Comme un grand lys tu meurs, noble et triste, sans bruit; Et ton onde épuisée au bord moisi des vasques S'écoule, douce ainsi qu'un sanglot dans la nuit. Albert Samain 1858-1900 |
Versailles
I O Versailles, why by this faded afternoon Does your memory obsess me thus? The ardor of the summer recedes And our penchant for a bygone season remains. I long to gaze on silent, timeless days, Your glaucous water jetting over russet folded leaves, To breathe again on evenings of yellow softend gold. (Your most touching beauty of a passing age.) Here yew trees in cone, chubby tritons, Elegant crafted gardens, and Louis, absent From pomps lifting of plume and casques. Silent, like a large lily, you die noble and sad; And your exhausted wave, at the basin's mildewed edge Flows out, soft as a sob in the night. English rendering by Kevin Germain |