Electroacoustic Recordings!
Get them here!
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 | Purchase all five of these CDs for $20 here and paste a copy of the order confirmation here. In return you'll receive the 24-page booklet and a bonus CD of Detritus of Mating (while they last!). |
Presentation on "The Self-Promoting Artist"
Getcher Bumper Sticker!
Join the nonpop "Buy Local" campaign! If you're a composer or supporter of new nonpop, you can get a bumper sticker for five bucks at CafePress, item number 80570307, or even better you can download and print it yourself. The CafePress one is only 10 inches wide, but you can use the full-size image to print a big one on 11x17 paper and trim it to standard 3.75" x 15" bumper sticker size.
Brilliant premiere of Ave Verum Corpus
My piece in memoriam John Tavener (a long story) was premiered by the Vermont Choral Union on May 4, 2014.
Graphic Rendition of Aveaux Gadreaux
The Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble realizes the graphical scored to "Aveaux Gadreaux" in two movements (Moles and Chameleon) on April 4, 2014.
Large-scale Scalar Rainbows gets heard at last!
Scalar Rainbows was written in 2007 as part of "We Are All Mozart", but the pianist skipped town and country and continent. After long months of work, Alison Cerutti finally made it beautiful.
Big Noise from Chelsea Moods!
The Vermont Symphonic Winds with Tom Cate on the bass clarinet and Lisa Jablow conducting make lots of noise with "Chelsea Moods" on March 30, 2014.
Just a minute with Underside!
Hard Eight was premiered for just minute on December 8, 2013.
Panayiotis & Me, August 2014
Greek pianist Panayiotis Demopoulos is planning to tour a full concert of my music in the Northeast in August 2014 -- with Vermont as a base, but more. This would be my first full concert in the US (I've had them twice in Europe, but never here at home). I've already asked some individuals, and if any of you would be willing to lead the sponsorship/funding of one of these concerts in our area (including Boston & New York), please let me know. We will be crowdsourcing as well.
Winter: Three Songs on the Nature of Armageddon is now available.
This phenomenal Winter: Three Songs on the Nature of Armageddon for mezzo-soprano, piano and orchestra has been waiting more than 25 years to get from pencil to legible form. With the powerful text by poet Claire Chomentowski, this 35-minute work explores the nature of personal despair and human failure, using biblical references. Score for 2 flutes, alto flute, oboe, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, bassoon, alto sax, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, piano, timpani, glockenspiel, percussion and strings in 15 parts, the score is available for download now along with an mp3 demo. Parts will be made available for any scheduled performance. Even if you're just browsing for ideas, be sure to grab a copy of this masterpiece.
The Making of Air
My composition for harp & percussion, Air, received a spectacular perfomance by Duo Harpverk. Here's a documentary on the making of Air, as well as the full performance at the end of the video:
Missa scanned in!
The 1978 Missa da Camera for voices & small instruments that got great international reviews back in 1978 -- premiered on consecutive days at the Delaware Valley and New York Avant-Garde Festivals -- is now available. You can grab it from the Big List and it will be indexed in the vocal catalog shortly. It's a big file (about 30MB) because it's a PDF made up of score images. It's not on the schedule for Finale input for a while ... but it's way worth it.
What Year 2011 Has Wrought!
Wow. It's hard to describe what's happened in the year since I've last had time to update my own personal website. The overwhelming part has been staging three performances of Erzsébet, the monodrama about the Countess Erzsébet Báthory. Full details of this production are at The Bathory Opera Website. I'll just say that it was a staggeringly beautiful production with astounding work by Lisa Jablow as the Countess, direction by Ann Harvey and with Anne Decker conducting the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble. The full production will be available on DVD shortly (by January 2012). Here is a 70-second clip.
The year was more than that. It was the Year of the Vermont Composer, which you can read all about in New Music Box and Sequenza21. One of the great pleasures of the year was the premiere of my three-movement Sonata for Viola, including the three movements "In Search of the Seven Blue Stars," "In Search of the Lightness of Horizon," and "Evasively Transcendental". Violist Elizabeth Reid played it beautifully at Radio Bean in March, a performance you can see and hear on YouTube or download in score form. In May, Starry Night was premiered by the genius young pianist Joe Pepper (score available in the keyboard catalog), and the performance was thrilling -- very powerful. My father-son duet Counting Myself was played by Tristan Blais and his dad Bob in February, a delightful performance you can also see and hear on YouTube and which you can download in score form. Bob and his cello chamber ensemble also premiered The Four Elements (Earth, Air, Water, Sleep) for cello quartet. I don't have a score or recording for you yet ... haven't gotten to it, but I will!
Autumn Dig, a piece for intermediate orchestra, was revised for Bob Blais and the Green Mountain Youth Symphony. They performed it enthusiastically and dramatically a few times in March; check it out on YouTube and grab a score and parts from the Large Ensemble Catalog. It's fun to play for orchestras of any age! Another performance from early in the year was the premiere of the piece for alto flute, bass clarinet, bassoon, guitar and djembe entitled Giè, done by the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble. This commission is wonderful and evocative, and you can see and hear one of several fine performances on YouTube and then check out a copy in the Expanded Chamber Catalog.
2011 was also the year of a huge flood in Vermont, which damaged our home and tossed us out of the house for a few weeks. We recovered, but not in time to hear the VCME perform Fuliginous Quadrant on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The group did a performance in April. You can see and hear the April performance on YouTube and of course download a score from the Chamber Music for Four Instruments Catalog. (This work had its world premiere in Belgium in 2003. These were the U.S. premieres.)
There are a bunch of new pieces which haven't been premiered yet. iota for solo violin, Parched Fields for violin and cello, A Breath on the Kitchen Window for two violins, and O: Eleven Songs for Chorus on text by Gary Barwin, some of them read at the Warebrook Music Festival this past summer. The three short ones are available for download from the catalog. Last and somewhat least were premieres of You Spotted Snakes for voices and strings for the Johnson State College Theatre Department, and an arrangement of Mad World for the JSC Chorus. Fun!
Build 4 U!
People have remarked for years about the imaginative character of our little New England cape, full of hand-made furniture, cabinets, closets, shelves and other interesting items. Now you can have these, too because I will build it 4 u!
New Younger Performer Section
I've added a section to my catalog, Music for Young Performers. This was done on request because my music for young players (and emerging amateurs) was mixed in with the other several hundred in my catalog. So here it is!
We Are All Mozart -- Over but Not Forgotten
We Are All Mozart A 365-day composition project.
The plan was to finish one piece of commissioned music a day in 2007. The commissioning goal wasn't met, but I finished 100 pieces, every one commissioned. The project was a success, and ultimately has influenced many other composers to pursue their compositional goals with intensity and commitment.
New Scores and MP3s Are Up!
It's been a really long time getting some material up -- just busy. So here is what is new in the catalog. Crosscut, the concerto for piano and large wind band is in the Keyboard Catalog; this one's a real honey and is to be premiered sometime soon in Valencia, Spain. Also up is the third movement of my viola sonata, Evasively Transcendental, as well as a short bassoon piece To the Secretary of Good Fortune, both in the Solo Catalog. Also there is the premiere of Meta-Dream Twice as played by Thomas L. Read, and the final (13th "newmoon") month of Lunar Cascade in Serial Time. There's nothing new for two instruments (though a great performance of O Vox Pop on YouTube). An updated version of Wedding Changes is in the Music for Three Instruments -- five new variations each five years, now up to 50 variations for three flutes. There are no new quartets either, but there is a really cool quintet for winds called Binnen in the catalog of Music for Five or More Instruments.
In the Vocal Music Catalog there are the two lullabies for Janet Brand, A Spiral Lullaby and A Spiky Lullaby. Also there is the reworked version of I lift my heavy heart for solo voice alone (the previous version included flute and guitar). Premieres of XLII: Adeste Hendecasyllabi and She Who Saves are both there for your enjoyment. The Performance Works Catalog now includes the majestic Contraflow Symphony for sixteen large and sixteen small vehicles; it was performed in virtual form in Athens, but it awaits its real-world premiere.
The Electroacoustic Catalog is chock full of new pieces: Alien Angels, blinded, Conjim for Ed, Driving My 1948 Limbo, imanuevilla and smuttle. Oh, yeah. Only the latter is NSFW.
Finally, the Music for Large Ensemble catalog presents the scores, demos, and performances of Autumn Dig (new version for large student orchestra, with parts for download); Csárdás in a newly composed version for string orchestra; Dualis Extensualis, a one-minute 60x60 Orchestral piece; and White Landscape With Moon and Water, a mysterious piece for large orchestra. You'll also find the Crosscut concerto for piano and large wind band there with a complete set of parts.
Fundraising Now!
Thousands of visitors have come to my Erzsébet: The Opera website over the years. We're now a year away from the opera's premiere in October 2011. This is a committed project and with your support will be funded by its fans and the public rather than anonymous grant committees. You can back the project with as little as $2 or $500 or more! If ten percent of the folks who emailed me since this site opened pledged $20, that would meet the goal of $12,000 for composition, publication, rehearsal, musicians, lead singer, stage design, videography, and more. Here is the link to the bathory.org site. This isn't a pure donation. There are some remarkable rewards, including t-shirts, DVDs, libretti, tickets, Two xylophones by Fred Carlson, two 1973 Ionic Performer synths, the Katherine Anne Porter Songbook signed & numbered, and "Infamous Lady" by Kim Craft:
Wow! Performing Ensemble Competition and the score to Mantra Canon!
It's February 2010 and time to get some things done. First up: A brand new Performing Ensemble Competition that appears after a sprited discussion on Sequenza21. No entries yet.
And now the really big news: With help from composer Carson Cooman, the score to Mantra Canon is now available. Folks have been asking for this score for years. It's a full-sized scan of the 1110-measure 105-page 11x17 manuscript, and once you see it you'll know why it hasn't been engraved yet. Head over to this link to get a PDF (144MB) or this one for a slightly smaller zip file (116MB). And you can listen to the 1988 performance by the University of Vermont Orchestra. The original inked parts for this composition are available on request.
Before June 15th
Thousands of visitors have come to my Erzsébet: The Opera website over the years. We're now less than a year away from the opera's premiere with your support -- you can pledge with as little as $2 or $500 or more! If ten percent of the folks who emailed me since this site opened pledged $20, that would meet the goal and the opera would be produced. Here is the link to the Kickstarter.com site:
[Note: The above link may be gone by the time you read this, as this project did not meet its Kickstarter funding goal.]
Ringtones!
I've indexed them now. Depending on your phone, there are many ways of using them; I've linked a how-to site on the ringtones page. So here are 42 ringtones from my own tunes. They're all under 30 seconds and in mp3 format. Find the ringtones here.
Ionic Performer "Killer" VSTi! ... Ready for you!
I have emulated the Ionic Performer synthesizer from 1973 as a VST instrument. You can see more of this instrument, hear samples and download the shareware VSTi (Windows only) with samples, patches, and other stuff: My Killer Synth Page
Forgot to mention:
A remix/collaboration with Lee Noyes called Wooden Kind is on the Sound Journey: Eartrip Compilation # 2.
New Pieces Include Crosscut Piano Concerto
Several new electronic pieces have been completed (imanuevilla, inVoice, agRoin, ilianaSoor, cryingHard, Alien Angels and Outside at the Ruined Piano) as well as two acoustic revisions (I lift my heavy heart revised for Beth Griffith for voice alone, and Fanfare:Heat for a different orchestration for the Windham Orchestra for performance January 24, 2010). Also done this year are a 60x60 orchestra piece (Dualis Extensualis), a chamber piece that did not win the Luxembourg Competition (For Fog is the Promise of Cloud for the unusual combination of flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax, horn, tuba, accordion, piano, vibraphone, glockenspiel and percussion), and one performance piece (Contraflow Symphony for 2 to 32 large and 2 to 32 small vehicles). The big tune recently is Crosscut, a concerto for piano and large wind ensemble, commissioned by La Banda Música de Grau Gandía.
Head over to the Big List and scroll to the bottom for links to scores and demos, as these aren't in the catalog yet.
Composition for Tape and Soloists (1969) Score Finally Available!
After a long search for the original inked manuscript and then scanning and cleanup, the score to the 1969 classic Composition for Tape and Soloists (alto voice and clarinet) is finally ready. You can find it in the 2-instrument chamber music catalog. The score was written down in 1969, realized on analog synth and bounce-track mixing in 1973, premiered in concert in 1985, and the electronic part restored with a digital stereo mix in 2000. Depending on events in the near future, the electronic part may be restored again to its multi-channel original and premiered in the original concept.
Eventide Studio Recording
My 2006 piece Eventide for piccolo, small clarinet and contrabassoon is recorded. Laurel Ann Maurer, Steven Klimowski and Jonathan Ranney knocked it out of the studio with this one! Listen to all eight movements: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 and pick up a copy of the score. The Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble premiered parts of it in 2006, then the full piece in 2008, and now this wonderful recording of a killer tune! (For other wind pieces, see my full catalog or the big list of everything or even the Westleaf Edition searchable site.)
Updated Vermont Photos
I have updated my candid family and Vermont photos. Here are the newer Vermont photos and here are the newer candid family photos. I am available for hire for candid photos of family gatherings. Coming soon: Photos for Shaline Bridal.
Unrelated to Music: Vermont Photos
Folks have often asked for my photos. Here are a few for purchase and here are example candid photos if you want to hire me for a family gathering.
It is Here!
The long-awaited (by me, anyway) Country Stores of Vermont: A History and Guide is now available from The History Press. It's a really good book, with fantastic pictures (some of which you can see on my Facebook page). So click your way to a copy of my new book at Amazon.com today or your local bookstore! And in other news, Kalvos & Damian: In the House! is back with its first three shows, and more to come, including Art Jarvinen, Larry Austin, and the 60x60 Call-In Extravaganza that took place on July 19. Finally, there was a pretty good interview with me by David Ludwig, composer-in-residence of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. Finally, here are samples of my music engraving work you've been asking for.
More Quick News
Yes, I've composed just one piece so far -- smuttle for the 60x60 Project -- but have finished a new book for The History Press, A Guide to Vermont's Historic Country Stores. It will be published in September and I'll announce it here. I have finally updated my regular catalog with all the "We Are All Mozart" pieces, so if you're looking for scores, parts, demos and performances, get 'em there.
Quick News.
Much as I would like to compose in 2008, the work left over after a concentrated 2007 is crushing, from house repair through a book on Vermont's independent country stores. That will be done in late April, which should see me back in the music realm and perhaps even updating my blog with a series about geography. My electroacoustic CD Bolt is delayed again due to, ahem, budgetary issues. My project now has its own domain (http://WeAreAllMozart.com/), which will fill out as more performances take place. See the calendar below. More when this book is done (with previews!)
WAAM is Over.
The We Are All Mozart project ended at 10:30 on New Year's Eve with the composition of Horizons (Ocean) for wind quartet, string quartet, and piano. Since last updating this page, these WAAM pieces were finished: We're Running Out of Time (tenor pan and cello), An Fold-In Round (crab round for 14 parts), À Bout de Souffle (three oboes), Romance: Mondo-Mando (mandocello and piano), Vermont Chess Camp (camp theme glee), The Anvil of Cyltemnestra (voice, piano and anvil), Sequenza Nova (horn and piano harmonics), Nine Lessons from "Flatland" (a round book), Six Senses of Twilight (organ and electronics), Lunar Cascade in Serial Time (the last seven months for tenor guitar), At the Edge of Forever (clarinet and string quartet), Fanfare:Heat (orchestra), Anticipation & Stormtide (accordion), The Nine Rabbits of Valladolid (cello duo), A Partial Summer (cello duo), Meta-Dream Once and Meta-Dream Twice (violin), Evidently Skittles (children's duo of flute and piano), From the Mountains (organ), The Imagined Moons of Autumn (flute and piano), Morning in Nodar (double bass), Low Clouds and Evening Wind (piano), Candied Sweet Potatoes (vocal trio), Tangents (clavichord duo), Loss of Innocence (organ), Toccata: The Tides of Wales (organ), Lowing in Coventry (three low horns), Time's Arrow (clarinet), UpReach Over DownSlide (clarinet and string quartet), In My Room (acoustic/electric guitars), Scalar Rainbows (piano), In Search of the Seven Blue Stars (viola), Aisle Five (voice and percussion), She Who Saves (two natural horns and soprano), In Search of an Exit (piano), Cithara-Cantus Cantoris (jew's harp), Toccata & Tryptophan (tenor pan), Horizon (Ocean) (wind quartet, string quartet and piano), Events and Horizons (clarinet and string quartet), Thirteen Triple X (piano), O Vox Pop (bass clarinet and bassoon), Walking the Flat (alto sax), XLII: Adeste Hendecasyllabi (voice and piano), Vexation Blues (piano), Morning Steps (to Parnassus) (playback), In Search of the Lightness of Horizon (viola), Framing the Sum of Three (piano), Curious Crimson Glow (bass trombone), Counting Myself (cello duo), It's Mine, I Tell You! (piano duo), Strong to Save (piano), To the Secretary of Good Fortune (cello and guitar), Incanta (bass clarinet), 99 Events for the Found, the Made, and the Natural (performance pieces), and Voices in My Night (playback).
Where Have I Been?
Busy. The We Are All Mozart project didn't fill the year -- which means I couldn't burn my "income bridges" and take the year to compose. The gear-shifting between composing and other work has been extreme and exhausting. My blog has suffered, but not the compositions. You can visit the WAAM page to explore the scores, demos and some which have already been performed, or you can visit the Big List and drop down to the bottom, where the WAAM pieces as well as others are available -- including several done during our residency at Binaural Media in Nodar, Portugal. Indeed, nearly 50 pieces have been composed since I last updated this home page ... and remember that you can download and perform this music, as performers worldwide have done since my music was first made available online in 1996.
What haven't I told you about since last time? These: Sultry Nights (sax and piano); filouria and felungia, (both for playback); the Orange Quartet (string quartet); Graffiti (A New Year's Celebration for Noah) (playback); Toccata: Delle Montagne Verdi (piano); Candles of Red Sky (theremin & performer's voice); I lift my heavy heart (voice, flute and guitar); coalescence (trumpet & organ); Lunar Cascade in Serial Time (five so far, January through May; performance pieces for tenor guitar); In het Donkere Bos (viola & bass clarinet); Pivot: The House of Cloves (4-track Midi); Moving to Lullaby (trombone & performer's voice); Come, come! (chorus SATB); Coarse Salt (soprano sax); Earth, Air, Water, Sleep (cello or vocalise & piano); Mountains of Spices (mezzo-soprano, violin, viola & piano); Delivery (piano 4-hands); Starry Night (piano); Running the Traction Line (cello & contrabass); What to Do, Farmer Gray? (4-mallet marimba); Return to Nineveh (extended voice); Centering (chorus SATB, with div.); Soundings (organ); Compound Refractions (flute); The Ideal (voice & piano); Turn Around, Bustle & Blaze (viola, horn, cello & piano); An Offering Borne Again (piano); Diese Welt ist so Schön (soprano, clarinet & vibraphone); Tuba Marcato (youth ensemble of 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, timpani); Three Tiny Prevarications (ukulele); New Granite (flute, bass clarinet, cello & piano); Full House Reset (piano trio); Hermit of the Furies (solo cello); Fortune in Her Eyes (piano 4-hands); For the Beauty of the Earth (solo violin); Three Songs for Manuela (playback); Pão: The Bread Song (string quartet); Future Remembrance and Future Remembrance (Remix) (playback); A Village on the Wind (playback); The Itch is Internal (cello duo); Détente (organ).
New Editions!
In preparation for this January's Chamber Music America conference in New York, I've created new editions of dozens of pieces -- making minor changes and correcting old errors, but mostly cleaning up the scores for legibility. In the next few weeks, the new editions will be available for download or purchase and marked as a "New Edition!" in the catalog.
Lushness with Winter's Stealth and mystery with Eventide
It's a challenge piece, written for a musician who wanted something to play right away. Well, maybe 'right away' was being optimistic, but if you want three minutes for cello and strings, ya gotta have this one. Download Winter's Stealth from my large ensemble catalog (even though it can be played by eight solo strings). There's also the very mysterious eight-movement Eventide for piccolo, E-flat clarinet and bassoon. Premiered (in part; whaddya want?) by the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, it was very favorably reviewed. Get it!
New Scores Now Available
My catalog has been updated with the following new scores: Aurelia, for theremin and piano; Clouds of Endless Summer for violin, cello and piano; Yer Attention, Please for organ; Cígleránia for solo horn; In Winter, Not Still for eight strings; and the brand new Recalling Mississquoi Falls for 8 horns (more on that later after the premiere!). Enjoy! Please! They are all now in the catalog, along with listening versions.
Personal Announcement
I'm pleased to announce my PhD in Border Studies was awarded by the Paideia Institute on Thursday, January 26, 2006. My project for this degree was the Báthory opera Erzsébet.
Ringtones!
Oh yeah, it was time. I've created a batch of 42 ringtones from my own tunes. They're all under 30 seconds and in mp3 format -- more about how to convert them to your phone later, but for now you'll find the ringtones here I'll index them in the next few days, but you can guess the tunes from the number in the filename -- it's the same as my catalog number.
2006? Are you kidding?
Why not start the year by running myself exhausted? Sure! So there are three new pieces you can download and perform, complete with demos. The first was written for Carson Cooman, Yer Attention, Please for pipe organ. Think you're heard everything for organ? Nope. Have some fun! And speaking of fun, you gotta have a Heldenhorn to play this one: Cígleránia for Czech horn player Petr Cígler. He's finishing his PhD, so maybe you'll play this before he does! And finally, there's a piece for Vermont's Bartholdy Ensemble. It's a lush piece for violin, cello and piano called Clouds of Endless Summer, which you can play with your ensemble. Yes, it's good! Try & have fun! For now, until I update the catalog, you're find them all in the Big List.
Oooooooooooo... Elusive Parallels
It's ready to hear! Elusive Parallels (in Time) as played by the elegant duo from the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, Steve Klimowski and Berta Frank. Described by one listener at November's performances as "Gothic Caligari." Now for sure you'll want to play it! Find it in the electronic music catalog. There are also two new pieces there, Aurelia, exquisite music for Theremin and piano, and In Winter, Not Still, 10 minutes of insecure indefiniteness about the weather for eight strings. They'll be in the catalog shortly; in the meantime, download scores and demo mp3s from the Big List.
The Game is Afoot!
My 365-day commissioning project, "We Are All Mozart", is open. During the entire year of 2007, I will complete the composition of one piece of music every day. Every piece needs to be commissioned, so if you've ever thought of doing that, do it now!. The commissioning fees are modest, and you'll get the fantastic music I write -- as easy or as hard as you want it, for whatever instruments you'd like. Jump in right now, read the introductory info, and let me know what you'd like me to write for you. Am I nuts? You bet. Onward!
Newly Organized Catalog -- All MP3
Real Networks finally blew it with impossible-to-afford schemes and intrusive software, and MP3.com blew it by removing all but three compositions per artist and finally reorganized and deleted all artist files. So as much work as it's been, the entire catalog has been moved right here to this server, in newly rendered MP3 files with original performances (including some never before heard) and lots of new demos created in Sonar.
How Did Fall Get Here So Quickly?
No matter. It's been a good one so far. My string quartet L'Estampie du Chevalier was premiered in Ghent, as were my wedding piece Gardens (1996) and my 9/11 composition Fuliginous Quadrant (2001). But I've also been at work composing, including the fiendishly difficult Syrens of the Collective Unconscious for 1 to 3 pianists on 1 to 3 pianos. Are you up to it? Go get it! It's in the catalog now! I've also finished two more of my ongoing Permutrance series (VI and VII), but the scores aren't ready for you yet, and Loyalcat Motet, my entry in the Kalvos & Damian Komposer Kombat event. An organ piece is in the works (look for it soon!)
It's a Hot Summer! Tragic Estampie is ready.
For me, anyway. Finished in August is the "noble and tragic" (thanks to Noah Creshevsky for that description) Estampie du Chevalier, a string quartet of which I'm very proud. You can grab the score from the Big List because it isn't in the catalog yet. There's also a Midi demo which should be replaced by its premiere come October! Keep in mind that you can download and perform any score as it becomes available. Don't be shy!
New Pieces I Haven't Mentioned...
From March, Like to a Rose and Rose Quartz Crystal Radio, both for sax and percussion and commissioned by Non-Zero. ... From April, the electronic piece nysuca hanei, part of the VoxNovus 60x60 project and the ten-part orchestral work on Canary Islands environmental themes, Jameo y el Delfin Mareado, for the Tenerife Symphony ... From May, the newest update to Wedding Changes, now consisting of 45 variations for three flutes ... and from June, Elusive Parallels (in Time) for flute, bass clarinet, and playback for the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, Syrenical for electronic playback, and Sweet Ovals for solo horn, written for and premiered by Lydia Busler-Blais. All this stuff is available in the catalog. And right now (this is July as I write this), I'm working on Syrens of the Collective Unconscious for one to three pianists on one to three pianos, being written for Michael Arnowitt, Dante Oei, and Samuel Vriezen.
Ionic Performer "Killer" VSTi! ... Ready for you!
At last I've emulated the Ionic Performer synthesizers from 1973 as a VST instrument. You can see more of this instrument, hear samples and download the shareware VSTi (Windows only) with samples, patches, and other stuff: My Killer Synth Page
Memento Mori, for Noah Creshevsky ... Dedicated to an inspiring composer
For voice and electronics, this 8-minute piece is available in stereo or octophonic (eight monaural files), and it an intense swirl of voices. It's meant to be performed live, with the singer in the middle among the audience. Oh, yeah! Go to the vocal catalog to download the score and electronic files.
More Older Pieces
No scores yet, but performances of four of the 1972 Twelve Songs are up in the vocal catalog, as well as the 1976 performance work Cy-Gît for small ensemble. That one's in the performance art catalog, along with Echo (1985), for which I wish there were visuals, and Aurora Cagealis (1992), celebrating the life of John Cage. You can download that score, too.
By Still Waters: Lullaby, Plea, and Lament.
One of the more difficult pieces to write was By Still Waters, in reflection on the massacre of children in Beslan. This vocalise, composed in October for the exquisite voice of Beth Griffith, is for voice and drone, and can be found in my vocal catalog.
Chill, Friends -- Icecut is ready!
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra commissioned a 10-minute orchestral dance from me. What I didn't expect was to have 2 oboes, 1 bassoon, 1 trumpet, 2 horns, strings and no percussion! So the string-driven techno-ish dance Icecut is ready for performance this fall (from September 22 through October 4 in 11 performances here in Vermont). Come if you can! For now, you can grab the score and hear the performance. Fun!
Woo-Hoo! The Spicebush!
Double-bassist P. Kellach Waddle did an explosive performance of Northsea Balletic Spicebush this spring -- and you can hear the Carbondale performance and download the score. Yes, do it!
Summer at the Castle
I don't talk much on this page about my opera Erzsébet, but maybe I should! The Discovery Channel did a sequence here in Vermont and in Slovakia that included interviews with me as well as the rehearsal of a scene from the opera. For lots more about the topic, including some streaming video, please head for my Erzsébet website! And look for the Discovery Documentary "Poisonous Women" about female serial killers in late fall 2004.
We're Into It for 2004!
New years have a hard time getting started, and this was no exception, particularly after a difficult and very cold winter. But some new pieces are now ready! The extraordinarily beautiful Shahmat for solo flute was commissioned by Su Lian Tan, but that doesn't mean you can't try it! And Jiri van der Kaay didn't know what he was in for when he requested Phylum Euphoria for euphonium and playback. Both pieces are so beautiful they'll make you cry, and hard enough that the performers will cry! I also created two studies for Jiri's piece, the Euphoria Studies. A really wonderful electronic piece you can also find is Manifold Warblers, something I really wanted to make. Warblers and the two Studies are in the electronic section of the catalog along with Phylum, which also joins Shahmat in the solo section. This just in: My piano piece Tïrkíinistrá has been selected by Kyle Gann for his Post-Classical Piano List
About Those Old Pieces...
Jim Fulkerson and Hilary Jeffery just recorded my 1972 Construction "on nix rest... in china" for two trombones and playback. You can listen in the electronic section of the catalog. What masters they are!
Unrelated to Music: Vermont Photos
Folks have often asked for my photos. Here are a few for purchase and here are example candid photos if you want to hire me for a family gathering.
Selling LPs, Sheet Music, Publications, Equipment
I am selling my LPs, sheet music, publications, and equipment. The list will grow as I add items; just a matter of typing time! I have over 1,500 LPs and hundreds of scores and many years of music and electronics magazines, few of which I use anymore, plus camera, darkroom, and music equipment, and even some brand new hand-knit Irish sweaters. The scores will be of great use for students, and the LPs to collectors. I would sell this stuff on eBay, and maybe I will, but I'd rather offer it to folks who come to my site. Here is the latest list of materials for sale.
Old Stuff Posted
I've transferred performances of some older pieces. The early (yeah, 1967 -- real early) Choral Metamorphosis on Effervescence can be heard, if you can bear it. The score's been up for a while, but the original recordings of Dr. Dollar's Magic Salad (1972) are curious (perform this! it's fun!). I performed my Song from Isaiah (1975) for voice and synth many years ago, and as soon as the score is prepped, you can, too. A much worse performance of a pretty good piece is my arrangement of Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (1973); I went out of tune, and all the computers in the world don't help -- but you can fix this if you grab the score when it's ready. Three early songs are up for listening, in performances by a very young Linda Kay: Le Jardin, Psalm 137, (both 1968) and Orange, orange (1972). Yikes, a wretched (but fun to play, of course) recorder duet is Hülfe (1975). Oh, and here are some more: Tuba Sonata (1970), Withered (1971), Rando's Poetic License (1978), Incidental Music to "On the Verge" (1986), Not Vermont Hardware (1979), Bugs, and Cruise (both 1982). You'll have to find all these yourself, though. They're in the catalog, and on the big list.
Just Finished -- Spam and Water
Just finished is LiquidBirds, a lovely soundscape with video for 3 Theremins and voices, and this summer I premiered Spammung for extended voice and playback. The score and a sample video of LiquidBirds are ready (and you can get the DVD from me), and Spammung is up for listening both in playback-only tracks and my premiere performance.
New for Summer 2003 -- Skateboards and Basses
Lots more audio samples of scores are available, but there's bigger news. iskajtbrz is coming out on a Japanese CD this fall, but you can hear it here first!.
Just finished is Northsea Balletic Spicebush, a rollickingly difficult piece for solo string bass. Commissioned by P. Kellach Waddle, we'll just doggone see how he takes it on! And why don't you take it on? It's in solo music section waiting for download.
New for 2003: Skateboards, Basses, Spam and Water
Just finished is LiquidBirds, a lovely soundscape with video for 3 Theremins and voices, and this summer I premiered Spammung for extended voice and playback. The score and a sample video of LiquidBirds are ready (and you can get the DVD from me), and Spammung is up for listening both in playback-only tracks and my premiere performance.
Lots more audio samples of scores are available, but there's bigger news. iskajtbrz is coming out on a Japanese CD this fall, but you can hear it here first!.
Just finished is Northsea Balletic Spicebush, a rollickingly difficult piece for solo string bass. Commissioned by P. Kellach Waddle, we'll just doggone see how he takes it on! And why don't you take it on? It's in solo music section waiting for download.
New in 2002: Tïrkíinistrá & Bales, Barrels, & Cones
Here are fantastic & captivating pieces for the hot pianists out there: In the piano music section, find Tïrkíinistrá: Five Landscape Preludes for Piano. Premiered by Michael Arnowitt (for whom they were written) in Vermont and Amsterdam, these are kickers & killers, but glorious in the Chopinesque sense. Curious? Go get 'em!
My musical statement about war & peace, Bales, Barrels, & Cones: Antebellum/Antibellum is for expert drummer (drumkit) and playback. Find this relentless 8-minute piece in the solo or electronic music sections. Written for Michael Manion, who can cut it!
New in 2001: Stores & Mores
Okay, okay, I can write tonal stuff too. So who asked? Find Stores, nine film cues (in 17 minutes) for a documentary for chamber orchestra. It's in the large ensemble section, with MP3s for listening. Don't throw stones! I like these!
Fun for the whole family -- if your family has two people, that is! In the chamber music for two instruments section, Zeven Mergpijpjes, seven small studies for violin and cello. Great to play, and commissioned by the marvelous Atelier voor Muziek en Ambacht in Utrecht. Go get 'em!
They say it's impossible to play! Somebody prove them wrong! In the chamber music for four instruments section, VoxN, an hour-long accompaniment to William Hodgson's short story, "The Voice in the Night" ... play it! Tell me! Also, just restored, Construction "on nix rest ... in china" from 1972. There's the score in the electronic section, along with an mp3 file (contact me for the stereo version on CD, or either two stereo CDs or a CD of a Sonar 4-channel version).
In the orchestral section, Mirrored Birds, a whopping half-hour flute concerto with lotsa drums. Also, two September 11 memorial pieces: In chamber music for three instruments, The Key of Locust for violin, viola or clarinet, and cello -- a tough piece in fast 7/8; and in chamber music for four instruments, Fuliginous Quadrant for violin, clarinet, cello, and piano, a considerably shorter and recomposed version of Locust.
Just for CECDiscuss
An unedited soundwalk around my house the night the peepers arrived, April 12, 2002: Listen or Download (22.5MB).
Finally available: Binky and Llama Butter!
The score to Binky Plays Marbles for viola and contrabass. This wonderful dancing nightmare piece was written for Pieter Smithuysen, but never made it into the sonic air. You can find it in Chamber Music.
The score to Llama Butter for tuba and tape. This killer piece was written for and premiered by Mark Nelson. You can find it in Solo Music and Electronic Music. You can get the playback CD to perform with from me.
Recent new pieces
- HighBirds (Prime), subtitled In Memoriam Iannis Xenakis, is made up of two dense electric guitar parts with electronic playback. Not your everyday living room music! Find it in Chamber Music (hah!) for Two Instruments or Electronic Music. You can get the playback CD to perform with from me.
- Wedding Changes, a piece begun in 1985 as 25 variations for the 25th anniversary of Ed & Jane Pincus. Every five years I've added five more variations. Now there are 40 in the 16-minute trio for two flutes and alto flute. Find it with the Chamber Music for Three Instruments. Originally commissioned by Ed Pincus for his wife Jane.
- RatGeyser, found in the Solo Chamber Music or Electronic Music section, for MalletKat (or other pitched percussion controller) and playback. Have a look -- you can get the playback CD to perform with from me, either as an audio CD or as a Windows data bundle for Cakwalk Pro Audio 9. Commissioned by Michael Manion.
- Quince & Fog Falls for flute, cello, piano and 2 percussionists, and The Sub-Aether Bande (May 2000) for flute and percussion. Wow! These are beauties! Find them in the Chamber Music for Five or More Instruments, and Chamber Music for Two Instruments. Commissioned by Essential Music and the Three-Two Ensemble.
- Warebrook for SATB sacred-harp style chorus. This tune is one helluva vocal blow, and Nahum is one helluva text to sing! Find it in the Vocal and Choral Music. Commissioned by the Warebrook Festival but, um, blown off by the chorus. The premiere is all yours -- if you can cut it!
- Sourian Slide for string orchestra and Mountain Dawn Fanfare (January 2000) for full orchestra. These are audience pleasers! Find them in the Orchestra and Band Music. Commissioned by the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra.
Performance Art
Many in the collection of performance pieces from 1970-1990 are prepared in the Performance Works index.
