New Works for 2007-2008
ANIMAL CRACKERS (choral) (Whitacre)
3' (Intermediate)
Here are three whimsical settings of Ogden Nash poems that are perfect for a lighter portion of your program or as an encore. They are easily-learned and fun to perform! Includes: 1) The Panther; 2) The Cow; 3) The Firefly.
CONCERTINO for flute solo, chamber winds, and piano (Newman)
15' (Professional)
This Concertino takes the lively French chamber wind literature of the early 20th-century as its starting point, but this piece views the "French" style through an odd lens, twisting and bending the language of that neo-Classical genre in order to run the music through very different stylistic approaches. In writing the piece, I was particularly excited to explore these styles while juxtaposing the virtuosity of the soloist with the delicate intimacy of the chamber ensemble.
CONCERTO FOR WIND ENSEMBLE (Bryant)
8'30" (Professional)
Concerto for Wind Ensemble was commissioned by Commander Donald Schofield and the USAF Band of Mid-America. Don requested something virtuosic to show off his band's considerable skill. I interpreted this as an invitation to explore individual players and sections in more depth than I normally do, and the result seemed to fit squarely in the "Concerto for Orchestra/Ensemble" category. I also took this opportunity to explore antiphonal placement of members of the ensemble - something I've longed to do for several years, influenced in no small part by my time studying with John Corigliano. In particular, his Clarinet Concerto was a source of inspiration, as my own Concerto features 3 clarinets, as well as 3 trumpets and 2 horns surrounding the audience. I anticipate creating two more movements at some point, though presently I have no concrete plans.
DOHYCI (Newman)
1' (Professional)
This miniature for violin and bass clarinet was written for The New York Miniaturist Ensemble, who are "dedicated to performing music written with purity of essence - composed of 100 notes or fewer." Dohyci is kind of musical koan, and the real fun of writing it was coming to terms with my own definition of a "note". Subsequently, this might not be your idea of 100 notes. Depends on how you count it.
PARADISE LOST Shadows and Wings JULY 2007 LOS ANGELES PRODUCTION (Whitacre)
120' (Professional)
The music of Paradise Lost is a strange and beautiful hybrid of musical styles, combining opera, cinematic music, and musical theater with the electronic sounds of trance, techno, and ambient. The singers, classically trained in opera and musical theater, are accompanied by a breathtaking blend of electronica, world and orchestral instruments.
STICKS & STONES (Bonney)
6' (Intermediate)
Wind ensemble and drumset.
SUITE DREAMS (Bryant)
9' (Advanced)
Suite Dreams is the fourth work in my Parody Suite, after Chester Leaps In (1997), ImPercynations (2002), and MetaMarch (2003). Like the others, it is based on melodic fragments from a familiar work of wind band literature, in this case, Gustav Holst's First Suite in Eb. Unlike the first three, however, this one is not "tongue-in-cheek" in character, but is instead a dream-like fantasia on Holst's original, drawing especially from the inverted Chaconne melody in Mvt. I. Suite Dreams was commissioned by the Jasper (IN) High School Band, under the direction of James Goodhue, Patrick Keeley, and John Coller.
THRENODY (Bonney)
6' (Intermediate)
In memorium.
[untitled] (Bryant)
5-7'
Commissioned by NYSSMA for the New York All-State Wind Symphony. PREMIERE: December 2nd, 2007, Rochester, NY
WATERCOLORS (Bonney)
10' (Intermediate)
Watercolors is a collection of 5 short sketches for concert band, all based on water themes. New movements include Raindrops Hang on a Spider's Web and Cast Adrift on a Stormy Sea.