CHORAL

Tread Softly

(SATB)

4:30 approx.

2025

A setting of Yeats' poem "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" for SATB Chorus, a cappella, written for my wife on the occasion of her birthday. The demo here is a synthetic render from the Cantamus App and is intended to give a general overview of what a performance could sound like— it does, of course, have some of the same weaknesses that synthetic renderings always do— a lack of expressive rubato playback, etc., but does, I think give a good idea of the overall possibilities in this piece. A perusal score is available here. Contact me and I would be happy to supply sheet music for performance.

She Walks in Beauty, Like the Night

(SATB, a capella)

5:00 approx.

2015

The rich and ethereal poetry of Lord Byron's classic She walks in beauty, like the night is set here in a modern tonal idiom that moves fluidly through several key centers, relying on a simple, repeated motive to tie the varied textual ideas together. Subtle dissonance is approached carefully, ensuring singability for performers and approachability for audiences. The piece ends on an unresolved, dreamlike chord.

Click here to view a perusal score, and use the audio player below to listen to a synthesized rendering using the Cantamus App playback.

HIGH FLIGHT

(SATB & Piano)

SSA Version Available

2:45 approx.

2003

It is almost tradition in the United States to commemorate fallen astronauts using the text of John C. Gillespie Magee’s poem “High Flight”. Accordingly, this setting of that text is dedicated to Michael Anderson, William McCool, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Illian Ramon, and David Brown, the crew of STS-107, which was lost on re-entry on February 1st, 2003.

The piece is set in 7/8 and relies on a bright piano ostinato to give the music a sense of celebration and soaring beauty.

Click here to view a perusal score, and use the audio player below to listen to a synthetic rendering.

Silent Noon

(SATB, a capella)

4:40 approx.

2007

An SATB setting of the famous text by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, this a capella piece paints a deeply peaceful pastoral scene through the use of tone clusters that transition to a variety of tonal centers, girded by a set of placid melodic ideas that culminate in a passionate repetition of the text "a song of love."

Click here to view a perusal score, and use the audio player below to listen to a chamber chorus performance.

THERE IS NO ROSE OF SUCH VIRTUE

(SSA, a capella)

4:30 approx

2002

Approaching a text with such a rich history can at times seems intimidating. In setting these words, I have attempted to do so artfully and with respect for the deep significance of each phrase-- indeed, this music moves fluidly to a new, carefully chosen key center as each phrase arrives. Texturally, the piece develops from single homophonic chord structures into a more counterpoint-driven style during the angel's song, before finally reaching a peak at the text "in excelsis Deo".

This piece may be freely performed using this score.

The setting was written in memoriam for my friend Kate Campbell. Please note this on the program.

ORCHESTRAL AND LARGE ENSEMBLE

2nd Symphony

Originally I intended to write a large scale tone-poem for orchestra, but as the piece grew, and grew, I ended up with what was better described as a 5-movement symphonic work that contrasts brief, dense atonal sections with more lush diatonic and semi-romantic sections. Note that the score above is presented in a format that makes it more easily digestible in video form— a more traditionally formatted version of the score is available for perusal here.

(Orchestra)

30:00 approx. (5 movements)

2024

and we shall be as one with the stars

(Orchestra)

27:00 approx. (single movement)

2025

A polytonal tone poem loosely implementing a metamodern approach emphasizing tonal oscillation and a merging of textural and harmonic styles, built around a sinuous legato horn melody that is meant to emphasize the mystery of the unknown. A perusal score is available here.

California

(Orchestra with Tenor Solo)

20:00 approx. (3 movements)

2008

Drawing on orchestral textures that pay homage to the music of Samuel Barber and Aaron Copland, this setting of three poems by Walt Whitman is meant to evoke nostalgia and the grandeur of the West. The opening movement introduces primary musical themes in plain, majestic Americana style, and sets the text of Whitman's poem A promise to California-- this movement is ideal as a standalone presentation. The second movement delves into somewhat more dissonant territory, setting the poem Facing west, from California's shores, and explores themes of distance in a stream of consciousness style. The final movement is a 5/4 passacaglia featuring extended bassoon solos, and sets the text of From my last years, culminating in a powerful statement of the primary themes from movement 1 simultaneously with the passacaglia subject, before fading away into the same lonely bassoon passage with which it opened.

Click here to view a perusal score, and use the audio player below to listen to a synthesized rendering.

The optimistic and hopeful text of Yeat's poem The Young Man's Song is set for full Chorus and Orchestra. Subtle textures in the opening give way to an unapologetically joyful melody, which transitions to a dance-like 6/8 section pitting different families of the orchestra against one another, reaching a peak at the text "I am looped in the loops of her hair". The somewhat darker middle section of the poem is rendered here as a jig-like minor melody that transitions to an emotional yet subtle setting of the text "and shadows had eaten the moon". With grace, the piece quietly winds down using restatement of the main thematic material before ending on an unresolved chord in E-flat major.

Click here to view a perusal score, and use the audio player below to listen to a synthesized rendering.

The Young Man's Song

(Orchestra and Chorus)

7:30 approx. (single movement)

2016

CHAMBER

Vespers

(String Quartet)

Approximately 24 minutes