June 27, 2012
Five New Pieces and The Hammered Wind Dances I is Published
In the past 3 months, I've written and revised a bunch of new pieces, Tango Ondulado for Solo Flute, Tango de Tonnerre for Viola and Piano, L'appel du large for Harp and Viola, Tango Feroz for Violin and Piano, a Tango for Solo Piano (the first of an intended series), Cello Duet II and a second Tango Milonga for Clarinet, Cello and Piano which will form the 2nd movement of a suite. I've also finally finished and published my massive virtuoso Hammered Wind Dances I for Flute and Piano.
First, my new tango for viola and piano is an extremely dramatic work, with virtuoso parts for both viola and piano. It's got recurring massive chords and dramatic ostinati on the piano which give it gigantic climaxes.
Score and Parts for Tango de Tonnerre for Viola and Piano - IMSLP.org
Tango de Tonnerre for Viola and Piano - Demo Recording
My new solo flute tango is 3 minutes of rhythmic excitement. It's named Tango Ondulado for its undulating manner, florid and eccentric.
Score for Tango Ondulado for Solo Flute - IMSLP.org
Tango Ondulado for Solo Flute - Demo Recording
My Tango Feroz for Violin and Piano is an encore piece, written for a contest that turned out to have more than a passing interest in amateur endeavors. Nonetheless, a composer really can't have too many violin encores! It's 4 minutes of punchy, 12/8 tango/salsa madness with windups and climaxes galore.
Score and Parts for Tango Feroz for Violin and Piano - IMSLP.org
Tango Feroz for Violin and Piano - Demo Recording
My new Tango for Piano #1, is a meditation on the tango, brooding and almost laconic in places. It's intended to be the first in a series, and I'm modelling the pieces after the compositional manner of the Chopin Mazurkas.
Score for Tango for Piano #1 - IMSLP.org
Tango for Piano #1 - Demo Recording
My second big piece for clarinet, cello and piano, is the 2nd movement in an intended Tango Milonga Suite. It's slower, brooding and has some very delicate slow parts throughout the piece.
Score and Parts for Tango Milonga II for Clarinet, Cello and Piano - IMSLP.org
Tango Milonga II for Clarinet, Cello and Piano - Demo Recording
And finally the last new piece, which I finished yesterday, is a new Cello Duet II. It is a ferocious, but stately piece, manic in places and brooding in others.
Score and Parts for Cello Duo II - IMSLP.org
Cello Duo II - Demo Recording
And regarding The Hammered Wind Dances I for Flute and Piano, this was a piece that I wrote back in 2001. I remember listening to a demo of it on the train to the OughtOne Festival in Vermont and then 2 weeks later, 9/11 happened and everything got sidelined. I revised the piece in 2004 and finally have finished the parts and scores. It was intended to be a big piece, like my BlueStrider for Piano, monumental, but with an eccentric funk/jazz approach within its very strict brutal classicism. Both the piano part and the flute part are very difficult, but certainly not more than most modern flute and piano pieces (certainly easier than the Boulez Sonatine?).
Score and Parts for The Hammered Wind Dances I for Flute and Piano - IMSLP.org
The Hammered Wind Dances I for Flute and Piano - Demo Recording
Recent performances, include the premiere of my Duo Oscruro for Bass Clarinet and Vibraphone - Bassoon Version in Seville, Spain and the world premiere of my solo horn piece, Laudem Praeco at Morehead State University, by M. Wyatt Elam. Upcoming performances include the bass version of my Tango del Aquelarre, two or three performances of my Tango Milonga, the premiere of my Tango for Solo Violin by Karen Bentley Pollick and the premiere of my new piece for harp and viola, L'appel du large for Harp and Viola by Duo Esprit.
Posted by jeff at June 27, 2012 07:36 AM