Crumpled Sonnets (soprano & piano arrangement)
arranged for voice and piano
Piano
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Music In Me
arrangement for soprano and piano, with optional flute
My Song
Sonnet 102 / The Twenty-Four Hour Song (Ana Bozicevic)
The Twenty-Four Hour Song
Even your maker would not think you proud
if she could repossess your eyes and see
the green courtyards
in morning lengthening
to fit your seeing soul's geometry—
and how you wished they would stay as they were,
like a girl's face before you spoke to her.
Summer
Alternate version of "Summer" for soprano, piano, and optional horn.
Joplin Fetish
This is the second piece I've composed for marimbist Brenton Dunnington. He asked for a flashy encore piece that called for piano and marimba. I chose to use Joplin as the subject of the work as so much mallet repertoire is derived from ragtime. Plus, many pianists who play Joplin's music seemed obsessed with using at a showcase for their prowess and technique.
In Other Words…
Composed for W. Bruce Curlette, this piece is a celebration of the music of Charles Mingus. It grew out of a love for his work and an interest in certain ideas concerning the so-called "third stream"—the combining of classical and jazz traditions. In Other Words… is loosley based on two Mingus compositions: Goodbye Porkpie Hat and Better Git It In Your Soul.
Snapshots
Snapshots was a commission from a friend, Jonathan Whitman, who wanted a gift for his wife on their fifth wedding anniversary. She plays piano and he plays french horn.
Every long term relationship is remembered as a series of isolated moments: snapshots. These moments—public joys, private jokes, intimate conversations, passionate disagreements—combine to describe the experience and essence of a relationship.
The Ballad of Milt Famey
The Ballad of Milt Famey tells the story of the 1920 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians. The pitcher for the Dodgers was a young Milt Famey, who had compiled the greatest win-loss record in the history of the National League. His ERA was incredibly low, a stunning 0.38. In the season leading to the World Series Famey had won 38 flawlessly pitched games with zero losses. This amazing feat has never since been matched.
So why don’t we all know who he is? We know Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron, but not Milt Famey. For all of his skill and prowess he never won the World Series. Famey struggled with alcohol, and attempted to close the seventh game of the 1920 series while severely drunk. This great pitcher threw four balls, walking Elmer Smith and losing the game and the series. He never recovered from that loss, and the rest of his career was unremarkable.
Unsex Me Here
Composed for Jenny Greene’s Fifteen Minutes of Fame
This text is from Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act I, scene 5 of Macbeth, in which she is preparing to help here husband murder Duncan, the king.
You're Despicable
Composed for Shiau-uen Ding’s Liszt Bicentennial Bash
One of my favorite movies is still “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” There’s that great scene in the burlesque house where Hungarian Rhapsody no.2 is rendered by the dueling pianos of Daffy Duck and Donald Duck, one of many cartoons to pilfer Liszt’s classic. “You’re Despicable” pays tribute to that heritage.
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