Fides, Spes (2022) for String Trio
Duration: 7:30 min
Commission: James Madison University Contemporary Music Festival for the 2022 Festival
Premiere: Wanchi, violin; Diane Phoenix-Neal, viola; Carl Donakowski, cello. 41st Contemporary Music Festival, James Madison University, October 17, 2022.
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Program Note: Willa Cather’s poem “Fides, Spes”— Latin for “Faith, Hope”—is an ode to the cyclical nature of the seasons: the vibrancy of Summer, matureness of Fall, death of Winter, and the hope that comes with Spring. All of it is nestled in the awareness of life’s impermanence. Faith and hope are emotions that give us a sense of optimism. In many ways the two words are intertwined. Cather’s words ground faith in the reality of the past and hope to the future. This alongside the poem’s vivid imagery, emotional landscape and poetic structure became the creative catalyst for my composition also entitled “Fides, Spes.”
“Fides, Spes” was commissioned by the James Madison University Contemporary Music Festival for the 2022 Festival.
Fides, Spes Willa Cather (1873-1947)
Joy is come to the little
Everywhere;
Pink to the peach and pink to the apple,
White to the pear.
Stars are come to the dogwood,
Astral, pale;
Mists are pink on the red-bud,
Veil after veil.
Flutes for the feathery locusts,
Soft as spray;
Tongues of the lovers for chestnuts, poplars,
Babbling May.
Yellow plumes for the willows’
Wind-blown hair;
Oak trees and sycamores only
Comfortless bare.
Sore from steel and the watching,
Somber and old,—
Wooing robes for the beeches, larches,
Splashed with gold;
Breath o’ love to the lilac,
Warm with noon.—
Great hearts cold when the little
Beat mad so soon.
What is their faith to bear it
Till it come,
Waiting with rain-cloud and swallow,
Frozen, dumb?
This poem is in the public domain and was first published in “April Twilights and other Poems” in 1903 and republished in 1923.
41st Contemporary Music Festival, James Madison University, October 17, 2022.
For the Time Being (2011) for Flute, Soprano Saxophone and Piano
Other Instrumentation available:
Flute, Oboe d’amore and Piano
Flute, Bb Clarinet and Piano
Duration: 7 min
Commission: The Greenbrook Ensemble
Premiere: The Greenbrook Ensemble
Digital Score & Parts Flute, Oboe d’amore and Piano Version $20.
Digital Score & Parts Flute, Bb Clarinet and Piano Version $20.
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Program Note: After picking the title, For the Time Being, I realized just how often I use this expression in my daily life. When we say these words we imply that whatever state we are in or whatever action we are performing is temporary and merely a fleeting moment. In reality, of course, all states and actions are temporary and our perception of permanence is an illusion. For the Time Being is the next exploration in a series of works examining this concept of passing time. For the Time Being was commissioned by The Greenbrook Ensemble, Nashville, TN.
Loveliness Extreme (2007) for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano
Other Instrumentation available:
Clarinet, Viola and Piano
Duration: 11 min
Commission: newEar contemporary chamber ensemble
Premiere: newEar contemporary chamber ensemble
April 28, 2007; Kansas City, MO
Digital Score & Parts Clarinet, Viola and Piano Version $20.
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Program Note: Words are the inspirational seeds for much of the music I write. “Loveliness Extreme” was inspired by Gertrude Stein’s 1913 poem, “Sacred Emily”:
Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose
Loveliness extreme.
Extra gaiters,
Loveliness extreme.
Sweetest ice-cream
Pages ages page ages page ages.
Reading Stein, I get the sense that she was digging deep under each word, turning each over itself and the next, inside and out, to discover the possibilities that lay beneath. Stein said: “One of the things that is a very interesting thing to know is how you are feeling inside you to the words that are coming out to be outside of you.” The words “loveliness” and “extreme,” together, created a beautiful inner landscape that allowed me to discover a deeper understanding of the connection between what starts on the inside and grows into something that can be experienced on the outside. “Loveliness Extreme” was originally commissioned by newEar contemporary chamber ensemble for violin, clarinet, cello and piano and premiered in 2007. The trio version for viola, clarinet and piano was arranged for the Wakarusa Trio in 2013.
Clarinet, Viola and Piano Version
The More Things Change (2012) for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano and Percussion
Percussion Details: Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, suspended cymbal, triangle, Tam-tam – 1 player
Other Instrumentation available:
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Violin, Cello, Piano and Percussion
(arranged for Latitude 49)
Duration: 7:30 min
Commission: newEar contemporary chamber ensemble
Premiere: newEar contemporary chamber ensemble, September 8, 2013, Kansas City, MO
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Program Note: The proverb “the more things change, the more they stay the same” is usually taken at face value as a sentiment of dissatisfaction and weariness. Having been exploring the concept of time and impermanence in a series of works, I found myself questioning the validity of this uncontested statement. I came to realize that a more accurate statement might be “the more things change, the more my desire for permanence increases.” The tension between the awareness of impermanence and the desire for permanence created an inner dialogue that uncovered emotions, ranging from excitement to resistance to wonderment, which were invaluable to my creative process. “The More Things Change” was commissioned by newEar contemporary chamber ensemble for their 20th Anniversary Season.
The Road is All (2007) for Piano Trio
Duration: 12 min
Commission: newEar contemporary chamber ensemble
Premiere: newEar contemporary chamber ensemble
November 7, 2007; Kansas City, MO
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Program Note: “Le but n’est rien; le chemin, c’est tout.” (The end is nothing; the road is all.) - Jules Michelet, 19th century French historian ”The Road is All” embraces the journey, the twists and turns, the unpredictability that is life, the lingering in the space between, and the simple enjoyment of a moment in passing time. “The Road is All” was commissioned by newEar contemporary chamber ensemble.
There are Things to be Said (2009) for Flute, Oboe and Piano
Other Instrumentation available:
Flute, Soprano Saxophone and Piano
Flute, Bb Clarinet and Piano
Duration: 9 min
Commission: Allégresse
Premiere: Allégresse; September 22, 2009; Lawrence, KS
Digital Score & Parts Flute, Soprano Saxophone and Piano version $20.
Digital Score & Parts Flute, Bb Clarinet and Piano version $20.
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Program Notes: “There are Things to be Said”(2009) takes its title and inspiration from a poem by American poet Cid Corman (1924-2004). I was struck by the simplicity and openness of the words. It is often in such elemental simplicity that we find true and powerful meaning; something I also strive for in my music. “There are Things to be Said” was commissioned by Allégresse and premiere performances were made possible by a National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces – Chamber Music Grant.
There are things to be said.
No doubt.
And in one way or another they will be said.
But to whom tell the silences?
With whom share them now?
For a moment the sky is empty
and then there was a bird.
(Permission to use “There are Things to be Said” by Cid Corman granted by Bob Arnold, literary executor for Cid Corman.)
Flute – Emma Halnan Oboe – Penelope Smith Piano – Lana Bode
The Voice of the Rain (2018) for Flute, Cello and Percussion
Duration: 7 min
Percussion Details: Marimba & Vibraphone – 1 player
Commission: New Music USA Project Grant
Premiere: Sarah Frisof – flute, Hannah Collins – cello and Michael Compitello – percussion, May 22, 2018, Lansing, KS
Printed Score & Parts $40.
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Program Notes: Words are the inspirational seeds for much of the music I compose. The Voice of the Rain takes its title and inspiration from Walt Whitman’s poem “The Voice of the Rain” from Leaves of Grass. Whitman beautifully describes the world as an everlasting cyclical process of giving birth to itself and giving back life to its own origin. I was especially drawn to the last line of this poem where Whitman reveals a deeper truth about the creative process. He equates the everlasting cyclical nature of life, with the creative process, where – like the rain – the creation changes form but is always the same at its core and eventually returns to the poet as love from those who read the words. It is my hope that the music captures the essence of Whitman’s powerful meditation on nature and humanity. The Voice of the Rain was commissioned as part of a New Music USA Project Grant and written for Sarah Frisof – flute, Hannah Collins – cello and Michael Compitello – percussion.
The Voice of the Rain
And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:
I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely formed, altogether changed, and
yet the same,
I descend to lave the drouths, atomies, dust-layers of the globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;
And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,
and make pure and beautify it;
(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfilment, wandering,
Recked or unrecked, duly with love returns.)
Where the Sun of Freedom Shines (2021) for Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello and Vibraphone “Where the Sun of Freedom Shines” was commissioned by the American Wild Ensemble for the Missouri Bicentennial in 2021. It is my hope that this composition serves as a reminder of the important and invaluable contributions immigrants from all nations have made and continue to make to the cultural life of Missouri and the United States. Wider Than the Sky (2020) for Oboe Trio
Duration: 10 min
Commission: American Wild Ensemble
Premiere: American Wild Ensemble, August 4, 2021, Springfield, MO
Digital Score & Parts $35.
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Program Notes: When I first moved to Missouri in 1991, I came to learn how many German areas there were in the state. Missourians often made a point of telling me I should go visit Hermann, Missouri which they called the Little Germany of Missouri. The first time I visited Saint Louis there happened to be a German parade. I have to admit that I didn’t know much about the immigration history and the reasons why so many Germans in the 19th Century left their homeland to come to settle along the Missouri River. This commission was my opportunity to take a deep dive into this fascinating history which inspired the emotional landscape of the composition. The title for my piece “Where the Sun of Freedom Shines” is an English translation from a line of a Auswanderungslied (Song of Emigration) by Friedrich Münch which specifically encouraged Germans in the 1830s to relocate to Missouri. “Auf in mutigem Vertrauen, fest und brüderlich vereint! Vorwärts, vorwärts, lasst uns schauen, am Missouri Hütten bauen, wo der Freiheit Sonne scheint.” (Translation: With courageous trust, firmly and brotherly united! Forward, forward let us look ahead and build huts at the Missouri, where the sun of freedom shines.) During my research, I found many other German emigration songs from the Nineteenth Century and I enjoyed incorporating short melodic fragments into my composition.
Duration: 12 min
Instrumentation: Oboe, Oboe d’amore, English Horn
Other versions available: 2 Oboes and English Horn
Commission: Celeste Johnson. Creation of this work was supported with funding from The Curators of the University of Missouri on behalf of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where Celeste Johnson is a faculty member.
Premiere: Celeste Johnson Frehner, oboe; Margaret Marco, oboe d’amore and Erin Huneke, English horn; 20th Midwest Double Reed Society, November 7, 2021
Digital Score & Parts $25.
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Program Notes: Emily Dickinson’s meditation on the power of human imagination is the inspiration for my oboe trio “Wider than the Sky.” In her poem, she takes an abstract concept and renders it into something tangible and visible for the reader, allowing us all to celebrate the power of human consciousness. The first two stanzas focus on the relationship between the mind and the outer world. The sky and the sea are enormous creations, and yet the mind can conceive and contain them as ideas. Much has been written about the third stanza and especially the meaning of the last line of this poem. For me, as sound is such an important part of my life, I believe she means that humans give meaning to sound and therefore give voice to creation. I am grateful to Celeste Johnson for commissioning this trio and giving voice to my imagination. Creation of this work was supported with funding from The Curators of the University of Missouri on behalf of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where Celeste Johnson is a faculty member.
Wider than the Sky
The Brain—is wider than the Sky—
For—put them side by side—
The one the other will contain
With ease—and you—beside—
The Brain is deeper than the sea—
For—hold them—Blue to Blue—
The one the other will absorb—
As sponges—Buckets—do—
The Brain is just the weight of God—
For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—
And they will differ—if they do—
As Syllable from Sound—
Emily Dickinson, c. 1862