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PROGRAM NOTES
Jaana
Solo Amplified Violin
Duration:
17'
Year:
1997
Program note:
“Jaana” was completed in 1997 in celebration of and as a gift to young Jaana Miriam Grigorov, born in July 1996. The original scoring is for solo amplified Violin and the work in its entirety is eight movements long. Each movement paints a different picture of the infant “Jaana,” from bouncing through the always busy kitchen, to gazing with admiration at her older sister, to a central slow lyrical movement as a musical reflection of the tiny Jaana singing herself to sleep.
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Let the Funk Out
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone
Duration:
2'
Year:
2016/22
- SATB/AATB Grade 4 edition -
Program note:
"Let the Funk Out” is inspired by the Assembly Quartet, and this stand-alone arrangement, created by Jeff Heisler, is included as part of the Assembly Quartet’s multi-faceted educational “Pedagogy Project,” a program aimed at creating more accessible repertoire for saxophone quartets.
There are two versions of this edition: SATB & AATB (Grade 4). The highest part can be played either by soprano saxophone or, for groups that do not have a soprano saxophone, an optional second alto saxophone.
Linear Induction
Solo Bb Clarinet/Bb Bass Clarinet & Clarinet Octet
(6 Bb Clarinets & 2 Bb Bass Clarinets)
Duration:
18'30"
Year:
2023
Program note:
A linear induction motor is a type of motor that is typically designed to produce motion in a straight line. It is often used in types of trains, especially ones that use magnetic levitation. The music itself moves along a similar straight path, making stops along the way, much like a subway train would do. I often think while riding the subway in Chicago, that with each passing station, I pass through a unique neighborhood with its own culture and identity. I wanted to create music that while moving along in a straight line, passes through musical areas of destination. Between each station there are short audible station cues, alerting the listening we are coming into a new musical space. The soloist conducts the path, taking the train of 8 clarinet passengers on a musical tour of sound and space.
Linear Induction was written for and is dedicated to Jeff Anderle.
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M/W
Operetta: Piano 4-Hand, Cello, Three Actors; Concert Version: Piano 4-Hand & Cello
Duration:
65'
Year:
2002
Program note:
“M/W” is scored for piano four-hands, cello and three voices. The piano and cello are amplified; the cello also uses some digital delay. The three vocal scores, one male and two female, consist of both sung and spoken text. The music itself relies on rich thematic and harmonic development incorporated into a repetitive acoustic canvas. Individual melodic lines intertwine to create moving harmonic and melodic material. The result is a music that is tonal within modes, but eschews functional tonality. The repetitive nature of the music propels itself into spiraling dances, always with a forward motion, into sometimes dark and sometimes bright areas of a spectral musical canvas.
The musical score is expected to last 30 to 40 minutes.
Mara's Lullaby
Soprano Saxophone & Piano
Duration:
4'30"
Year:
2012
- Soprano Saxophone edition -
Program note:
“Mara’s Lullaby” was written in 2005, when my first daughter was just a few months old. It was originally the slow movement of my trio, “Tight Sweater” for Cello, Marimba, and Piano, and I found that it works well on its own as well. This arrangement is an adaptation of that movement. As a first-time father, I was often trying to invent ways to put my daughter to sleep at night, usually involving music. Each night, I would hold her in my arms, and invent a new lullaby to sing to her. On one particular night, while humming to her, she made faces, and squirmed in my arms. I tried a new melody and she gave me the same review. Eventually, I tried to remember the tune I sang the previous night, and she was happy. I realized then that she was asking me, in her way, to sing last night’s melody again. She made me sing that same melody every night for the next six weeks, and it is the melody we hear at the very end of “Mara’s Lullaby.”
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Mara's Lullaby
Soprano Saxophone, Marimba, Piano
Duration:
4'30"
Year:
2009
- Saxophone Trio edition -
Program note:
“Mara’s Lullaby” was written in 2005, when my first daughter was just a few months old. It was originally the slow movement of my trio, “Tight Sweater” for Cello, Marimba, and Piano, and I found that it works well on its own as well. This arrangement is an adaptation of that movement. As a first-time father, I was often trying to invent ways to put my daughter to sleep at night, usually involving music. Each night, I would hold her in my arms, and invent a new lullaby to sing to her. On one particular night, while humming to her, she made faces, and squirmed in my arms. I tried a new melody and she gave me the same review. Eventually, I tried to remember the tune I sang the previous night, and she was happy. I realized then that she was asking me, in her way, to sing last night’s melody again. She made me sing that same melody every night for the next six weeks, and it is the melody we hear at the very end of “Mara’s Lullaby.”
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Mara's Lullaby
Viola & Piano
Duration:
4.5"
Year:
2005/17
- Viola edition -
Program note:
“Mara’s Lullaby” was written in 2005, when my first daughter was just a few months old. It was originally the slow movement of my trio, “Tight Sweater” for Cello, Marimba, and Piano, and I found that it works well on its own as well. This arrangement is an adaptation of that movement. As a first-time father, I was often trying to invent ways to put my daughter to sleep at night, usually involving music. Each night, I would hold her in my arms, and invent a new lullaby to sing to her. On one particular night, while humming to her, she made faces, and squirmed in my arms. I tried a new melody and she gave me the same review. Eventually, I tried to remember the tune I sang the previous night, and she was happy. I realized then that she was asking me, in her way, to sing last night’s melody again. She made me sing that same melody every night for the next six weeks, and it is the melody we hear at the very end of “Mara’s Lullaby.”
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Mara's Lullaby
Violin & Piano
Duration:
4'30"
Year:
2009
- Violin edition -
Program note:
“Mara’s Lullaby” was written in 2005, when my first daughter was just a few months old. It was originally the slow movement of my trio, “Tight Sweater” for Cello, Marimba, and Piano, and I found that it works well on its own as well. This arrangement is an adaptation of that movement. As a first-time father, I was often trying to invent ways to put my daughter to sleep at night, usually involving music. Each night, I would hold her in my arms, and invent a new lullaby to sing to her. On one particular night, while humming to her, she made faces, and squirmed in my arms. I tried a new melody and she gave me the same review. Eventually, I tried to remember the tune I sang the previous night, and she was happy. I realized then that she was asking me, in her way, to sing last night’s melody again. She made me sing that same melody every night for the next six weeks, and it is the melody we hear at the very end of “Mara’s Lullaby.”
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Mara's Lullaby
Cello, Marimba, Piano
Duration:
4'30"
Year:
2011
- Cello, Marimba, Piano edition -
Program note:
“Mara’s Lullaby” was written in 2005, when my first daughter was just a few months old. It was originally the slow movement of my trio, “Tight Sweater” for Cello, Marimba, and Piano, and I found that it works well on its own as well. As a first-time father, I was often trying to invent ways to put my daughter to sleep at night, usually involving music. Each night, I would hold her in my arms, and invent a new lullaby to sing to her. On one particular night, while humming to her, she made faces, and squirmed in my arms. I tried a new melody and she gave me the same review. Eventually, I tried to remember the tune I sang the previous night, and she was happy. I realized then that she was asking me, in her way, to sing last night’s melody again. She made me sing that same melody every night for the next six weeks, and it is the melody we hear at the very end of “Mara’s Lullaby.”
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Mara's Lullaby
Cello, Glockenspiel, 2 Vibraphones, 4 Marimbas
Duration:
4'30"
Year:
2011/22
- Cello & Mallets edition -
Program note:
“Mara’s Lullaby” was written in 2005, when my first daughter was just a few months old. It was originally the slow movement of my trio, “Tight Sweater” for Cello, Marimba, and Piano, and I found that it works well on its own as well. This arrangement is an adaptation of that movement. As a first-time father, I was often trying to invent ways to put my daughter to sleep at night, usually involving music. Each night, I would hold her in my arms, and invent a new lullaby to sing to her. On one particular night, while humming to her, she made faces, and squirmed in my arms. I tried a new melody and she gave me the same review. Eventually, I tried to remember the tune I sang the previous night, and she was happy. I realized then that she was asking me, in her way, to sing last night’s melody again. She made me sing that same melody every night for the next six weeks, and it is the melody we hear at the very end of “Mara’s Lullaby.”
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Mara's Lullaby
Clarinet & Piano
Duration:
4.5"
Year:
2012
- Clarinet edition -
Program note:
“Mara’s Lullaby” was written in 2005, when my first daughter was just a few months old. It was originally the slow movement of my trio, “Tight Sweater” for Cello, Marimba, and Piano, and I found that it works well on its own as well. This arrangement is an adaptation of that movement. As a first-time father, I was often trying to invent ways to put my daughter to sleep at night, usually involving music. Each night, I would hold her in my arms, and invent a new lullaby to sing to her. On one particular night, while humming to her, she made faces, and squirmed in my arms. I tried a new melody and she gave me the same review. Eventually, I tried to remember the tune I sang the previous night, and she was happy. I realized then that she was asking me, in her way, to sing last night’s melody again. She made me sing that same melody every night for the next six weeks, and it is the melody we hear at the very end of “Mara’s Lullaby.”
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Mara's Lullaby
Violin, Cello, Piano
Duration:
4.5"
Year:
2011
- Piano Trio edition -
Program note:
“Mara’s Lullaby” was written in 2005, when my first daughter was just a few months old. It was originally the slow movement of my trio, “Tight Sweater” for Cello, Marimba, and Piano, and I found that it works well on its own as well. This arrangement is an adaptation of that movement. As a first-time father, I was often trying to invent ways to put my daughter to sleep at night, usually involving music. Each night, I would hold her in my arms, and invent a new lullaby to sing to her. On one particular night, while humming to her, she made faces, and squirmed in my arms. I tried a new melody and she gave me the same review. Eventually, I tried to remember the tune I sang the previous night, and she was happy. I realized then that she was asking me, in her way, to sing last night’s melody again. She made me sing that same melody every night for the next six weeks, and it is the melody we hear at the very end of “Mara’s Lullaby.”
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Mara's Lullaby
Cello & Piano
Duration:
4'30"
Year:
2011
- Cello edition -
Program note:
“Mara’s Lullaby” was written in 2005, when my first daughter was just a few months old. It was originally the slow movement of my trio, “Tight Sweater” for Cello, Marimba, and Piano, and I found that it works well on its own as well. This arrangement is an adaptation of that movement. As a first-time father, I was often trying to invent ways to put my daughter to sleep at night, usually involving music. Each night, I would hold her in my arms, and invent a new lullaby to sing to her. On one particular night, while humming to her, she made faces, and squirmed in my arms. I tried a new melody and she gave me the same review. Eventually, I tried to remember the tune I sang the previous night, and she was happy. I realized then that she was asking me, in her way, to sing last night’s melody again. She made me sing that same melody every night for the next six weeks, and it is the melody we hear at the very end of “Mara’s Lullaby.”
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Mara's Lullaby
Tenor Saxophone & Piano
Duration:
4'30"
Year:
2012
- Tenor Saxophone edition -
Program note:
“Mara’s Lullaby” was written in 2005, when my first daughter was just a few months old. It was originally the slow movement of my trio, “Tight Sweater” for Cello, Marimba, and Piano, and I found that it works well on its own as well. This arrangement is an adaptation of that movement. As a first-time father, I was often trying to invent ways to put my daughter to sleep at night, usually involving music. Each night, I would hold her in my arms, and invent a new lullaby to sing to her. On one particular night, while humming to her, she made faces, and squirmed in my arms. I tried a new melody and she gave me the same review. Eventually, I tried to remember the tune I sang the previous night, and she was happy. I realized then that she was asking me, in her way, to sing last night’s melody again. She made me sing that same melody every night for the next six weeks, and it is the melody we hear at the very end of “Mara’s Lullaby.”
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Mercury Silver
C Tenor Steel Pan
Duration:
10'
Year:
2021
Program note:
A Steel Pan is a glorious instrument to behold, for many reasons. The sound is unique and so beautiful it almost plays itself. But it comes from a most humble beginning: the steelpan was traditionally made from 55-gallon industrial drums. To make something inherently so beautiful from an object not meant for beauty nor music I find fascinating. The shiny silver color of the playing surface of the drum reminds me of the color of mercury and the sound the instrument makes is also a sound that somehow is a liquid that wants to be a solid. This was the starting point for my work, “Mercury Silver.” I wanted to let the instrument speak for itself while riding the line between liquid and solid: individual lines create both melody as well as outline the harmony. To me, this is the music weaving a line between liquid and solid, melody and harmony.
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Merge Left
2 Flutes (or Violins) & Cello
Duration:
5'
Year:
1994
Program note:
All three performers of “Merge Left” play equally important material that is continually being passed to the left. The instruments fit together like pieces of a puzzle, and it is in their combination that the overall texture is produced. Merge Left was inspired by Jonathan Crafts, a man showing tremendous courage in a time of great difficulty and overwhelming odds.
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Music for 5 Musicians
Violin, Cello, Bass Clarinet, Marimba, Piano
Duration:
14'
Year:
2014
Program note:
In “Music for 5 Musicians,” I wanted to write a music that was pure and direct, and one that continually looked back at itself to find new ideas. Everything in the work stems from the opening shifting movement of chords presented by the piano and marimba. This overall harmonic structure of the opening expands to inform the harmonic movement throughout the work. As subset of this harmonic motion is the 4-note figure that we hear in the upper register of the piano. Every time the figure appears, the music is ready to move on to a new section. “Music for 5 Musicians” was commissioned by the Office of the Chancellor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in celebration of the new School of Theatre & Music.
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Ninkasi
2 Vibraphones & Marimbas
Duration:
16.5"
Year:
2015/18
- Mallet Quartet edition -
Program note:
“Ninkasi” was written in the fall of 2015 (and finished on Friday the 13th of November). As the season grew, more and more leaves began to fall from the trees. On the shores of lake Michigan, I noticed many varieties of trees shedding their leaves, all falling randomly into a great mix of different types on the grass. I found it beautiful how so many different types of trees could create such a beautiful patchwork of leaves. With the deep blue lake in the backdrop, the leaves created an interesting optical illusion where they stopped looking like leaves on the ground and almost floated in front of my eyes.
Originally, “Ninkasi” was composed for Guitar Quartet. The sound of four Guitars all playing in close proximity to one another creates an interesting sound world of vibration and resonation. This sound world translates well into Mallet Quartet, which shares the same type of intimacy and reverberation. I tried to create music that emanates from this patchwork of vibration. Much of the music of “Ninkasi” creates an “auditory illusion,” which could be considered the aural equivalent of an optical illusion. Often the individual instruments themselves have only a part of the overall line or texture. When combined, the patterns they play connect and create new patterns that can only be revealed when everyone plays at the same time. The rhythmic stresses that the individual instruments play themselves are often not the complete stresses that are heard when all four are playing together. An “auditory illusion” is thus created: what we hear is not always what we think the musicians are playing. In this way, the musicians become part of the overall machine of sound, creating a sonorous backdrop on which melodic material floats on top and weaves within.
“Ninkasi” was originally commissioned by the Syracuse Society for Chamber Music for the Dublin Guitar Quartet.
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Ninkasi
4 Acoustic Guitars
Duration:
16.5'
Year:
2015
Program note:
“Ninkasi” was written in the fall of 2015 (and finished on Friday the 13th of November). As the season grew, more and more leaves began to fall from the trees. On the shores of lake Michigan, I noticed many varieties of trees shedding their leaves, all falling randomly into a great mix of different types on the grass. I found it beautiful how so many different types of trees could create such a beautiful patchwork of leaves. With the deep blue lake in the backdrop, the leaves created an interesting optical illusion where they stopped looking like leaves on the ground and almost floated in front of my eyes.
The sound of four Guitars all playing in close proximity to one another creates an interesting sound world of vibration and resonation. I tried to create music that emanates from this patchwork of vibrating strings. Much of the music of “Ninkasi” creates an “auditory illusion,” which could be considered the aural equivalent of an optical illusion. Often the individual instruments themselves have only a part of the overall line or texture. When combined, the patterns they play connect and create new patterns that can only be revealed when everyone plays at the same time. The rhythmic stresses that the individual instruments play themselves are often not the complete stresses that are heard when all four Guitars are playing together. An “auditory illusion” is thus created: what we hear is not always what we think the musicians are playing. In this way, the musicians become part of the overall machine of sound, creating a sonorous backdrop on which melodic material floats on top and weaves within.
“Ninkasi” was commissioned by the Syracuse Society for Chamber Music for the Dublin Guitar Quartet.
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No Strings Attached
2 Vibraphones & 2 Marimbas
Duration:
15'
Year:
2007/21
- Mallet Quartet edition -
Program note:
“No Strings Attached” was originally composed for an instrument known as the Auchincloss Piano, of which relatively few are still in existence. This was a colorful new instrument that contained digital samples of historic keyboard instruments as well as samples of new ones, all within a traditional fortepiano keyboard and design. Percussionist Phillip O’Banion and the “Philadelphia Percussion + Piano Project” at Temple University commissioned the mallet quartet edition. I found that two Vibraphones and two Marimbas were able fully realize the original music and present it in new and far more colorful ways. Having four people play what was once intended for one allowed for a much larger and more driving sound as well. The music itself is sometimes playful, sometimes reverent, but almost always flowing and moving forward. The lines combine and mix together bringing the ancient to the present and the future into the past.
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No Strings Attached
Auchincloss Piano
Duration:
15'
Year:
2007
- Auchincloss Piano edition -
Program note:
“No Strings Attached” was composed in 2007 for the Auchincloss Piano, invented by Dr. Howland Auchincloss, in Cazenovia, NY. This colorful new instrument contains digital samples of historic keyboard instruments as well as samples of new ones, all within a traditional fortepiano keyboard and design. The music combines and fuses the old with the new, creating new sounds based on old ones, fully realizing the capabilities of this new instrument. It is in five movements, each one capitalizing on a different sound capability of the instrument. There are Belgian harpsichords, fortepianos, virginals, harps, drawbar organs, and other keyboard instruments combined and processed. The music itself is sometimes playful, sometimes reverent, but almost always flowing and moving forward. The lines combine and mix together bringing the ancient to the present and the future into the past.
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Octet
4 Violins, 2 Violas, 2 Cellos
Duration:
14'
Year:
2010
- String edition -
Program note:
I composed Octet during the winter of 2009-10. The majority of the music was written at the Banff Music Center, where I was invited to be an artist-in-residence in January 2010. The incredibly beautiful mountainous surroundings of the Banff Centre had a profound impact on me. My composing studio overlooked the Canadian Rockies, pristine and covered with snow and ice. The weather was brutal, with a level of cold I had never felt. This, juxtaposed with the astounding frozen beauty all around me, provided the inspiration for the music. My studio had a glorious enormous picture window that overlooked the Rockies. The music came quick and it came easy; before I knew it I had material for all four movements. The outer movements are aggressive and have the biting cold I felt, while the two inside movements reflect more of the warmth I felt inside, sharing my thoughts with a wide range of artists who were also in residence.
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Paranoid Cheese
Solo Cello & String Quartet
Duration:
6'
Year:
2011
- Solo Cello & String Quartet -
Program note:
Paranoid Cheese is an arrangement of the slow movement, “wedge IV,” from the original scoring for violin & 2 marimbas. The original is 6 movements long, and “wedge IV” expands the middle of the work. It is ultimately melodic music, though it is completely based on harmonic movement. The harmonies define the melody, and as the soloist moves through the musical line, it is always following a path laid forth by the harmony in the background. Even though the soloist seems to be alone, we are always surrounded and influenced by those around us, teaching us, and helping us along the path.
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Paranoid Cheese
Solo Violin & String Orchestra
Duration:
6'
Year:
2011
- Solo Violin & String Orchestra -
Program note:
Paranoid Cheese is an arrangement of the slow movement, “wedge IV,” from the original scoring for violin & 2 marimbas. The original is 6 movements long, and “wedge IV” expands the middle of the work. It is ultimately melodic music, though it is completely based on harmonic movement. The harmonies define the melody, and as the soloist moves through the musical line, it is always following a path laid forth by the harmony in the background. Even though the soloist seems to be alone, we are always surrounded and influenced by those around us, teaching us, and helping us along the path.
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Paranoid Cheese
Solo Cello & String Orchestra
Duration:
6'
Year:
2011
- Solo Cello & String Orchestra -
Program note:
Paranoid Cheese is an arrangement of the slow movement, “wedge IV,” from the original scoring for violin & 2 marimbas. The original is 6 movements long, and “wedge IV” expands the middle of the work. It is ultimately melodic music, though it is completely based on harmonic movement. The harmonies define the melody, and as the soloist moves through the musical line, it is always following a path laid forth by the harmony in the background. Even though the soloist seems to be alone, we are always surrounded and influenced by those around us, teaching us, and helping us along the path.
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