Category: Composition

Happy New Year and more importantly, happy no more 2020! (I guess?) For the first time in a long time in my life, this week has represented a week without expectation. I recently updated my bio as I completed my DMA, but its completion blended in with the pandemic and my work-life. In fact, the past 5 or 6 years have been full of projects and works based upon the expectations of the profession I have sought. Which is fine! But it meant that many of the things that I have written about, posted, shared, and put out in the world is based on a certain amount of expectation. The downside is that I’m always creating something NEW, which again, is fine.

That all being said, I recently recorded the Theme and Variations from Organbook, BCB 18. It is a work that stands out to me from that collection, which has very much influenced my compositions in the past decade. I haven’t recorded much from it because Carson Cooman recorded eight movements with fantastic results. The Ostinato movement has had particular success HERE and HERE. I love both interpretation and do not feel that anything needs to be added to its lexicon.

As mentioned above, the Theme and Variations helped guide me to a simpler way to achieve a variety of outcomes with a small amount of music. This particular movement led to the creation of two chorale variations: Erhalt uns Herr and Besançon. Both of those works, in my opinion, are fantastic works for both liturgy and concert, with emphasis in the pedagogical realm. In fact, I think the three of them would make a nice “Suite” for a concert. But that’ll have to wait until we can once again gather. Keep an eye out for more works of latter days! Pick up the Organbook today!

Well, it’s taken quite a while to get this recording posted, but I finally got a decent recording of (what is likely to be) the final of this series of recent pieces. All of them are free on IMSLP and they are all grouped in threes as a sort of prelude, offertory, and postlude. Much like the Miniatures, I write these works as an outlet to get notes on the page. These current works have been in part, a way to creatively deal with the pandemic and the isolation it has brought to our lives and hopefully give something back to the musical community. It’s all part of my general philosophy of composition: namely, I as composer should not only strive to write challenging works, I should also give back with works that are accessible to more people who want to engage in the musical experience. There is certainly more to it than that; I have whole thoughts about writing music for children that I haven’t truly explored compositionally, but someday I hope to.

Philosophical meanderings aside, I don’t know that I have a lot to say about this Chorale, Scherzetto, and March. There are days when compositions just “write” themselves and this was the case here. Again, I was not looking to move mountains with these pieces, just offer practical pieces for liturgical use or early pedagogy. The Chorale is in a sort of fluid French manner that I love, the Scherzetto has a pedal tone ostinato throughout with a changing figure above, and the March is the most straight forward of all, the type of “Finale” at the end of service or suite of movements. My biggest issue in delivering this work had more to do with recording issues than anything else. But that’s my problem and not something anyone else has to worry about. Download the work here on IMSLP and go make some glorious music!

This piece has actually been up on IMSLP for a little while now, but I didn’t want to write about it until I had a chance to record it. The previous two pieces that I wrote had three parts to them each: blank, blank, and blank. The idea being that they would fit a liturgy nicely with a prelude, offertory, and postlude. The other element I kept in mind was play-ability with both of them possibly being done with manuals only or with pedals. With that in mind, I recorded the first two on a portative organ at St. Andrew’s. For the third (and final?, I am not sure yet) work in this series, I felt that an all manuals work needed to be next. Consequently, I didn’t feel like the portative would express the music as well as the large E.M. Skinner/Lulley organ.

Two things about the individual movements: I wrote an invention because I have a student currently studying it and thought it would make a nice middle movement. Inventions are not strict in their form or formula, as say, compared to a fugue. But when teaching counterpoint in composition, it works well as a culmination of two part exercises. (In my method of teaching counterpoint in composition, Sinfonia would be end goal for three voices and Fugue is of course, four.) Secondly, the Sortie went through a lot of drafts. I love using minimal techniques and uneven numbers of measures; it keeps the piece disproportionate in just the right way.

You can find the score free on IMSLP here!

I posted this video and score about a week ago but didn’t want to write about it because I had just posted the second movement of Paschal. The corona virus and my current position at St. Andrew’s Episcopal has afforded me one small thing: the opportunity to write a series of generally manuals only works that could work on a big instrument and a small portative, like the one at the church! Quite some time ago, I was commissioned by Carson Cooman to write a work with this in mind and it produced the Fantasia primi toni. One of the reasons I recorded it on the Paul Manz practice organ at Duquesne was to demonstrate the piece’s ability to adapt itself to various instruments.

When the pandemic caused churches to close and many moved services to streaming, my original thought was to use the portative for St. Andrew’s. Consequently, it had me looking at my manuals only liturgical music and as a composer, what that might mean for new compositions. This has manifested itself in a number of compositions before, in particular the Miniatures volume I and volume II. After releasing some compositional energy with this free work, I wanted to continue this general trend and compose more works in this Bachian vein, but with my own small twists.

And here is the next one: it shares the fact that it has three movements, but the first two in this one are somewhat related. If I were to use this liturgically, I would probably do the fantasy and variation as prelude and the toccatina as postlude. I have not fact checked this, but the melody may or may not come from Vierne – which is just fine as I love music that is strongly related to composers who influence me. There are certainly some Messian-like moments as well. Listen to the work and get the score here on IMSLP!

I am going to take a brief detour on my symphony piece Paschal to share a quick piece I wrote and recorded in two days. I am currently the interim organist and director of music at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Highland Park, a lovely place for music. Many moons ago, I did my second Artist Diploma recital there on the rebuilt Skinner/Luley organ. (Peter Luley and Associates is a local organ builder who is wonderful and a good friend!) But as the shelter in place situation stands, all services have moved to online streaming and we have been using the chapel and the portative organ.

In a moment of spontaneity, I intended to write an brief Prelude and Fugue for manuals and it turned into something bigger than I expected. It really needed a middle point and thus the Adagio was added – I have not missed the fact that Bach has a Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in the same key areas. I was certainly thinking of that wonderful piece by Bach when writing this one. Every once in a while, things just click and this was one of those moments. Because of writing it so quickly, I decided it would be a good free piece to add to IMSLP and can be found here on this link. Enjoy the piece and play if you can!

The last post introduced the Prelude of Sonata No. 1 and is its musical pair, the second movement, Chorale. I mentioned that the Prelude was somewhat inspired by Duruflé’s Prelude, Chorale and Variations on Veni Creator. I prelude (pun intended) this about the chorale as to talk about the one of the main inspirations for this movement, Franck’s Three Chorales.

There is no doubt that Cesar Franck’s Chorale in A minor is a staple of the organ repertoire. It is a rich fantasy like piece that derives its form from itself, organically growing from one section to another. I sought to do that with this movement – to let it naturally grow into each of its parts. Consequently, it is in an arch form and it was the first movement to be completed out of the four. Go listen to the link of the Franck at about 5’25” – hopefully you will hear the connection with this Sonata around 1’12”. Like the first movement and Duruflé, this is my little homage to Franck.

After the Prelude ends with sol-la-fi-sol in the pedals, it is stated immediately again in the Chorale. That little motif is the building block for the whole movement. The only little secret I’ll reveal is at the end: the registration for the beginning and ending chorale is flute, viole, and celeste. The box closes just before the coda and then opens to a mf and taking out the flute. It gives the impression of less while giving you room to get even quieter. It is a great trick my undergraduate professor taught me and I have never forgotten it. The Sonata No. 1 can be purchased here at Selah Publishing.

Finally. I am now here to present one of the best pieces I have ever written. In fact, I have been wanting to present the Sonata No. 1 for some time as it is probably the biggest premier of a work I have ever had. The piece was commissioned by the Kansas City AGO for 2018 the National Convention as a piece that would work for both concert and church – namely a piece that is technically accessible to most players. If there has been a theme in my compositional career, it is writing technically accessible works.

I do not mean to downplay that either! Philosophically, it is really important that composers engage with all levels of technical ability and accessibility. On this blog I have shown works with modernist tendencies, especially the Evening Improvisations (which aren’t really works, but hey, I’m the one counting here), in contrast to, say, the Miniatures, which are meant to be used in all sorts of occasions and are generally accessible technically and aesthetically. But it is that last part that I feel I have honed well.

I have attempted to record this Sonata many, many times. I did record it at my former position at the Monastery, but the Moller there was in no condition to release it publicly. I tried several times at Duquesne’s Chapel, where I have been doing most of my recording lately, but failed to perform it well enough. I also tried at St. Paul Cathedral but the air conditioning there made the recording unusable. I also tried at the church I am currently employed at and there is a tiny air leak that also made the recording unusable. So, before Duquesne closed indefinitely, I was able to get in there and get the first three movements successfully recorded.

The first movement, Prelude, is meant to introduce the simple theme of the Sonata: sol-la-fi-sol. It isn’t really spelled out until the very end, right before the Chorale. Admittedly, I was using Duruflé’s Prelude, Chorale, and Variations on Veni Creator as a model for the beginning of this piece. Even to the point that they are both in D and begin with a similar flowing motif. I do feel that this piece is best when it is performed with the Chorale directly afterward – they are two peas in a pod, at least in my head. Though I do think it stands well by itself; Enjoy! (The score can be purchased through Selah Publishing here.)