Jazz Band (Grade 2.5)

Wind Ensemble

Commissioned by Daniel Brame and composed between January and April, 2005 in Brooklyn, NY and Boston, MA.

         Centennial Celebration is a short theme-and-variations piece loosely based on the theme of the well-known birthday song. The music and the title honor the 100th anniversary of Mandel Hall's opening.

         The piece begins with a slow prelude where fragments of the theme are introduced around the ensemble. A quicker, more clear statement of the theme from the woodwinds leads into the first of three celebratory sections.

         The first section, "Wily Gallop," is characterized by its driving castanet and trumpet pattern in 7/8. The saxophone ensemble plays the theme with occasional 3/4 measures that trick this pattern.

         Next is the playful and humorous "Farcical March" in 6/8. Tuba cliché, bi-tonal cornets and loony percussion are featured, with piccolo, flutes and oboes playing a variation of the theme.

         Finally, “Blowing Out Each Candle” begins with a flurry from the clarinets and vibraphone. The theme is fragmented through the ensemble along with occasional 7/8 measures that truncate the 4/4 majority. A series of polyrhythmic gestures and washes of sound push this section through to its final punch at the end.

Chamber Music

Chamber Music

Chamber Music

This piece was composed using my own tonal approach to the twelve-tone method. After an extensive pre-composition where I picked my desired hexachords and tri-chordal set-classes by transposing aggregates and creating other set patterns, I notated an improvisation through my “chord progression” on a clear path of contrasting consonance and dissonance. My only set rule was to play all six notes of each hexachord at least once before moving onto the next one that would complete the twelve-tone row.

At times, the two different tri-chords within each hexachord I chose worked seamlessly in relation to how consonant or dissonant I wanted a particular section to sound. At other times they required much more attention. For example, many hexachords were hard to force specific tonalities upon when so often only four to five of the six possible notes were necessary for the desired sound. The solution in these instances was to omit the problematic notes and sneak them back in as passing tones, grace notes, and/or pickups into the next pitch class. This coupled with a decision to repeat notes as often as I wished before moving onto the next hexachord allowed many sections to ring out quite tonally with what I consider a “hidden atonality.” Other sections contrast by embracing the dissonance and tone clusters full on with no forms of trickery.

The black butterflies are a great mystery within this piece and are represented by the most dissonant of moments. The ambiguous consonance surrounding these dark flourishes represents the story of bearing witness and perception thereof. The overtones then suggest an even larger beauty filled with great luck and prosperity. This is the story of when she saw black butterflies...

A short trio for flute, clarinet & piano inspired by Debussy's Sonata for Violin & Piano.