Mercurial Tempers (2008-09), 8 min.

Mercurial Tempers a revision of my master’s thesis, which was originally titled Anemoi, the Greek term for the four wind gods.  After the editing process, which included cutting an entire movement, I felt that a title describing its drastic character changes would be more fitting.  The revisions occurred throughout the months after I graduated from Indiana University, as well as during my first semester as a DMA student at the University of Southern California.

The work is organized into a hybrid one-movement/multi-movement structure.  Motives and themes are presented in a cyclic fashion, creating enough continuity to be performed as one.  But the themes are taken on different adventures, changing character, which therefore creates a need for separate movements.   I was particularly interested in the issues between intellectual traits in music, the audience, and the incorporation of eclectic elements such as rock licks and cinematic moments into art music.   The phase that I had gone through severely influenced my writing process, and I learned much about myself as a composer while completing this work. 

The first movement is a kaleidoscope of bouncing gestures, using a harmonic language loosely built around the overtone series, and evolves into a fierce, driving section.  The second, a more tranquil movement, is an exercise in timbre, with varying colors merging and blossoming.  The final movement references the first, flooded with interruptive, piercing licks as well as forceful sections. 

Blooming Lavender (2007), for symphony orchestra, 2 min.

Blooming Lavender was composed during the Fall of 2006 for a concert featuring melodies of elementary students.   Two melodies are featured:  Blooming Ideas by Sarah Williams and Lavender by Agnes Zhu.    Both complimented each other in such a way that they could be performed simultaneously, with both implying almost the same harmonies. They also both had an overall sense of growth.  Therefore, I took advantage of these features by arranging them into canon-like passages, creating a blossoming effect.  Each has a chance to be featured as a primary theme as well as an accompaniment. 

The fanfare opening includes fragments of both melodies, leading into a colorful ninth chord that recurs throughout the piece.   After speaking with both students, we decided to use strings and flutes to bring out the melodies, and from there I blended the sounds with various combinations.  By the ending, a dialogue is created between the two melodies and instrumental choirs.

Illusions (2005), 12 min.

Illusions is was begun in October of 2005, and was read by the West Chester University Symphony Orchestra in December. Structured similar to an invocation and dance, it opens slowly and mysteriously, with ringing echoes from the woodwinds, and bold swells in the brass. Following this slower section is a faster, more rhythmic and almost cinematic one. It’s programmatic nature features each section as a scene in a dream sequence. Some use similar gestures and harmonies, while there is one dance-like section that doesn’t quite fit in.  At the same time, it serves as comic relief from the previous dramatic sections.  Revisions to the piece mainly include developing the form so that the illusive character can be brought out even more, and scenes mesh and fade from one into another. The piece concludes with perpetual motion, creating the effect of suddenly waking up from the dreams.

In Vision I Roamed (2008) for SATB chorus and 9 instruments, 6 min.
Text by Thomas Hardy

In Vision I Roamed is the first movement of a larger work-in-progress, to be included with three movements total. 

Normally, a vocal work is built from an inspiring text, and the harmonies, rhythms and orchestration are all designed from what that text suggests.  However, I did the opposite for this piece.  I was particularly looking for a poem where the nature of the words themselves could sound musical, especially when annunciated in unconventional ways, mimicking the sounds of cymbals and other percussive noises.  In Vision I Roamed struck me immediately upon reading it, as it incorporates all of the qualities I was looking for.   The overall mood and setting of the text provided an outlet for me to experiment with certain timbral effects that can only be done with multiple voices.  At the time I was very interested in spectral music (based on the overtone series), especially that of Per Nørgård, a Danish composer who uses a numeric system to derive pitches.  I don’t use the overtone series strictly, but rather form a harmonic skeleton from the concept and derive tone clusters from the upper partials.  These clusters result in an atmospheric sound, capturing the imagery of gazing at the sky.  

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), a British poet, was an amateur violinist and especially interested in folk music.  Ever since taking a course in English music history and traveling to Oxford and London, I have been looking for an opportunity to incorporate folk elements into a piece of music.  Upon discovering Thomas Hardy’s work, this project finally became my chance to do so.  Folk tunes were probably surrounding him as he wrote In Vision I Roamed, and I could enhance its meaning by incorporating such elements.  They are quite often modal and the contour of the melodies is usually symmetrical.  Both of these qualities are portrayed in small folk-like fragments, fitting into the harmonies of seventh and ninth chords.  The text generally suggests a duple rhythm, but it sometimes veers off as if a singer were improvising.   In Vision I Roamed is a bittersweet poem.  It begins calm, gradually increases with motion, and concludes with a reflection.  

In vision I roamed the flashing Firmament,
So fierce in blazon that the Night waxed wan,
As though with an awed sense of such ostent;
And as I thought my spirit ranged on and on

In footless traverse through ghast heights of sky,
To the last chambers of the monstrous Dome,
Where stars the brightest here to darkness die:
Then, any spot on our own Earth seemed Home!

And the sick grief that you were far away
Grew pleasant thankfulness that you were near,
Who might have been, set on some outstep sphere,
Less than a Want to me, as day by day
I lived unware, uncaring all that lay
Locked in that Universe taciturn and drear

- Thomas Hardy

Sleuth (2011), for tuba and piano, 10 min.

Though sections of the work may sound reminiscent to cues from detective movies and television, the title derives from what turned out to be an intricate process of composing a simple melody. I had written several sketches, trials, and errors before finally uncovering one. The work begins with sly, wandering gestures, and then progresses through a series of contrasting scenes. These scenes are not intended to depict any event in particular; in fact, many of the “cinematic” moments resulted accidentally in the early writing stages. However, at times, the passages may evoke the typical smoky bar setting with a jazz combo in the background, or perhaps a quarrelsome incident. Traces of the tune are embedded within the searched locations, and it finally occurs in its full form in the tuba towards the end of the work.

Spellbound (2010), for alto saxophone and marimba, 7 min.

Spellbound explores a pallet of timbral colors between the saxophone and marimba.  It begins with airy, mysterious washes of sound, and then progresses to a section with trancelike marimba rhythms and a hovering saxophone melody.   The form wanders to passages with jazz-like riffs and eventually propels into a rock-like groove.  A few extended techniques accent the work.  In the saxophone, harmonics and tremolos that produce overtones are used, and in the marimba, muting techniques as well as modified mallets are featured.  Its title is reminiscent of that of a jazz-tune, and also originates from the murky quality of the extended techniques. 

Rambling (2010), for alto flute, oboe, and piano, 3 min.

Rambling is the word for strolling about the countryside in England.  The work was written in collaboration with Danielle Leone and Trey Farrell.  My notes from our discussions about what kind of work to write include: dialogue, excursions, folk-tunes, and humor.   All of these elements are hinted at. 

Turning Points (2010), for fl.,/alto fl., cl./bass cl., perc., pno., vn., vc., 5:30 min.

Turning Points presents four central musical ideas: an open fifth resonance, a rapidly repeated single-pitch figure, bouncy jazz-like spurts, and a gliding melody. Combined in a rather fractal way, each idea may be thought of as an additive. In this way, the character of each thematic section relies on how these ideas interact. Just as the particles in a kaleidoscope shift to create contrasting images, manipulations of the main musical gestures in Turning Points create new scenes.

Strings (2009), for saxophone quartet, 9 min.

The work's title comes from its nature: various eclectic elements “strung together”.  The first movement, Bend, begins with a driving pulse, with resonances similar to those in a Berio Sequenza, and proceeds with strings of new be-bop like riffs emerging from the previous idea. 

In passages of the second movement, Inflections, each saxophone acts as a string on a guitar.  The first half lingers on the soft timbres, and the second half organically blossoms.

The last, Sidetracks, makes use of a twelve-tone row, but the development immediately diverges from it.  The row is only rarely used in its entirety.  Instead, fragments of the row begin, but the idea is immediately sidetracked by other motivic possibilities.  When finally broken free from the row, a lively, jazz-like tune interrupts. 

Different Sorts, Duo for violin and guitar (2008), 10 min.

Different Sorts was written for friends Liana Gourdjia and Guido Sánchez. 

The collaborative process with the performers significantly molded the work.  During our first meeting, we discussed possibilities for a multi-movement piece that explores a variety of styles and combinations of extended techniques. The first movement, Lively, Rock-Feel sets the tone.  It incorporates licks found in rock music, using the low strings of the guitar.  Fragments and Nuances is a collection of timbres organically pieced together.  The third, Patchwork features blocks of ideas sewn together, as well as the tambora effect, a technique of tapping the guitar strings. Improvisation continues to explore timbres just as in the second movement, and recollects the first movement briefly near the end.  Canonic, Streaming, is an energetic movement that mimics the delay effect on an amp or microphone in rock settings.   

 

Conglomerations, Fanfare for brass quintet (2007-08), 3 min.

This silly little fanfare for brass quintet took over a year to write.  In the spring semester of 2007, I began writing the work by experimenting with juxtaposed contrasting gestures; some sweeping, some quite clumsy, and some lyrical. 

The work sat for months, as I don’t think I quite knew how to handle the brass ensemble yet at that point in time.  In the meantime, I went on to compose some of the other works that are on this program, particularly, Warped and In Vision I Roamed.  I returned to the piece in the spring of 2008, but my attempts to revise it still failed.  Finally, I took only fragments from the original sketch, and then began to write a new work from them. 

In this work, the whimsical gestures are prominent throughout, but sometimes a driving beat will take over.  Even rhythms that are typical of popular music heard on a local radio station show up.  I still wanted to let this work have the character of a fanfare to open the recital, so I blended the gestures into bold harmonies. 

Camaïeu (2007), for clarinet, horn, marimba, and cello, 10 min.

Camaïeu, a painting designed with varying shades of the same color, treats each instrument as if it were a different hue in a piece of artwork.  With the marimba as the centerpiece, the other voices mimic its gestures, creating a different color or character.  At times, the marimba emerges from silence and into the resonance of the tone clusters.  Each section can also be described as a different “shade”, as each shows the timbres and gestures in a contrasting perspective.    

Contemplations (2005) for saxophone quartet, 7 min.

Picture a thought that seems quite unreasonable, but it will not go away.  Instead of brushing it aside, you decide to entertain this thought, and let it blossom in adventurous ways.

Looking Forward (2005), for violin and cello, 5 min

Looking forward can be an exciting experience, or possibly a dismal one, or even an anxious or nervous one.  The colors, gestures, and the form of the piece all capture these elements.   The first section explores eager and impatient gestures, letting new gestures grow out of them with building excitement.  The middle is darker and more curious than the first, possibly even worried, but the excitement and eagerness inevitably returns.   In some ways the imitative counterpoint acts as a dialogue between the two instruments, in the same way that looking forward involves a dialogue and debate within oneself. 

The Miracle of the Walking Fish (2010-11), song cycle for baritone and guitar, 10 min.
texts by Jackson Bliss

The Miracle of the Walking Fish is a story about the transformation of Love, centering on a boy who leaves Todos Santos, a town in Baja California full of artisans, artists, even expats from North America, to find his father in California. But instead of finding his dad, the boy meets a Peruvian girl in Los Feliz, and falls in love with her. Together they take a bus to Santa Monica, connect to each of their homelands on the beach, and then they throw the boy's twin stones back in to the Pacific Ocean. This is the beginning of their new life together as two Americans living in a city of new beginnings. The music is designed to convey the sense of motion and natural lyricism in the texts. Extended techniques and timbral effects in both the voice and guitar are frequently used to portray thematic ideas. For instance, the twin stones and their symbolism for family are depicted by guitar harmonics surrounded by tranquil sonorities, while muffled colors such as tambora (striking the strings rather than plucking) represent heat, dryness, or heaviness. An eclectic range of styles is introduced from movement to movement, from rock, to melodious, to abstract, depending on the mood or setting. The Miracle of the Walking Fish evolved from the Writer and Composer course at USC, co- taught by professors Frank Ticheli and David St. John.

How Life's Reverberation (2005), for baritone voice and piano, 10 min.
Texts by Emily Dickinson

These songs of Emily Dickinson are all related in the sense that they depict timelessness and uncertainty, ordered in a sequence from dark to light.  Harmonies range from colorful tone clusters as in Their height in heaven, to jazz inflected harmonies as in I felt a funeral in my brain, yet free chromaticism permeates the entire cycle. 

1.
Their height in heaven comforts not,
Their glory not to me;
‘T was best imperfect, as it was;
I’m finite, I can’t see.

The house of supposition,
The glimmering frontier
That skirts the acres of perhaps,
To me shows insecure.

The wealth I had contented me;
If’t was a meaner size,
Then I had counted it until
It pleased my narrow eyes

Better than larger values,
However true their show;
This timid life of evidence
Keeps pleading, “I don’t know.”

2.
I felt a funeral in my brain,
And mourners, to and fro,
Kept treading, treading, till it seemed
That sense was breaking through.

And when they were all seated,
A service like a drum
Kept beating, beating, till I thought
My mind was going numb.

And then I heard them lift a box,
And creak across my soul
With those same boots of lead, again.
Then space began to toll

As all the heavens were a bell,
And Being but an ear,
And I and silence some strange race,
Wrecked, solitary, here.

3.
Except the heaven had come so near,
So seemed to choose my door,
The distance would not haunt me so;
I had not hoped before.

But just to hear the grace depart
I never thought to see,
Afflicts me with a double loss;
‘T is lost, and lost to me.

4.
Sleep is supposed to be,
By the souls of sanity,
The shutting of the eye.

Sleep is the station grand
Down which on either hand
The hosts of witness stand!

Morn is supposed to be,
By people of degree,
The breaking of the day.

Morning has not occurred!
That shall aurora be
East of eternity;

One with the banner gay,
One in the red array, -
That is the break of day.

- Emily Dickinson

 

Remnant Oscillation (2011) for clarinet and electronic sounds, 7 min.

Remnant Oscillation’s title results from two aspects of the project. First, the framework of the piece includes sound files that were created during my time at Indiana University, but these snippets had never been formulated into a complete work. Second, all of these “remnants” had been constructed from scratch with a sine wave, adding modulation techniques and LFO’s (low-frequency oscillation). Passages that include beat-driven grooves and complex rhythms resulted. These samples stayed filed away for about three years, until I realized that they would complement a project for clarinet and MAX/MSP that I had been working on here at USC. Combining both the old and new pallet of sounds together, the work progresses through a series of fluctuating or “oscillating” drones that emerges into pulsed grooves. Because many of drone-like resonances were derived from clarinet samples, both the clarinet and electronic components are shaped as a dialogue.

Warped (2007) for alto saxophone and electronics, 5 min.

Warped was designed from various saxophone tones that are “warped”.  Sounds were derived exclusively from saxophone samples: long tones, trills, and multiphonics.  The work combines several genres including jazz harmonies, grooves characteristic of popular music, as well as motivic devices that can be found in the standard classical saxophone repertoire.  Extended techniques are used to add accent, in the same way that a jazz performer may add growls or pitch bends. 

Nebulae (2007), 1 min.

Nebulae explores what it may sound like to take a brief excursion through a nebula. It features overtone-rich drones that fade in and out with beat-driven washes of sound, while cloudy resonances permeate throughout.  

Tranquil InDensity (2007), 6 min.

What happens when a saxophonist who has been drinking too much coffee works in the computer music studio through odd hours of the night (morning)? All of these factors led to the sound that accidentally resulted, and this resonance became the one that permeates the piece. I first convolved saxophone multiphonics with noises created by hitting a coffee cup, and then processed the effect even further. The product was to my surprise a rather dense and organ-like ambience, with a subtle melody embedded. It is introduced as a tranquil, muted ring, and after each building section, it grows into its full strength. As I isolated various timbres from the resonance, I designed other tones that blend and merge. Other more intense rhythmic sections all prepare instances to calm down, as well as moments for this tranquil, dense, ringing reverberation to grow and linger.

Pure Distortion (2006), 4 min.

Take distorted coarse sounds, and combine them in a way that creates a sonorous harmony.  Or, take pure acoustic sounds, and distort them in a rather harsh way.  Either possibility results in “Pure Distortion”.  
Saxophone growls, squeaks and clicks develop into effects that are quite similar to those that can be created in electronic music.  My objective was to take these acoustic sounds, combine them with electronic effects, and consequently produce timbres that could not be done with either medium by itself. 

In some cases, I transposed samples high enough so that the core of the sound was lost, resulting in a scratchy or fragile transformation.  In others, I added frequency modulation to multiphonics, and the sounds can convolve together and fade in an out.  The swells for instance, integrated ambient synthesized sounds with altered saxophone samples, allowing each to become a part of the other.   In other passages, I created a contrast between key clicks and metallic sounds derived from dropping and spinning coins.   The form is repetitious and organic, allowing distinctive timbres to emerge together.   

Tangents (2006) for solo piano, 8 min.

Tangents takes the form of its title, and is nearly a four movement work integrated into one.  The sweeping opening gesture develops by “going off on tangents” throughout contrasting sections.  The first states the motive with lively character, the second is more lyrical, while the third is playful, resembling a scherzo, and the fourth is the finale.

This was primarily a learning piece.   I was intrigued by the idea of writing something that sounds virtuosic, yet is still idiomatic.  Brahms, Chopin, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Liszt were masters at capturing this element, and their works are all still widely performed today.  Perhaps some of the ideas in the work are not so modern sounding, but being innovative was not the intent of the piece.  I did not use any quotations, but I wanted the work to be an homage to those composers, and therefore incorporated stylistic devises characteristic of their music.  While studying various intermezzos, concertos and sonatas, I was able to uncover their tricks, and after having studied and modeled from them, I now can transform those techniques into my own language. 

I started composing Tangents a few weeks before my move from eastern Pennsylvania to Bloomington, Indiana.  It began as a reaction to one of my last sketches composed as and undergraduate at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and then took its shape while beginning studies in a new atmosphere.