Wilding Pine
(2018. ten instruments and electronics. 13')
A wilding is an uncultivated tree, either growing naturally or seeded by cultivated forests.
Wilding Pine is part of a sci-fi opera I'm currently working on with poet David Troupes, The Conifers, which is set on a forest farm planet undergoing an ecological cataclysm. This piece is a condensed geologic history in sound of the opera's world. It begins with the accretion of material into a planet and its cooling into a barren rock; then, it is terraformed into a vast, monotonous plantation with a minimally constructed ecosystem; lastly, it throws off human influence and grows into its own way of being.
Perusal score available here.
machine for turning bread into stones
(2017. flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, violoncello. 10')
The title of machine for turning bread into stones derives from Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress; Tom's sudden wealth has brought him luxury and amusement, but no lasting satisfaction. One night he has a dream of a machine that could turn stones into bread, feeding the world and gaining him lasting admiration and respect. He endeavors to make this a reality, and fails spectacularly; he falls into ruin, disaster, and shame. I wrote most of this piece in January and February of this year, with an acute feeling that those with power and wealth are turning bread into stones, and receiving not disaster or shame but adulation.
The 'bread' in this piece's machine is 'Stormy Weather', as sung by Lena Horne in the film of the same name.
Recording by the Talea Ensemble, conducted by Jeffrey Means.
Perusal score available here.
an awakening voice
(2015. flute, clarinet, horn, vibraphone, harpsichord, violin, cello, bass. 8')
an awakening voice was commissioned by the Melos Sinfonia, and first performed by them and conductor Oliver Zeffman at the St. Petersburg Philharmonia as part of the Sound Ways Festival.
Perusal score available here.
hex
(2015. cor anglais, bassoon, trumpet, horn, viola, violoncello. 10')
Perusal score available here.