» Chamber/Solo Pieces

Chamber/Solo Pieces

Alchemy (2012)

horn, cello & piano

~20:15

I.
II.
III.

  • Alchemy (premiere recording- click to listen), Canadian Music Centre Archives

    • Alchemy was conceived as a trio for horn, cello, and piano, in three movements. The three-part structure was inspired by the three stages of the medieval alchemical process– attempting to turn base metals into gold, or the ‘elixir of life’: 1: corruption/dissolution, 2: purification (linked to the moon and femininity), and 3: enlightenment/sublimation (linked to the sun and masculinity). The horn introduces a short theme in the first movement, which is then transformed through seven variations– seven being the number of metals involved in the alchemical process. The second movement is slow, sensuous, and lyrical, drawing inspiration from jazz tonalities, as well as from the delicate raindrop-like sound and polyrhythmic patterns of the kora (west African harp). The third movement brings the piece to a bright, rhythmically intense culmination.

    Alchemy received its premiere, with Oliver de Clercq, horn, Ariel Barnes, cello, and Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, piano, at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, Vancouver, Canada, May 20, 2012.

    This commission was funded in part by the Meir Rimon Commissioning Assistance Program of the International Horn Society.

    Yarilo (2007)

    solo cello

    15 min.

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    This piece is named after the Slavonic sun deity. According to legend, Yarilo returns from the otherworld each year after Shrovetide to usher in springtime and provide a bountiful harvest. He is celebrated in the springtime through the midsummer, but as his life is connected to the agricultural cycle, he is “killed” at the end of summer, along with the harvest of the crops. This piece takes its source material from four traditional Russian folksongs. Beginning with darkness/winter, the piece moves progressively through the yearly agricultural cycle.

    United Players Filmscore (2007)

    trumpet in C, viola, piano

    4 min. 15 sec.

    October (2007)

    solo piano

    2 min. 40 sec.

    Anagrams for November (2007)

    alto flute and viola

    1 min. 45 sec.

    Winter Suite: Eight Vignettes (2007)

    two trumpets in C (1st tpt. doubling Bb picc.), and piano

    14 min.

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    This piece was composed as a series of eight miniatures, or vignettes, inspired by a cycle of three poems about winter (by Robert Pack). Each vignette bears a subtitle taken from a line of poetry, representing the character of that particular movement—all being reflections on different facets of the winter season (i.e. brightness/exuberance, deadly chill, beauty, storm/chaos, stillness).  The piece was composed in December 2007, in response to the International Trumpet Guild’s call for scores.

    1. Prelude
    2. I watched drowned snow appear to lift up from the lake
    3. Your red cheeks radiant against the wind
    4. A frame of gilded twilight
    5. Cascading snowflakes settle in the pines
    6. Homeward into the howling woods
    7. Only a whiter absence to my mind
    8. Merely a mockery of spring

    Ice Sculptures (2005)

    violin, cello, marimba

    8 min.

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    Little Tango (alternate title: “Northern Tango”) (2005)

    solo piano

    solo piano

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    One unique aspect of being away from a big city is being able to enjoy and appreciate nature, and one of the most beautiful and spectacular canvases on which to observe natural phenomena is the night sky. Stars and other celestial bodies are certainly more visible away from the glow of city lights, and depending on location and time of year, events such as shooting stars or the aurora borealis (northern lights) will animate the sky. This piece emerges out of a backdrop of nighttime shadows, into a colourful celestial dance.

    Mahogany (2005)

    three celli

    8 min.

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    This piece was inspired by two very different musical sources: that of early 20thC Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu, and that of early 20thC Cuban bandleader and composer Ignacio Piñeiro. On the surface, these two sources of music seem disparate, but upon closer inspection, one might discover some strange similarities between the two. I was drawn to Martinu’s concept of “vertical space,” as well as to Piñeiro’s notions of rhythm and melody, but the resulting piece which grew out of these ideas is distinctly my own. Mahogany grew out of my love for the cello, and my desire to explore the richly-colored timbre of its voice.

    Theme for Pascale Boinot (2005)

    solo piano

    2 min. 30 sec.

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