Compositions
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The work has been described by the Stone Fort Wind Quintet as having “rhythmic intensity” and a “vibrant harmonic language.” The slow, mysterious first movement contains vestiges of the exciting themes found later in the second movement. The music of the daring and mischievous second movement is forced forward through alternating meter and sudden rhythmic shifts, which help to provide an exciting, anxious mood. The movement breathes for a moment in the middle with a beautiful extended section featuring several soloists on tranquil themes.
- February 28, 2009. Oklahoma City University Graduate Quintet (flute: Carley Flowers; oboe: Benjamin Killebrew; clarinet: Lisa Hollowell; bassoon: Travis Smith; horn: Cameron Bell); performed in the Medium Rehearsal Hall at Oklahoma City University for the 2009 Society of Composers, Inc. Region VI Conference.
- November 6, 2007. Stone Fort Wind Quintet (flute: Christina Guenther; oboe: John W. Goodall; clarinet: Christopher Ayer; horn: Charles Gavin; bassoon: Kirsten Nelson); performed in the Cole Concert Hall at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.
- April 15, 2007. Quintet Attacca (flute: Jennifer Clippert; oboe: Erica Burtner Anderson; clarinet: Barbara Drapcho; bassoon: Collin Anderson; horn: Jeremiah Frederick); performed in the Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois.
- September 1, 2007. Ray Sasaki and Robert Cannon (trumpets), Patrick Hughes (horn), Nathaniel Brickens (trombone), Steven Bryant (tuba); first airing of recurring theme music for “Music from UT,” a radio program on KMFA Classical 89.5 FM in Austin, Texas.
Chosen as the theme music for “Music from UT,” a radio program on KMFA Classical 89.5 FM in Austin, Texas. To hear the broadcast, simply tune-in to “Music from UT” any Saturday at 8pm CST. The broadcast is streamed live over the internet as well; simply click here at the aforementioned time and choose a streaming method from one of the two provided options.
The three movements are in typical fast-slow-fast form, with the middle movement making up the bulk of the work. The first movement is fast and exciting with alternating meter and sudden rhythmic twists. The middle movement is slow and expressive, reflecting on several themes presented in the first movement. The final movement is very mischievous, with interesting interplay between the instruments.
- March 5, 2010. Issac Winland and Briana Blankenship (trumpets), William Holderby (horn), Austin Seybert (trombone), John Arthur (tuba); performed in the Smith Recital Hall at Marshall College in Huntington, West Virginia for the 2010 Society of Composers, Inc. National Student Conference.
- March 24, 2009. Josh Davies and Ian Kivler (trumpets), Anne Marie Cherry (horn), Javier Stuppard (trombone), Blake Cooper (tuba); performed in the Recital Studio at the University of Texas at Austin.
- December 11, 2007. Kyoung-ki Min and Sungkwon Park (trumpets), Megan Slater (horn), Seiran Adilov (trombone), Stephen Duggan (tuba); performed in the Aaron Copland School of Music's Lefrak Concert Hall at Queens College in Flushing, New York.
- November 15, 2007. Kyoung-ki Min and Sungkwon Park (trumpets), Megan Slater (horn), Seiran Adilov (trombone), Stephen Duggan (tuba); performed in the Aaron Copland School of Music's Lefrak Concert Hall at Queens College in Flushing, New York for the 2007 Society of Composers, Inc. Region II Conference.
- February 10, 2007. Central Brass Quintet (trumpets: Alan Wenger and David Aaberg; horn: Gary Moege; trombone: John Check; tuba: Jon Gregory); performed in the Hart Recital Hall at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg for the 2007 Society of Composers, Inc. Region VI Conference.
This short work was written with the marching percussion group in mind. It is scored for snare drum, quads, bass drum, and cymbals, and is intended for playing on the field or in the stands. It is interesting, exciting, and may improvised upon or repeated in a number of ways.
The work consists of three movements, each of which presents similar motivic material. The movements were composed consecutively over a period of a year-and-a-half from the summer of 2002 to December of 2003, representing a considerable time span of the composer's compositional development.
- October 13, 2006. Steven Crichlow and Chrystal Smothers (violins), Jan Matthews (viola), Nick Alvarez (cello); performed in the Evelyn Smith Music Theatre at Arizona State University in Tempe for the 2006 Society of Composers, Inc. National Student Conference.
- April 13 & 19, 2004. Bacchus Quartet (violins: Ty Myers and Marco Escobar; viola: Luis Enrique Casal; cello: Stephanie Fresonke); performed in the Morris R. Pitman Recital Hall at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
- November 18, 2002 (first movement only). Ben Harris and Weini Tekeste (violins), Jennifer Ibarra (viola), Chris Corbishley (cello); performed in the Morris R. Pitman Recital Hall at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
“Bahrah” (pronounced “bay-ray”) is the transliteration of the Hebrew phrase “to create.” The idea for this composition was to take certain important themes from the Creation in the Bible and turn them into musical motives, and then use these motives to develop musical material.
The process of turning events from the book of Genesis into musical material was fairly simple. By simply taking the transliteration of certain key words and breaking them up into syllables, the composer could then base the motives on 1) the rhythmic syllabification and 2) the natural Hebrew inflection.
The work as a whole is not intended to symbolize the Creation. It simply represents the primitive and raw forces that were used in the creative act. Of particular importance is the motive for “God,” which is represented in the log drum and is featured throughout the work as a sort of recurring theme.
- February 4, 2010. Stephanie Brace, Christian Clark, Justin Swearingen, Cydney Thompson (percussionists), under the direction of Andrew Kruspe; performed in Roberts Recital Hall at the University of Alabama in Huntsville for the 2nd Annual New Music Festival (click here for photo – .jpg, 69 kb).
- April 8, 2008. Chris Childs, Donnie Hogue, Jared Lanham, John Gregg (percussionists); performed in the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University in Atlanta.
- February 23, 2008. Chris Childs, Donnie Hogue, Jared Lanham, John Gregg (percussionists); performed in the Kopleff Recital Hall at Georgia State University in Atlanta for the 2008 Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference.
- February 20, 2008. Lee Parham, Jennifer Higgins, Sarah Koss, Chris Riggs (percussionists); radio broadcast on WOBC 91.5 FM in Oberlin, Ohio.
- October 27, 2006. Michael Holland, David Walker, Tyler Warren, Jonathan Wright (percussionists); performed in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro for the 2006 Society of Composers, Inc. Region IV Conference.
- November 12, 2003 & April 13, 2004. Lee Parham, Jennifer Higgins, Sarah Koss, Chris Riggs (percussionists); performed in the Morris R. Pitman Recital Hall at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
Everett, PA: HoneyRock Publications, 2009.
Combs, F. Michael. Percussive Notes (Jan. 2010): 61. Click here (pdf,
93.2 kb) to view the article.
The beautiful and melodic quality of this work suggests the composer's wife, and thus the piece is named after her. The single-movement work is divided into several sections, maintaining an overall ABA form. Tonal/modal in nature, the instruments gently flow from one theme to the next, ending with a beautiful extended coda.
- April 2, 2003. Amanda LaFon (flute), David Belcher (oboe), Nancy DeGraff (clarinet), William Corder (horn), Weini Tekeste (violin), Chris Corbishley (cello), under the direction of Carissa Hendrix; performed in the Morris R. Pitman Recital Hall at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.