Amethyst is a musical pas de deux. The work features many duets, sections with two contrasting ideas, two larger contrasting sections (marked by different tempi), and an ongoing argument between two key areas (D-major and F-Major). After going back and forth between contrasting sections, the piece finally relaxes in a coda that synthesizes both themes and key areas.
Miniatures for Flute Trio i. spacious, freely ii. andante iii. with exaggerated articulation, almost silly iv. solemn v. restrained vi. molto espressivo vii. allegro viii. spacious, freely
Instrumentation: two C flutes; one alto flute Performer: Areon Flutes
Score available soon. The CD can be purchased here, and the whole album can be streamed on Spotify here.
Sonora Instrumentation: full orchestra (winds in 3s) Performer: The St. Olaf Orchestra, Mr. Steven Amundson, conductor
Video courtesy St. Olaf College. Used by permission.
The Sonoran Desert is a place of supreme beauty, grandeur, calmness, and intensity.Some of my most transformative moments have been while wandering the Sonoran Desert. Sonora evokes certain feelings, sounds, and images of the desert. Large, complex, sustained sonorities represent the colorful paint-brushed appearance of the desert sky, the wideness of the desert, and the confident command of the Saguaro Cactus which towers over her expansive territory. After some calm expository material, the work becomes more vigorous, being a depiction of not only the quiet intensity of this dry place, but of the psychological intensity of being in a desert, finding oneself surrounded by immense loneliness.
Windmills Instrumentation: full band Performer: The St. Olaf Band; Eric Choate, guest conductor
Windmills is a soft piece that presents short melodic gestures over two swaying sonorities. A sense of subtle movement and expansiveness are a result of repeating these gestures, each time colored slightly differently by moving to distantly related keys. I have drawn from three different works by 20th century American composers: Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, John Corigliano's Fern Hill, and Ingolf Dahl's Sinfonietta: "Notturno Pastoral." These pieces have a simplicity and tasteful lilt to them that remind me of the countryside. I began living in this pastoral sound and found that the musical gestures I had been sketching evoke windmills in their circular motion. At the same time, I was considering how I might acknowledge St. Olaf College. "Windmills" seemed a perfectly fitting title because St. Olaf College has a wind turbine visible from everywhere on campus and is seated beautifully next to a pond in a wheat-colored field. As my piece progressed, it became an expression of my feelings when standing before this grand structure in the idyllic setting.
Tango Instrumentation: full orchestra (winds in 3s) Performer: The St. Olaf Orchestra, Mr. Steven Amundson, conductor
.pdf full score A version for string quartet is is also available.
Vocal
…and fall i. Sleep ii. Neighbors in October iii. All Hallows iv. Theme in Yellow v. November Night
Instrumentation: high voice, cello, and piano Performer for movements 1,2,4,5: Brian Thorsett, tenor; Emil Miland, 'cello; Richard Masters, piano Performer for movement 3: Brian Thorsett: tenor; Alan Weinstein, 'cello; Eric Choate, piano
i. Sleep
ii. Neighbors in October
iii. All Hallows
iv. Theme in Yellow
v. November Night
This title is available through E.C. Schirmer. A version for tenor and chamber orchestra is also available for streaming on Spotify here.
Those Winter Sundays Instrumentation: high voice and piano Performers: Brian Thorsett, tenor; John Churchwell, piano