Personent Hodie

Combining medieval aesthetics with modern harmonic sensibilities and growing from chant to polyphonic ecstasy, this arrangement is a grand processional for the Christmas season.

By |2024-03-05T23:41:40-07:00March 5, 2024|Comments Off on Personent Hodie

the truth you cannot see

The text for  the truth you cannot see is taken from the end of Alfred Bester's novel The Demolished Man. It offers a measure of hope, and a plea for patience and understanding. The complex harmonies serve to underscore how difficult these things are to achieve.

By |2024-03-04T10:58:13-07:00March 4, 2024|Comments Off on the truth you cannot see

Wanderer

Wanderer was written soon after I began singing Renaissance music in my high school madrigal group. I became enamored with the concept of text painting and imitation. Each verse of the poem is reset with slightly different decorative elements to illustrate the text.

By |2024-04-05T21:10:42-07:00March 3, 2024|Comments Off on Wanderer

Fairy Lullaby

A setting of the creepy crawly, creature-infested lullaby from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

By |2024-04-05T21:17:44-07:00February 8, 2024|Comments Off on Fairy Lullaby

Le Cigale

Written for a laugh during the cicada bloom in the summer of 2021, Le Cigale is composed in the renaissance style of Josquin de Pres’ famous El Grillo.

By |2024-03-03T13:27:55-07:00May 15, 2023|Comments Off on Le Cigale

St Teresa’s Bookmark

A short, but moderately challenging setting appropriate for a small or large adult choir. Appropriate for use as a church anthem.

By |2024-03-05T22:56:01-07:00May 12, 2023|Comments Off on St Teresa’s Bookmark

Liberty

Liberty was composed a few months after September 11, 2001. The text is from the opening of Emma Lazurus’ poem “The New Colossus”, and serves to remind us of the noble ambitions which tie us together as a nation.

By |2024-03-03T22:27:25-07:00April 10, 2023|Comments Off on Liberty

Hope is the thing with feathers

Inspired by 16th century madrigals, this setting of Emily Dickinson’s poem of the same name uses rich word painting and a traditional structure, but with more modern harmonic language.

By |2024-03-05T16:11:43-07:00April 10, 2023|Comments Off on Hope is the thing with feathers

Tension, Apprehension, and Dissention

In this intricate shouted fugue, traditional imitation processes create an ever increasing pressure while the constant counting, “Eight, sir: Seven, sir…”, portrays the maddening irrational rationality of modern existence.

By |2024-03-05T11:35:57-07:00April 10, 2023|Comments Off on Tension, Apprehension, and Dissention

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