setting of E.E. Cummings poem as
duet for male & female voices & piano (3’00”)
premiered by Helene Williams & composer, Eastover, Lenox MA 6/24/98
also by Ronald Edwards, Janis Sabatino Hills & composer,
Bryant Library (LICA) 11/1/98
setting of E.E. Cummings poem as
duet for male & female voices & piano (3’00”)
premiered by Helene Williams & composer, Eastover, Lenox MA 6/24/98
also by Ronald Edwards, Janis Sabatino Hills & composer,
Bryant Library (LICA) 11/1/98
twelve 3-line settings for baritone, soprano & pno/orch:
#1 In the Beginning
#2 Manhood
#3 Nature
#4 Rain
#5 Weather
#6 Death
#7 Elijah
#8 Mantra
#9 Fish
#10 Wandering
#11 The Score
#12 After All
premiere Aug. 22, 2002 by Cary Bair & Helene Williams
with composer at the piano, Eastern Naturist Gathering,
Eastover Resort, Lenox, Mass.
duet for soprano & tenor, a cappella (1’22”)
on text by Abel Meeropol;
premiered by Helene Williams & Gregory Mercer,
Queens College, Feb. 23, 2003;
recorded on Original Cast Records CD 6055
The Abel Meeropol Centennial Concert
setting for poem, “Castor Oil,” by Charles Bernstein
for soprano-tenor duet & piano
premiered by Helene Williams, Paul Sperry, and composer
5/27/04 Composers Concordance concert at NYU
Ode from Euripides’ Helen (2’30”) for 2 voices & piano
in Greek or in English translation by composer
(with thanks to Elizabeth Horton & Paul Rapoport)Â Autumn 2006
premiered by Helene Williams, Gregory Mercer & composer,2007
by Helene Williams, Katherine Wieckhorst & composer, 2008
setting of Shakespeare’s Sonnet #29:
“When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes”
March, 2007; for SMMTTB
premiered by New Music New York, St. Peter’s Citicorp 5/1/07
It was only after I had already begun to compose the music that an appropriate title for this work occurred to me. It was the nature of the music rather than something I had seen or even imagined that drew me to what I realized was the suggestiveness of the music as it was unfolding. The melodic lines of the instruments evoked the lines that an artist might draw on paper or canvas; in the harmonic relationships between these lines I sensed a kind of three-dimensional depth that artists are able to convey even on a flat surface; in the timbres of the instruments as they pass from register to register I imagined the tints and shades an artist might select in conveying reflected light; by how the musicians would articulate the tones they played I imagined a painter’s varied brush strokes. Not long after I had completed the composition of Images I learned that there were painters who were also aware of a relationship between what is seen and what is heard when I discovered the musical qualities inherent in the work of Paul Klee and then composed a piece I called Reflections that attempted to convey these.
If the music of Images suggests concrete images to some, it may convey more elusive qualities to others. It was never my intention to compose program music in the manner of many Romantics who sometimes even imitated the sounds of nature in their work. The artistic life of Images, as I have conceived it, rests principally in the minds of those equally at ease in both the world of sight and the world of sound. Yet it cannot be denied that one can understand and enjoy this music without being aware of any of the qualities that I have suggested might be present. That way may be to appreciate the ever-changing character of the music as it intensifies and relaxes during the course of the work thus reflecting the kind of emotional life that we experience in our daily lives.
by Serge Suny for Two Oboes 00:02:10 1996
by Avraham Sternklar for hp 00:02:20 1990
by Steven Rosenhaus for hp 00:04:00 1986
by Steven Rosenhaus for hp 00:04:00 1990
by Steven Rosenhaus for hp 00:04:30 1990
by Steven Rosenhaus for hp 00:16:00 1993
by Steven Rosenhaus for 4db 00:10:00 1990
by Steven Rosenhaus for Narr, fl, cl, tbn, pno, vln, vc, optional db 00:10:00 1990
by Steven Rosenhaus for cl tpt 00:05:00 1985
by Steven Rosenhaus for 4 hp 00:04:30 2007
by Steven Rosenhaus for Any four or more melodic instruments (timing below minimum) 00:06:00 1995
by Marga Richter for ‘hpd’ 00:09:00 1965
by Dana Richardson for fl ssx hp 00:11:00 2002
by Dana Richardson for ssx barsax pno 00:10:00 2003
by Dana Richardson for hp vln 00:20:00 1994
by Patricia W. King for rec vln cl pno 00:01:20 2003
by Patricia W. King for fl pno 00:05:00 1980
by Patricia W. King for 2pno 16hnds 00:03:15 1980
by Patricia W. King for 2pno 16hnds 00:04:20 1983
by Patricia W. King for 2 pn 8hnds 00:03:40 1998
by Paul Hefner for M/F voc. w/ 17 pc jazz ens. 00:08:00 1977
by Paul Hefner for F.Voc. w/ 17 pc jazz ens. 00:06:00 1979
by Paul Hefner for 17 pc. jazz ens. 00:08:00 1978
by Paul Hefner for 17 pc. jazz ens. 00:08:00 1978
by Paul Hefner for 17 pc. jazz ens. 00:08:00 1978
by Paul Hefner for 17 pc. jazz ens. 00:06:00 1978
by Paul Hefner for Br. Jazz Ens. 00:06:00 2005
by Paul Hefner for 2 cl. 00:08:00 1983
by Paul Hefner for 2 Bs. 00:14:00 1989
by Jay Anthony Gach for alto sax, 2 pianos, 2 perc, amplified string bass 00:10:00 1980
by Murray Cohen for Clarinet, Vn,Vc, piano 00:23:00 1993
by Murray Cohen for piano & string Quartet 00:24:00 2003
by Richard Brooks for flute clarinet piano 00:07:00 2004