New Nocturne for Piano

Sanibel Island

I've written my first in a set of nocturnes for piano. It consists of layers of quiet sounds building up like waves crashing on rocks until it becomes symphonic in scope. It's simultaneously one of the most static and one of the most active pieces I've ever written. Elsie described it as something like Le Gibet plus Radiohead. The score will be available sometime next week.

Nocturne #1 for Piano - Synthesized Realization

Three New Pieces for Cello, Piano, Guitar and Flute

Sanibel Island

This summer was very productive for me; the results being a big piece for cello and piano, a solo guitar piece written for the fabulous Philippe Bertaud, and a piece for flute and guitar.

Undertow, is my new piece for cello and piano. It's got a monstrous bluesy beginning which pushes the piece into alternating hyper-rhythmic sections with impressionistic/romantic sections. The score and parts are finished and available for download.

Undertow for Cello and Piano - Synthesized Realization

Undertow for Cello and Piano - Score
Undertow for Cello and Piano - Cello Part

My new solo guitar piece is probably one of the most harmonically beautiful pieces I've written, using an approach which tries to combine modern chromatic Radiohead-ish harmonies with Baroque and my usual modal harmonies. The score is still being tweaked a bit for playability.

The Minotaur's Dream - Synthesized Realization

My new piece for flute and guitar continues the musical impressionism and harmonic lushness of the previous two pieces. It's called Sombras y Luces de La Selva for Flute and Guitar. The score and parts are finished and available for download.

Sombras y Luces de La Selva for Flute and Guitar

Sombras y Luces de La Selva - Flute Part
Sombras y Luces de La Selva - Guitar Part
Sombras y Luces de La Selva - Score

Currently I'm working on a set of nocturnes for piano. They're going to combine the approaches I've been working with harmonically and impressionistically, while maintaining, at times, my high energy output.

Recording of Paris Premiere of String Quartet #5 Available

Bowman's Beach

Here's the live recording of the Paris premiere of my String Quartet #5 by Quatuor de l'Orchestre 2021. I finally got permission to put it up (thanks to Nigel Keay for the great playing and organizing!). It's a very passionate live performance of high intensity.

String Quartet #5 - Live Premiere Performance in Paris by Quatuor de l'Orchestre 2021
String Quartet #5 - Score
Here's the score if you want to follow along!

String Quartet 5 Score

I'm currently working on a duo for cello and piano. Stay tuned!

New Piece - Fée des Cimes for Solo Flute and Mike Marshall Premieres Indigo Trails Sunday!

Expanding Cloud Over Sanibel

I just finished a solo flute piece, Fée des Cimes and it is 6 minutes of wild flight. Here's a draft score:

Fée des Cimes for Solo Flute - Draft Score

Fée des Cimes - Synthesized Recording

Sunday night, the great poly-stylistic mandolinist Mike Marshall and Gavin Riley (Terry Riley's son) will premiere my new piece Indigo Trails for Mandolin and Guitar. It's a fund raiser for New Music Works and today there's a story in the Silicon Valley newspaper Mercury News about the concert - Something new for New Music Works' garden party.

New Piece - Grigri for Saxophone Quartet

Reddish Egret at Ding Darling

I've finished a piece commissioned by Brian Kauth for his group, the Traverser Saxophone Quartet. It's my most radical piece since I stopped writing complex atonal music back in the 80's, full of incredibly wrong notes that are intended to sound incredibly right. There are quartertones throughout the piece serving both as coloristic and as harmonic devices. The piece, also captures something of the rainy mangrove jungle we live in the middle of down here on Sanibel Island. When we were looking for a title, last night, it's swampiness reminded us of New Orleans and their Haitian voodoo traditions, thus the name, in its intentionally illiterate spelling, Grigri.

Grigri for Saxophone Quartet - Synthesized Realization
Grigri for Saxophone Quartet - Draft Score