The Tarot

I always admired Holst’s "The Planets”." It is an amazing series of evocative pieces with very specific titles coupled with mystical ,murky musical connections. That was where the idea of an evocative, yet non-programmatic series of movements came from. For my subjects I chose five cards from the Tarot deck: O the Fool, The Hanged Man, The Emperor, The Star and The Magician. The musical thread that ties them all together is the theme from O the Fool. One performance idea I have toyed with is having someone from the audience ( your biggest financial donor) pick the five cards and play them in that order. The cards are beautiful, colorful and a little scary. I always thought it would be nice to have them projected on a screen behind the orchestra.

"The Emperor" is a very nice orchestral recording by The Charlie Barnett Crackerjack All-Star Orchestra but the recordings of the other four movements are midi files taken directly from Sibelius and they just are what they are. They are here for you to get a sense of the entire piece.

		"O, The Fool"
		"The Hanged Man"
		"The Emperor"
		"The Star"
		"The Magician"

Instrumentation:
2fl( picc) , 2ob( eh), 2cl, bsn ( contra), 2-4 trps, 2-4 horns, 2-3 tromb,. Tuba, timp, 3 percussion including marimba, harp, strings

The Fireman's Carnival

When I was twelve I lived in a small, small town in Pennsylvania. Each Autumn the fire company that was a half a mile from my house would host a carnival to raise money. The posters for it went up weeks in advance, but the carnival itself arrived in one night on flatbed trucks. To me, it appeared magically, springing up overnight like a mushroom.

I remember riding my bicycle there as the sun went down over the Susquehanna River. The lights from the tiny carnival lit the trees down the road to show me the way. There was always a Ferris Wheel, A House of Mirrors, a short midway with games of chance and a shooting gallery. The boys yelled and the girls screamed. We all ate cotton candy. Some of us won goldfish that we brought home in tiny bowls. And much later than our regular bedtimes, we would ride our bikes home in the dark.

		"Twilight Bicycle Ride"
		"Shooting Gallery"
		"Ferris Wheel"
		"House of Mirrors"
		"Dreams"

Instrumentation:
Cl ( featured) strings , harp

The Far Tortugas

"The Far Tortoogas" is pirate music. Or maybe a pirate movie without the visuals… The instrumentation is big, especially in the percussion section. This is not hard to play, very colorful , and really fun to conduct. The entire piece is over 15 minutes] long, so only an excerpt is posted here in mp3 format.

"The Far Tortugas"

Instrumentation:
2fl(picc) 2ob( eh) 3 cl( bs cl) bsn , contra bsn, 2-4 trps, 4 horns, 2-3 tromb. tuba, timp.
4 percussion ( include marimba, bells, chimes, ) strings, harp.

From Istanbul: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra

I wrote this for Osman Kivrak. He is a Turkish violist. And a wonderful player. I would never say that this reflects Turkish music in any way. It is much more of an American’s holiday in Turkey. We had a ball recording this!

		"Kula"
		"Ushak"
		"Kotshak"

Instrumentation:
2 fl ( picc) 2 ob, eh, 2 cl, bs, contrabassoon, 2 trp, 4 hrs, 2 trb, tuba,
3 perc, timpani, strings, harp , solo viola

The Pleiades

A group of first chair players from the National Symphony Orchestra played my Serenade for Double Bass a few years ago. Robert Oppelt has since recorded it and really plays it beautifully. In the audience, were two teenage girls from Lake Braddock High School. After the concert they ran down to the front of the stage to ask me if I would write something for their high school orchestra. I don’t think I have ever had such an unlikely beginning to a commission. "Sure, sez I," and I gave them my phone number. Unbelievably, two months later the director of the Lake Braddock High School Orchestra called me with a commission from the Wolftrap Foundation.

I started this piece by asking each student in the orchestra to give me three items they wanted in their piece. The answers were hysterical. They ranged from "melodies for the violas" (a perfectly reasonable request) to " sonic booms" to " solo gong." I sorted them out and wrote accordingly. I am after all, a composer for hire…. I haven’t written film music on command for 25 years for nothing! This is playable for a very good high school orchestra, but I think it would also be quite satisfying for a professional orchestra.

The Pleiades is a group of seven stars that is part of the Taurus constellation. It is also called the Seven Sisters. Many astronomers say that it is best seen by first finding it and then looking away from it. I love this concept.

"The Pleiades"

Instrumentation:

2 fl ( picc) 2-3 ob ( e.h.), 2-3 cl, bs, 2-3 trp, 2-4 hrn, 2-3 tromb., tuba, timp. 3 perc, strings, harp