Composers > Caroline Mallonee
Caroline Mallonee
Caroline Mallonee (b. 1975) is a composer and performer based in New York State. Mallonee's music has been programmed at venues in New York including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, Bargemusic, Tenri Cultural Center, Town Hall, Roulette, Tonic and National Sawdust, as well as further afield at the Long Leaf Opera Festival (NC), Carlsbad Music Festival (CA), Bennington Chamber Music Conference (VT), Cambridge Music Festival (UK), Tokyo Opera City (Japan), Bowdoin Summer Music Festival (ME), on the New Music New Haven series (CT), the Corcoran Gallery (Washington, DC) and Jordan Hall (Boston, MA).
Mallonée has collaborated with ensembles including the Spektral Quartet, Firebird Ensemble, Present Music, the Wet Ink Ensemble, the Da Capo Chamber Players, Antares, PRISM Saxophone Quartet, ANA Trio, Ciompi Quartet, Orkest di Ereprijs, the Buffalo Chamber Players and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Her music has been played by soloists including pianists Eric Huebner, Stephen Gosling, and John McDonald, as well as Haruka Fujii (percussion), Natasha Farny (cello), Miranda Cuckson (violin), Amy Glidden (violin), Feng Hew (cello), Janz Castelo (viola) and Kimberly Sparr (viola). The New York Philharmonic included her music on its CONTACT! new music series in 2015-2016.
Mallonée has been recognized through commissions and awards from the Fromm Foundation, Meet The Composer and ASCAP.
She is a professional singer in the Vocalis Chamber Singers and is the director of the Walden School Creative Musicians Retreat, a week-long festival for composers and improvisers held in New Hampshire each June. As a violinist, Mallonee was a founding member of pulsoptional (based in North Carolina) and Glissando (based in New York City).
She studied composition with Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague (Fulbright Fellowship, 2005), Scott Lindroth and Stephen Jaffe at Duke University (Ph.D. 2006), Joseph Schwantner and Evan Ziporyn at the Yale School of Music (M.M. 2000), and Bernard Rands and Mario Davidovsky at Harvard University (B.A. 1997).
Choral Music by Caroline Mallonee
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This poignant setting of a poem by Christina Rossetti is dedicated to the memory of Michael Friedman, a dear friend, songwriter, lyricist, and composer, who died too young. The opening two notes (C#-D), at first soft and pensive, lengthen to a three-note motive (C#-D-F#) that is woven into the texture of the six-minute piece, a […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hodie/Today on Earth was commissioned by Garrison Keillor and “A Prairie Home Companion” in 2012. Based on the 15th century antiphon Hodie Christus Natus Est, the piece is a joyful Christmas song. It was written for the DiGiallonardo Sisters and the All-Star Shoe Band, and received its premiere on ” A Prairie Home Companion” on […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A 17th-century riddle poem, “I Saw a Peacock With a Fiery Tail” at first seems fantastical: A peacock with a fiery tail! I saw a comet drop down hail! Full of evocative text painting, this choral setting reveals the sense of the poem by dividing each line between the two choirs and then reordering the […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Light Through Windows was written in 2016. Meant to evoke the wonder one feels when a darkened window reveals its glory, the a cappella choral piece draws a parallel between a stained-glass window and an illuminated manuscript. The piece was recently recorded by Vox16, conducted by Markdavin Obenza. TEXT Hushed, grey, a tall cathedral, washed […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This inspirational piece for treble voices begins and ends with a canon. Originally written for a high school girl’s choir, it is appropriate for younger singers as well as professionals. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Like Softest Music takes its words from Romeo and Juliet: My soul calls upon my name. How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night, Like softest music to attending ears! The piece is canonic, and much of the piece is sung sotto voce, creating a soft and indistinct choral soundscape that envelops the audience. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A charming setting of a Carl Sandburg poem for a cappella chorus (SATB) laden with evocative images of shooting stars and seahorses. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A poignant set of modern-day madrigals is crafted from three exquisite poems by Christina Rossetti that pay homage to the moon. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Nature Motets” is a set of four pieces for a cappella choir. The texts celebrate nature in all its glory, and are by John Muir, John Ruskin, and Sarah Teasdale. Each movement can be performed as a stand-alone piece. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A lyrical carol for SATB choir, this Christmas piece imagines sunrise on the first Christmas morning. “O Gift of Glorious Sunrise” was premiered in Buffalo, NY in December 2015 by the Vocalis Chamber Choir (James Burritt conducting). More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
O Lux is at once reminiscent of Renaissance motets and at home in the contemporary canon. The lyrical and ultimately transcendent piece features a cascading theme that is layered canonically. The piece has been performed by both high school and professional choirs. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A new choral piece depicting the Christmas star shining as the three Magi make their way to Bethlehem. Words by the composer. Commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Artists, and premiered in 2023 with Magen Solomon conducting. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A sweet and evocative, lyrical piece for treble voices and piano, this delicate song is a setting of a list of paint colors by Martha Stewart. The piece is also available in versions for solo voice and piano (baritone or soprano). It can be performed with or without a video/slide presentation of the paint colors. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A delicate piece for SSA choir and piano, “Shine On, O Moon of Summer” sets a poem by American poet Carl Sandburg. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Vocális Chamber Choir commissioned Songs of Crystal for their 15th anniversary. The traditional gift for a fifteenth anniversary is crystal, so for this commission Mallonee linked four poems by Sara Teasdale and created a set that explores each of the four seasons. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sonnet LV was commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Artists. It is dedicated to the singers of the group, and to their director, Magen Solomon. It is a sonnet addressing a lover, professing that they will live in the poem far longer than any monument or statue will exist on earth. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When I Am Dead, My Dearest was conceived as a partner piece to Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s opera, Dido and Aeneas. Purcell’s aria begins, “When I am laid in earth”; Rossetti’s poem begins, “When I am dead.” Purcell ends with “Remember me, but ah, forget my fate”; Rossetti’s poem ends, “Haply I may remember […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Music for other instruments by Caroline Mallonee
A high-energy, post-mimalist piece written for the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, Hammering Away (at the Great Unknown) is a tour de force for four saxophones. It was commissioned by The Walden School in 2005. Hammering Away (at the Great Unknown) attacks one chord structure. Listen for canons, chains of suspensions, inversion, augmentation, and other fun compositional […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alaskan King is a crab canon. In the second half of the piece, each cellist plays the other cellist’s part from the first half backwards. Another way to say this is that the piece is a palindrome with the parts switched halfway through. Alaskan King was written for Natasha and Evelyn Farny. (Order contains two […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||