This set of short pieces was written for my good friend and collaborator, Boston Symphony Orchestra violist Mark Ludwig. In them, I have tried to capture, in purely musical terms, some of the characteristics of the stream of thought; its bends, meanderings, twists and unexpected concatenations. Since all thought is necessarily an individual matter, I […]
Chiaroscuro was composed in 1991 for the CONVERGENCE Ensemble, a group of dancers and musicians, who gave the first performance at The Painted Bride Gallery in Philadelphia. In the concept of the dance, lighting played a major role, sometimes silhouetting dancers posed like sculptures against a light background, sometimes presenting them brightly against the dark, […]
My Duo, a virtuoso piece for viola and ‘cello was composed in 2002 for my Boston Symphony Orchestra friends, Mark Ludwig and Sato Knutsen, to showcase their considerable skills. The work had it’s premiere on March 21, 2004 as part of the MusicWorks concert series in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The price includes two copies.
Dos Cabeceos explores the dynamic atmosphere of Argentine tango milongas, including the cortinas — brief periods between the three-song sets when available partners might invite and accept dance invitations by exchanging small, potent nods (cabeceos) of the head. Three slow, expressive passages of complex harmonic colors alternate with two active, intense musical episodes evocative of […]
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 […]
The Over Journey gives voice to the über-Romantic yearnings of 19th Century German poet Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg). The poet’s fascination with death, art, and the loss of his young fiancee permeates this piece, as the poet dreams of one day reuniting with his lost love.
These “tasty snacks” grew out of a period of daily sketching. Any one of them or a grouping of several might be played as encores. These eight were chosen and arranged in this order from a group of 12 or 13 originally. They are dedicated to violinist Diane Monroe, who had given the premier of […]
Two lovers are lost in Space after a mission failure as a result from spacecraft malfunction. The rest of the crew did not survive the ordeal. Their spacesuits will keep them alive for a while, but soon they will run out of oxygen and must say goodbye to each other. It is in these final moments that […]
The satiric piece Grottesca (Grotesque) aims to explore a particular area of humor. It is not programme music, although it depicts with irony the various accidents that can happen during a music performance. A close analysis of the piece should reveal this. For the first performance a sort of pantomime was realized to emphasize better […]
Composed in 2005 for the Martinů String Quartet, string quartet is laid out in a broad arch form of twelve short movements spanning three movements. It is dedicated to my former composition teacher William Bolcom and my father, William Thomas McKinley.
