Grudge ; 2-channel fixed media; 2010
a pensive riot, form I ; Computer music environment for free improvisation ; 2010
The Wanderer ; wind ensemble; 2009
Irichori ; 2 pianos; 2010
Septimus ; string quartet; 2010
The Way the Moonlight Strikes a Cold Mountain Lake When No One Is Watching ; steel pans, electric guitar, piano; 2006
The Mysterious Mirror; alto sax, electric guitar, piano, percussion; 2007
Seasons; baritone, flute, oboe, bassoon, string quartet, percussion; 2006
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Grudge ; 2-channel fixed media; 2010
October 2010, New Orleans, Louisiana
January 2011, Miami, Florida
February 2011, Denton, Texas
Grudge explores the nuances of everyday sounds that would usually pass by too quickly to notice. Akin to seeing a different world when looking through a microscope, we hear a different world by unfolding and exposing these sounds. In composing Grudge I was partially influenced by Karlheinz Stockhausen’s writings on unified time structure as well as the idea that musical forms are equally valid at different levels of time. All of the sounds sources were provided by Impulse.
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a pensive riot, form I ; Computer music environment for free improvisation ; 2010
October 2010, Denton, Texas
November 2010, Dallas, Texas
a prensive riot, form I is a computer-driven, free-improvisation environment for up to five musicians. It is not a composition of notes in the traditional sense, but rather, a composition of musical behaviors. The computer is programmed to function as another member of the ensemble, listening, playing, altering the performance of the other players, cooperating with them, and instigating change–much like any improviser would do. I was inspired by the landmark improvisation environment Voyager by George Lewis, as well as by the performing group Impulse. This version of a pensive riot, form I features Impulse exclusively in the prerecorded material.
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The Wanderer ; wind ensemble; 2009
April 2010, Boone, North Carolina
The Wanderer began as a reflection on the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina–dark, quiet woods; dense fog that settles into the valleys in the mornings; fierce, howling wind on the tops of ridges. It is awe-inspiring and has a mysterious, even dangerous quality to it all–as if one could suddenly lose his way at any moment. I was reminded of a recording of Wayfaring Stranger made in Beech Mountain by Horton Barker in the 1960s:
“I am a poor, wayfaring stranger wandering through this world of woe…
I know dark clouds will gather ‘round me. I know my way is rough and steep.”
The recording serves as the germinal element from which the music develops. Barker’s subtle pitch bends and liberties with rhythms, for example, are abstracted and transformed into large-scale passages of glissandi, with the pitches sometimes sliding, but frequently overlapping in dense cluster chords, as well as irregular meters that produce some interesting percussion patterns. The folk song, wandering through the world, as it were, does battle with the elements, emerges alone briefly, and then loses its way again.
This recording was created by the Appalachian State University Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. John Ross. The Wanderer was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition.
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Irichori ; 2 pianos; 2010
Baekyang temple sits in a narrow valley among the mountains of South Korea. From the summit high above, one can hear the monks chanting and the bell ringing below, but because of the hills and valleys, the sounds seems to come from everywhere. The echoes are haunting. With Irichori (Korean for “bouncing around here and there”), I have tried to emulate the spatial aural sensations of Baekyang temple by moving the pianos far apart on stage.
This recording was created by Hyangmee Kim and Young Mi Seo.
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Septimus ; string quartet; 2010
I.+II. (recording coming soon)
III; December 2009, Denton, Texas
Septimus is an exploration of potential–of paths that might be taken. Specifically, it explores the variegated ends that are possible from the same beginnings. One thing contrasts with another, and the third thing contrasts with them both, as though they had been one, blurred by the passage of time. Potential is often governed by position in time. The memory of past successes and failures informs a perspective on potential. What seems inevitable in one moment is absurd in another, but each moment is judged against the whole of history before being incorporated into that history.
This recording was created by the Nova string quartet at the University of North Texas.
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The Way the Moonlight Strikes a Cold Mountain Lake When No One Is Watching ; steel pans, electric guitar, piano; 2006
While living in the Rocky Mountains, I was enchanted by small lakes that often sit high above the valleys, the last remnants of glaciers, unseen except by the occasional hiker. To capture the stillness, darkness, loneliness and coldness of those places, I have used four compositional approaches: isorhythm, algorithm, indeterminacy and intuition. The piano includes an isorhythm (non-synchronized repeating cycles of rhythms and pitches) as well as a smattering of points of light, determined algorithmically. The electric guitarist performs harmonics exclusively, often improvised from a limited set of pitches. The steel pans part is more intuitively composed than the others. The timbres of the pans and the guitar harmonics reflect the piano’s light.
This recording was created by Michael Pluebell (steel pans), Patrick Peringer (electric guitar) and Joshua Harris (piano);
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The Mysterious Mirror ; alto sax, electric guitar, piano, percussion; 2007
P’o; October 2007, Provo, Utah
Hun; October 2007, Provo, Utah
In the Taoist tradition, there is a duality in all things. Even within one person are two souls, the p’o, or physical soul, and the hun, or spriritual soul. After death, the p’o remains on earth while the hun ascends to heaven. The mysterious mirror, or in other words, the mind, reflects these various perspectives, which become various realities. The following verse from the Lao Tzu served as my inspiration for The Mysterious Mirror:
When carrying on your head your perplexed bodily soul, can you embrace the One
And not let go?
In concentrating your breath can you become as supple
As a babe?
Can you polish your mysterious mirror
And leave no blemish?(Translation by D.C. Lau)
The Mysterious Mirror was recorded by Flexible Music.
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the five notes make his ears deaf ; flutes, harps, percussion; 2007
April 2008, Boone, North Carolina
the five notes make his ears deaf was commissioned by and premiered at the Contemporary Music Festival at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina in 2008 by the ASU Flute Choir, directed by Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham.
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Seasons ; baritone, flute, oboe, bassoon, string quartet, percussion; 2006
Seasons is a song cycle that sets the writings of 15th century poet Yun Seon-do to music inspired by Korean music. The harmony and form are based on the traditional Korean court music shijo, but with many out-of-character moments that produce a unique sound. Baritone Hyrum Weibell recorded this in the November 2006 in Provo, Utah.
