Category: Chamber/Solo Pieces

Little Tango (alternate title: “Northern Tango”)

1 min. 30 sec.

One unique aspect of being away from a big city is being able to enjoy and appreciate nature, and one of the most beautiful and spectacular canvases on which to observe natural phenomena is the night sky. Stars and other celestial bodies are certainly more visible away from the glow of city lights, and depending on location and time of year, events such as shooting stars or the aurora borealis (northern lights) will animate the sky. This piece emerges out of a backdrop of nighttime shadows, into a colourful celestial dance.

 

  • Published as part of the solo piano collection “Making Tracks, Vol. 4: Small Town Canada”, available through the Canadian National Conservatory of Music:

 

http://www.cncm.ca/making-tracks.html

[audio:../wp-content/uploads/littletango.mp3|titles=Little Tango (alt: Northern Tango)]

 

Mahogany

This piece was inspired by two very different musical sources: that of early 20th century Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu, and that of early 20th century Cuban bandleader and composer Ignacio Piñeiro. On the surface, these two sources of music seem disparate, but upon closer inspection, one might discover some strange similarities between the two. I was drawn to Martinu’s concept of “vertical space,” as well as to Piñeiro’s notions of rhythm and melody. Mahogany grew out of my love for the cello, and my desire to explore the richly-colored timbre of its voice.

  • Premiered at “Surface Tension” concert, Douglas College Theatre, New Westminster, BC, 27 August 2005.

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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.

Theme for Pascale Boinot

Theme for Pascale Boinot was composed for a short film, directed by Cat Mills, which was screened at Empire Granville 7 Cinemas, Vancouver, Canada, on April 28-29th, 2006. The piano part was performed by Heather Harty. The solo piano was meant to evoke something sensual and human– mirroring the dynamics between two lovers/characters in the film. I tried to keep the musical language simple yet elegant– much in the style of Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies.

Sheet music is available through Syrinx Press:

www.elizabethknudson.ca/syrinx-press

 

 

They Took Flight

They Took Flight was inspired by the 100-year anniversary of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s first successful flight. These pioneers of aviation first got their airplane off the ground in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17th, 1903. Although that first historic flight lasted for only 12 seconds, this piece captures the essence of that moment after leaving the ground — the freedom and sense of wonder at being propelled up into the skies.

  • Performed by the Drosera Ensemble at Open Space Gallery, Victoria, 6 March, 2004
  • Performed by Turning Point Ensemble at Sonic Boom Festival, Western Front, Vancouver, 11 March 2005
  • Broadcast on CBC Radio 2- Westcoast Performance Vancouver

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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.

Metro Gnomes

  • Commissioned by Ian Hampton for the Langley Community Music School

 

  • Premiered at the University of British Columbia Recital Hall,  22 November, 2004

 

  • Workshopped at the Langley Community Music School, May 2005

 

Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre:

http://www.musiccentre.ca/node/32256

[audio:../wp-content/uploads/metrognomes.mp3|titles=Metro Gnomes]

 

El hongo

El hongo was envisioned as something colourful, a bit eccentric, and purely fun. The ensemble of alto sax, cello, piano, and vibraphone suggested the idea of jazz… with some unexpected Javanese gamelan phrases incorporated into the mix.

  • Premiered by, and performed many times by Ensemble Symposium, including at the Sonic Boom Festival, Western Front, Vancouver, 14 March 2004.

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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.

The Brain

‘The Brain’ was written for tenor voice, bass clarinet, and piano, with text based on a poem of the same name, by American poet, Emily Dickinson. It was premiered at Simon Fraser University Theatre (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada), in March 2003.

“The Brain—is wider than the Sky—
For—put them side by side—
The one the other will contain
With ease—and You—beside—

The Brain is deeper than the sea—
For—hold them—Blue to Blue—
The one the other will absorb—
As Sponges—Buckets—do—

The Brain is just the weight of God—
For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—
And they will differ—if they do—
As Syllable from Sound—”

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

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Sheet music for this piece is available through the Canadian Music Centre.