Category: Orchestral/Large Ensemble

Hymn

Hymn, a work for solo cello and orchestra in three movements, takes its inspiration from a variety of sources. The first movement, The Sun, was inspired by a poem of the same name, by Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004). The poem opens with:

“All colours come from the sun. And it does not have

Any particular colour, for it contains them all…”

This ties into the idea of exploring the classical Hindustani Raag Des. The piece begins from a fixed central point (much like the idea of an alap introduction in classical Indian music)– one unison pitch, here carried by the string section– gradually melting into various other orchestral colours– then, radiating outward from its unison beginnings, to explore a full range of the orchestral palette.

The second movement, Hymn, was inspired by another poem by Czeslaw Milosz:

“There is no one between you and me.

Neither a plant drawing sap from the depths of earth

Nor an animal, nor a man, nor wind walking between the clouds.

The most beautiful bodies are like transparent glass.

The most powerful flames like water washing the tired feet of travelers.

The greenest trees like lead blooming in the thick of the night.

Love is sand swallowed by parches lips.”

This movement takes its inspiration from a melodic fragment of a hymn, Oh, Love, How Deep, attributed to 14th century monk, Thomas à Kempis. The music grows from these pure, austere beginnings into something warm and passionate.

This leads into the third movement, Light, inspired by a poem of the same name– written by 14th century Persian poet, Shamsedin-Mohamed Hafez Shirazi. This movement explores some playful rhythmic patterns and cascading scales, contrasted against steady, supporting long tones.

“I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness

The astonishing light of your own being!

…One regret, dear world, that I am determined not to have

Is that I did not kiss you enough.

Look what happens with a love like that–

It lights the whole sky.”

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Sheet music (score and parts) are available through the Canadian Music Centre.

Three Fates

double guitar orchestra and electroacoustic track
12 min. 

Three Fates takes its title from a painting by 20th century surrealist artist, Remedios Varo, and refers to three goddesses from Greek mythology: one was the spinner of the cloth, one was the weaver, and the third one would cut the cloth—the cloth being symbolic of a human life. Together, the three goddesses represented destiny. Musically, the piece was inspired by several different sources: bell ringing (change patterns), medieval plainchant, sitar music, specifically Raag Bhairavi (a scale similar to the Phrygian mode), and something in the vein of psychedelic guitar music. There is one short musical phrase quoted from “Haec Dies”, which appears toward the end of Three Fates, borrowed from 12th century composer, Leoninus. “Haec Dies” was apparently one of the very earliest written manuscripts in Europe, and was preserved at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I was led to discover this music, since the fire at Notre Dame was in the news (April 15-16th), just as I was beginning to work on this piece. There are also bells appearing in the soundscape at the beginning and end of Three Fates, recorded at Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver.

Three Fates was commissioned by the Canadian Music Centre (Toronto), for premiere on August 24th, 2019, at Dominion-Chalmers United Church, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as part of the International 21st Century Guitar Conference, hosted by the University of Ottawa.

Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre:

(link to come soon)

Acqua

cello octet (plus contemporary dancers)
14 min. 30 sec.

Acqua was conceived as a work for eight cellos (with musicians to be seated in a circular configuration), in collaboration with a small group of dancers.  The music’s formal structure draws roughly from Indian classical music, with a slower introduction section, followed by a more rhythmic section—with rhythmic patterns inspired both by Indian classical music, as well as by the music of Mali.

The piece is tied to the various states of water, beginning with ice: transparent textures, simple yet elegant ornamentation, plenty of space to breathe—melting into ripples, and agile layers of rhythmic energy and activity.  Then, there is the plunge into the climactic section: “Water is the driving force of nature”, wrote Leonardo da Vinci.  Water truly is the source of life, too—without it, we would not exist.  It is both a subtle and an incredibly powerful force.  Finally, the piece transforms into rising “vapour” at the end of the work.  Acqua is an exploration of extremes: an ode to the gentle beauty and power of water.

Acqua was written for and premiered by members of Allegra Chamber Orchestra (directed by Janna Sailor), and premiered at Notional Space, Vancouver, on September 15th, 2018, with dancers (directed by choreographer Linda Arkelian).

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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.

Equinox (full orchestra)

full orchestra
7 min. 

Equinox refers to the time of year when the sun crosses the celestial equator; when days and nights are of equal length. For this work, I was thinking in particular of the autumnal equinox, when nature shifts from a lush green palette and long stretches of sunny days, to a more compressed, colourful existence with a briskness in the air, heralding the fall season.

This piece was originally composed for a Macedonian ensemble, Music Progressive Quartet, (Vladimir Lazarevski- oboe, Vladimir Krstev- violin, Marko Videnovic- viola, and Paskal Krapovski- cello), whom I had the pleasure to tour with, while visiting the Balkans in the summer of 2012. There are many references to Balkan rhythms, melody, and ornamentation in this music, though not in any traditional context. Equinox is a convergence of elements that creates the unique sense of vitality and shifting of balance inherent in the changing seasons.

Equinox (in its original quartet version) was written in 2013, and premiered on March 30th, 2014 (with Geronimo Mendoza- oboe, Mark Ferris- violin, Manti Poon- viola, and Sue Round- cello), at Pyatt Hall, Vancouver, Canada, at the closing night of the Sonic Boom Festival. The orchestral version of Equinox was created in 2017, at the request of Maestro Bujar Llapaj, for premiere by the West Coast Symphony Orchestra (of Vancouver, Canada), while on tour through the Balkans in March 2018.

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* Performance Note: Since this work was originally written for quartet (oboe, violin, viola, and cello), it features prominent solo parts for these instruments. The work can either be performed in concerto-style, with a quartet of soloists positioned in front of the orchestra, or it can be performed with the soloists in regular orchestral seating.

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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.

Wind on the Downs

chamber orchestra (flute, clarinet, trumpet & strings), and female narrator
10 min. 15 sec.

Wind on the Downs was inspired by a poem of the same name by British writer, Marian Allen. The poem was written in May 1917, a few days after Allen heard the news that her fiancé, Arthur Tylston Greg, had been killed in an air battle over France. He was 22 years old.

You will hear a female narrator reading Allen’s poem, while the music leads the listener on a path through the various emotional stages of grieving a loved one.  The piece incorporates some melodic ideas based on military bugle calls, which will gently morph as the poet winds her way through the journey of making sense of her loss.  Although the poem is a very personal one, I believe it’s also universal—the challenge of moving through the loss of someone close, to eventually find some kind of renewed hope in life.

Wind on the Downs was commissioned by the Allegra Chamber Orchestra, and received its premiere at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, Canada, on Remembrance Day (November 11th), 2017.

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“I like to think of you as brown and tall,
As strong and living as you used to be,
In khaki tunic, Sam Brown belt and all,
And standing there and laughing down at me.
Because they tell me, dear, that you are dead,
Because I can no longer see your face,
You have not died, it is not true, instead
You seek adventure in some other place.
That you are round about me, I believe;
I hear you laughing as you used to do,
Yet loving all the things I think of you;
And knowing you are happy, should I grieve?
You follow and are watchful where I go;
How should you leave me, having loved me so?

We walked along the towpath, you and I,
Beside the sluggish-moving, still canal;
It seemed impossible that you should die;
I think of you the same and always shall.
We thought of many things and spoke of few,
And life lay all uncertainly before,
And now I walk alone and think of you,
And wonder what new kingdoms you explore.
Over the railway line, across the grass,
While up above the golden wings are spread,
Flying, ever flying overhead,
Here still I see your khaki figure pass,
And when I leave the meadow, almost wait,
That you should open first the wooden gate.”

–Marian Allen (1892-1953)

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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.

Blueprint

jazz trio (tenor saxophone, tenor trombone, double bass) and full orchestra
23 min. 30 sec.

“For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then shall you begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”
–Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

I’ve always thought of jazz as being the language of imagination and freedom— a conversational, fluid melding of ideas. This piece features a jazz trio (tenor saxophone, trombone, and double bass), set against the backdrop of an orchestra. The first movement of Blueprint opens with some precise, dancing Balkan rhythms, which set the tone and reveal the architecture of the work. The second movement begins as a slow meditation (taking its inspiration from the evocative quote by poet Kahlil Gibran, above), and builds toward a climax—“melting into the sun”—the idea of the release of the spirit from the body. The third movement mirrors the first movement in its exuberant rhythmic drive, and also draws a bit of inspiration for its raw melodic language from the delta blues. This was an incredibly fun piece to write, and I’d like to acknowledge with thanks the trio of musicians involved in the premiere: Brent Mah (tenor saxophone), Jim Hopson (trombone), and Graham Clark (double bass).

Blueprint received its premiere with the West Coast Symphony Orchestra, with Bujar Llapaj- conductor, on June 10th, 2016, at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

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Sheet music (and a complete archival recording) are available through the Canadian Music Centre.

Tides

full orchestra
9 min.

Tides was conceived after visiting Albania and Macedonia on tour, as a member of the West Coast Symphony Orchestra, in summer 2012. The rugged beauty and colourful spirit of the Balkans fascinated me. This piece grew out of contemplating the continuity of time, and also the idea of an ancient land, where tides (both literal and metaphorical) have been changing and shaping its unique character for centuries. Precise, dancing rhythms inspired by Balkan folk music permeate the piece, contrasted with a fluid sense of motion and freedom.

Premiered by Orkestra Simfonike e RTSH (Albanian Radio-Television Orchestra), Bujar Llapaj, conductor, at the Academy of Arts, Tirana, Albania, 21 March, 2013.

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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.

Tripod

Tripod was written to accompany the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Surrealist exhibit, “The Colour of My Dreams”. Just as the Surrealist movement set out to explore the unconscious mind (mind’s eye), I was imagining this work unfolding through the aperture (eye) of the camera. Several photographic/filmic devices were employed, including focus, pan, dissolve, solarization, and extreme close-up, as well as use of bold chords (creating the “positive” and “negative” of an image). Morse code also makes an appearance, spelling out the letters “Y” (why?), and “E-Y-E”. The musical saw adds an otherworldly vocal layer to the music.

  • Site-specific work, for vertically spatialized chamber orchestra (musicians to be spatialized on three different levels of the rotunda of the Vancouver Art Gallery). Concert presented by Redshift Music Society, along with the Canadian Music Centre, and the Canadian League of Composers. The concert was organized to showcase the work of three emerging BC composers: Elizabeth Knudson, James O’Callaghan, and Chistopher Reiche, all of whom were accepted into the CMC/CLC’s inaugural Young Composers Mentorship Programme. Premiered by Redshift Music Society, 7 June, 2011.

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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.

Mosaic

Mosaic was inspired by the idea of creating a dreamscape, with the solo horn as the central character: the one experiencing the dream. I was interested in exploring the idea of dreaming as a means of processing ideas and information, but at the same time, being aware that dreaming is not a process over which we have the same degree of control as we do over our conscious thoughts. Just as real-life information and experiences are filtered and transformed through the dreaming process, several motivic ideas recur and are transformed throughout the various movements. The piece is structured in five movements (attacca), beginning with the lower strings emulating the slow breathing of one falling asleep. The second movement is bright, with melodic reference to a pelog gamelan scale. The third movement begins with a duet between solo horn and solo cello, expanding outwards from the first three notes of Brahms’ famous Lullaby, and evolving into something much more intense at the climax of the piece. The fourth movement is a cadenza for the solo horn, leading into the fifth movement, which contains reference to an out-of-body experience.

  • Premiered by Oliver de Clercq (horn) with West Coast Symphony Orchestra (Bujar Llapaj, conductor), at Vancouver Technical Theatre, Vancouver, 11 June, 2010. Second performance with WCSO at the Roundhouse, Vancouver, 13 June, 2010.
  • Performed by Oliver de Clercq (horn) with Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra (Jin Zhang, conductor), at Shaughnessy Heights United Church, Vancouver, 1 December 2012.
  • Performed by Oliver de Clercq (horn) with Orkestra Simfonike e RTSH (Albanian Radio-Television Orchestra), Bujar Llapaj, conductor, at the Academy of Arts, Tirana, Albania, 21 March, 2013.

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Orchestral score and parts are available for rental through the Canadian Music Centre.

Arrangement for horn and piano is available through the International Horn Society.