It was a hard winter of life events. And, often I can’t talk about things directly, but can only speak through the emotions of music. So, I just wrote this duet “Solace” for violin and cello.
(Audio is the midi realization)
Mixed Times of Yearning
Originally composed in response to a call for viola miniatures – It is an interesting challenge to compose a work that is meant to fit within a very short timeframe, and have it stand as a complete piece of music that moves through a sense of emotional depth and development. The title refers not only to the mixed time signatures within the music, but also to a brief expression of mixed poignancies of yearnings encountered at different times in one’s life. – RW
Karen Bentley Pollick performed the premiere of this miniature so perfectly exquisitely.
In Passages – violin soloist & string orchestra
As with most of my works, the music arises from the emotional experience of life. I think of this as a reflection on the passages of emotion — that ebb and flow of the feelings that continually emerge and recede repeatedly throughout life.
The music is written to balance the interplay between the soloist and the orchestra, rather than the traditional role of the soloist being in the forefront. The soloist should seem to emerge from the orchestra in much the way that intense feelings seem to surface from the unconscious, giving voice to our inner emotional currents, and then recede back into the chorus of the subliminal.
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Though not quality video… The music comes through in this exquisitely soulful world premiere performance of “In Passages” by violinist, Pam Davis as soloist with the Missouri State University Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor, Christopher Kelts.
October 2017: Recorded for CD release by PARMA Recordings with conductor, Miran Vaupotić and the Croatian Chamber Orchestra (Hrvatski komorni orkestar)
Relays
(Audio is a midi realization)
In Tandem
(Audio is the Premiere performance in Tokyo by Miolina: Mioi Takeda & Lynn Bechtold)
Alternating Currents
(Audio is a midi realization)
In Passages (for violin)
(Audio is a midi realization)
Changing By Turns
(Audio is a midi realization)
Then Again
Program note: Points of thought restated.
Resonances
Program note: Resonances of sounds, resonances of emotions.
Resolves
Dedicated to extraordinary cellist, Carmine Miranda.
Carmine breathes life into music with his soulful artistry and nuanced mastery. I am very grateful to have this demo studio recording as a work sample.
Paper Wings
Program note: Paper Wings is dedicated to my mother, Nancy Bondurant Jones, who, among many other lifetime accomplishments, is a writer. The title is in tribute to how her writings continue to strengthen her resolve and lift her spirits, as if with “paper wings”. (Originally composed for Michael Braudy’s request for a piece for solo violin.)
(Audio is from Lynn Bechtold‘s performance at the Poet’s House, NYC)
Frost Vapors
This short piece attempts to convey the ethereal beauty of frost and cold vaporous air. Originally written for Icelandic violinist, Eva Ingolf’s tribute to her homeland, as a land of mystery.
(Audio is a home recording by Eva Ingolf)
Conflictions
Reminiscent of children’s taunts, not the playfulness but rather the emotional complexity and impact – feeling “afflicted” with hurtful conflicts.
An Evening Indigo
After Thought
An emotional reflection – surfacing after a thought just a moment past.
(Audio is a home recording by Sylvia Ahramjian.)
Rhythm Modes
2015 CD Release:: ELEMENTS RISING, Navona Records NV5990, Produced by PARMA Recordings, features Moravian Philharmonic violinists: Vit Muzik, Jakab Látal, violins; Dominika Muzikova, viola; Marian Pavlik, cello.
The “modes” in Rhythm Modes include clocklike ostinato, canonic imitation and repetitions out of phase with either the meter or another instrument’s version of the same line. These rhythmic “modes” play upon the surface of the music in a lively intertwining of motives and melodies.
2001 Concert video features: Vita Wallace & Theresa Salomon, vlns; Liuh-Wen Ting, vla; Ariane Lallemand, vc.
Night Stream
Recorded 6/2013: PARMA Recordings, Moravian Philharmonic violinists: Antonín Hradil, and Jakab Látal
Reflecting on the flow of life and time, imagined impressionistically as lights streaming across a rain-streaked window on a late night taxi ride through city streets.
Performed by Miolina: Mioi Takeda & Lynn Bechtold on Minding Your Business cable show with June Middleton, Esq.
A Dance of Two
(Audio is a midi realization)
World News – carnival spin
Program note: Commenting on the media carnival spin overlaid onto the news.