In Passages was originally written for violin soloist and string orchestra. This is a reworking as a violin solo.
Program Note: 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.
Just beyond Reach
Program Note: Composed near the end of my mother’s long descent into dementia, as witness, I sought a release of wordless expression and reflection through music. –RW (Audio is a midi realization)
Resonances
Program note: Resonances of sounds, resonances of emotions.
(Audio is a home studio recording by violinist, Eva Ingolf)
Paper Wings
Audio is a performance by Audrey Wright recorded at An Die Musik livestream and with a concert audience, May 16, 2021, Baltimore, MD. This was the second event in Audrey Wright’s four-concert “Beyond Bach” series for solo violin.
Program note: Paper Wings is dedicated to my mother, Nancy Bondurant Jones, who, among many other lifetime accomplishments, was a writer. The title is in tribute to how her writings added meaning to her life, continually strengthened her resolve and lifted her spirits, as if with “paper wings”. –RW
(Originally composed for Michael Braudy’s request for a piece for solo violin.)
Frost Vapors
This short piece attempts to convey the ethereal beauty of frost and cold vaporous air. Originally composed for violinist, Eva Ingolf’s call for miniature solo violin works as tribute to her homeland of Iceland, as the “Land of Mystery and Trolls.”
Video features a lovely recital performance by violinist, Kinga Augustyn in Wroclaw, Poland.
An Evening Indigo
A quiet introspection and contemplation of life in the hours of evening twilight. – RW
(Originally composed for violinist, Eva Ingolf’s call for short works for solo violin.)
Video performance features violinist Barbora Kolářová at the TURN UP Multimedia Festival, virtual concert, Univ of AZ.
“Video poem” features: Eva Ingolf, Violin; Poetry by Gunnbjorg Oladottir and Video by Rakel Steinarsdottir. (And the English translation of the poem.)
After Thought
An emotional reflection – surfacing after a thought just a moment past.
(Audio is a home recording by violinist Sylvia Ahramjian.)
Night Stream
2nd Release: PASSAGES THROUGH TIME, recorded by Moravian Philharmonic violinists: Antonín Hradil, and Jakab Látal, PARMA Recordings.
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. –RW
Cable TV performance video features Miolina: Mioi Takeda & Lynn Bechtold
(YouTube Music track features violinists, Sylvia Ahramjian and Emily Hanna Crane performing at the 2014 PARMA Music Festival)
Jilted Tango – duet
Jilted Tango is included on Moonkyung Lee’s Navona Records album, PARTS TO PLAY.
Program Note: The give and take in a dance of love. -RW
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Video features a performance of a double bass/piano version of “Jilted Tango” performed by bassist Joel Braun with pianist Alexandre Maynegre-Torra, October 25, 2021 at the Butler School of Music, University of Texas/Austin.
A Turn in Return
Originally composed as a submission to Hilary Hahn’s Encore Project call for scores, it is a quietly tender piece that has stayed close to my heart. – RW
(Audio is a midi realization)
A Dance of Two
(Audio features violinists, Anna Cromwell & Lisa Nelson from the Albany Records release “Dancing on Glass“)
This work was expanded into the orchestral work, Within a Dance – a tone poem of love, included on Dream Vapors, Navona Records.
This work was also premiered as a version for an ensemble of violinists taking the two parts, led by violinist, Sylvia Ahramjian at the Encontro Internacional de Cordas Festival in Brazil.
