Symphonic Works

Symphony No. 1 in C
    “Age to Age”

Approx. total performance time: 31:28

I. Age of Beginnings
             15.8 Mb

II. Age of Innocence
            10.2 Mb

III. Age of Awakenings
IV. Age of Enlightenment
             28.2 Mb

This, the first of my symphonies, was completed © 2015.

All I will say is that, of all my works, this is the most pseudo-autobiographical. Just had to get it out of my system, I suppose—though I do believe it has considerable musicological interest, despite its occasional flukes. But that is not, ultimately, for me to decide, I suppose.

The third and fourth movements are represented here by a single track, because they are intended to be performed without a break. The third movement ends with a crescendoed cacophany; and the fourth begins then with a sort of "mystical" full stop (though not silent) before proceeding.

This work was composed/scored in Finale and later rendered in REAPER, using the EastWest Quantum Leap sound libraries.

Symphony No. 2 in G (sort of)
    "Dualities"

Approx. total performance time: 43:47

I. Ma'or Gadol, Ma'or Qaton
             21.1 Mb

II. Ad'm, Ish'sha
            12.5 Mb

III. Mashiach, Satan
             21.2 Mb

IV. Gehenna, Ouranós
             21.4 Mb

The movement titles pretty much say it all for this one.

Other than that, all I can say is that I believe this to be the best and most profound of all my works, both musicologically and artistically. In the first movement, in particular, I fully explored some of the possibilities of "equitonalism", as well as executing a thorough "mirror" approach to the thematic material.

Interested in knowing more? Let me know. This is one piece I am absolutely not abashed to talk about!

This work was composed/scored in Finale and later rendered in REAPER, using the EastWest Quantum Leap sound libraries. It was completed © in 2016.

Symphony No. 3 (centered in D)
    “Trinity”

Approx. total performance time: 28:49

I. Abba
             12.7 Mb

II. Ben
            12.3 Mb

III. Ruach
             12.5 Mb

IV. Elohim
             13.1 Mb

The movement titles for this one should help point the listener in the right direction, in terms of appreciating—or at least understanding—the piece.

This one is, by far, the most "mystical" of my symphonies so far. It was also the most difficult to write, having been written, in a sense, "in reverse". Conceptually, it was an attempt (rather meager and pitiful, to be sure) to capture something of the essence and mystery of the Trinity in musical form: Each of the first three movements is devoted to one of the three persons of the Godhead. In the last movement, then, the three movements are merged together as one. In this, each movement is included, in its entirety, to make the one. It's not the most exciting thing I've ever written, I suppose, but it is, conceptually at least, the most profound.

This work was composed/scored in Finale and later rendered in REAPER, using the EastWest Quantum Leap sound libraries. It was completed © in 2018.

Symphony No. 4 (primarily in A)

Approx. total performance time: 24:22

I.
             13.7 Mb

II.
            8.0 Mb

III.
             5.6 Mb

IV.
             15.3 Mb

Finally. This one actually comes closest to fulfilling my original aims when I started writing symphonies: That was, to simply write multi-movement pieces built on the basic concept of the symphony, as originally developed by Mozart and Haydn. I didn't set out to write anything profound, either musicologically or conceptually. Rather, I just wanted to write pieces that were interesting musically, period-ically relevant, and maybe even a little fun. I guess I wanted to prove that the traditional classical music forms (such as the symphony) were not dead—or at least, they didn't have to be. OK, so call me Don Quixote.

As such, this piece has no real overarching conceptual underpinnings. I simply wanted to write something that evolved from the traditional symphony "form" and that might be kinda fun to listen to. So, the movements have no titles or conceptual drivers. The symphony itself has no subtitle.

The only real unifying element, if you want to call it that, was the idea of building all the thematic material and much of the underlying harmonic structure on the musical interval of a fourth. That's it! (Well...that and lots of 4-note chords.) I was just interested in seeing how much I could do with that interval and, at the same time, create a symphony that reflected fidelity to the traditional symphonic "form" while still being fresh and contemporary. Nothing profound here. And yet—

This one happens to be my wife's favorite one so far, and, in many ways, mine as well. Odd, isn't it?

This work was begun in Staffpad, finished/scored in Finale, and later rendered in REAPER, using the EastWest Quantum Leap sound libraries. It was completed © in 2020.

Symphony No. 5 (E)
    “Amazing Grace”

Approx. total performance time: 41:56

I. Gomer
             17.7 Mb

II. Ruth
            12.7 Mb

III. Abigail
             6.8 Mb

IV. Chosen
             19.8 Mb

V. Elizabeth
             15.9 Mb

This was the symphony I wasn't going to write. Well, at least at first. I was a little burned out after finishing the 4th, and really not interested in taking up another major project right away.

God had other plans, apparently.

As with most of my other symphonies, one unifying element is the number of the symphony itself, 5. I'll not attempt to explain it all, but from the meters to the melodic intervals to the number of movements (duh), that number is ever present. Even the underlying message of “Amazing Grace” is based on the Biblical significance of the number 5.

I did not intentionally set out to make this a celebration of some of the significant “women of the Bible”. That just sort of happened on its own. No politically correct statement is intended here: and yet, it is true that, in many cases, women have been some of the greatest examples and instruments of God's amazing grace.

This work was written and scored in Finale, and later rendered in REAPER, using the EastWest Quantum Leap sound libraries. It was completed © in 2021.

All the Colors of the Rainbow:
Chinese Folk Song Suite for Flute

Approx. total performance time: 28:00

1. Boy with Purple Bamboo Flute
             2.2 Mb

2. Poor Man Blue
             5.0 Mb

3. Mountain everGreen
             3.2 Mb

4. Tiny Yellow Bird
             2.0 Mb

5. Woman Sewing Orange Purse
             3.5 Mb

6. Red Ribbon Sister
             1.2 Mb

7. All the Colors of the Rainbow
           10.2 Mb

This is the third version of this suite (The first two were for electro-acoustic CD accompaniment and piano-only accompaniment, which are both available from the Instrumental music page.)

This piece was originally commissioned by a flutist friend in grad school. He was from Taiwan and was interested in getting pieces of traditional Chinese folk songs set to "Westernized" accompaniments—which, he claimed, were becoming very popular in Taiwan.

Apparently, I overshot the mark. While he claimed to like what I produced, he declined to do anything with it, saying that the polyphony and other compositional techniques I employed were beyond the pale for the average Chinese listener. I don't think he ever actually did do anything with it.

However, that has not deterred me from producing three versions of this collection: one with piano-only accompaniment, one with electro-acoustic accompaniment, and this one, with symphonic orchestra accompaniment. Personally, I think this is the best of the three. Hopefully, it will one day be performed by a live orchestra.

In the meantime, it might be worth pointing out that six of the seven movements are based on authentic Chinese folk songs. [I have actually heard other arrangements of some of them being played in Chinese restaurants.] The last movement was my attempt to create a musical theme that sounded authentically Chinese but which, at the same time, gave me freedom to explore the overarching concept behind this collection. I did not, however, want it to sound clichéd or stereotypical. I also used it explore yet another development of my musical contribution to musicology: equitonalism. (If you want to know anything more about that, you'll have to ask.)

Vignettes for Orchestra

                         12.4 Mb

Originally a piano solo, this piece was composed during my senior year of high school, yea, these many years ago. While I still like the piano version, I enjoyed the greater freedom that orchestrating it gave me to develop further some of the original ideas. And I still think it works better as an orchestral piece, even if it is hard to "classify".

The piece consists of eleven short movements, all performed as one continuous work.

This work was composed/scored originally on paper (in the "Dark Ages"). It was later transcribed to and rendered Finale, using the Garritan Personal Orchestra sound library.

A (No. 2) Fancy

                         12.3 Mb

Stylistically, this piece was an attempt to blend traditional symphonic styles with more contemporary musical idioms from the rock/pop realm. It was actually the first symphonic-type piece I conceived, specifically with that goal in mind.

It was originally scored (on paper!) in the late '70s and later transcribed to and rendered in Finale, using the Garritan Personal Orchestra sound library.