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Chamber Music for Strings, Winds, Mixed Ensembles, Harp and Orchestra

Arsis Press scores may be ordered from individual composers.
(See Arsis Press Composers)

Music for Strings

 

Arakaki, Renee Website
of Honolulu, Hawaii

Precipice for solo violin
6' $10.00 #040091 AP-701

Highly virtuosic with double-stopped slides, syncopations and motoric rhythm, Precipice incorporates unusual timbres on the violin from harmonics and half- stopped glissandi to sub-tones (rough, edgy sounds one octave below the open string produced by bowing with extreme pressure on the first node).

 
The title reflects the musical ideas of the piece on several levels: the rough timbres and angular lines in the music, the intensity and precariousness in the execution of a technically challenging piece, and influences from rock and roll.

Fine, Vivian Website
of Hoosick Falls, New York

Lieder for Viola and Piano
(Score and part) 17' $15.00 #040092 AP-703

Note: Vivian Fine's Lieder along with other works can be found on Petrucci and can be downloaded from that site. (http://www.vivianfine.org/main/scores.htm)

Titles appear at the end of each movement: The Balcony, Moon-Stream, The Song of the Trout, Jewels, In the Garden of the Crucifixion, and Transfiguring Night.

Written in 1979, this six movement piece is dedicated to Jacob Glick. The composer writes:

score sample (pdf)
"The inspiration for Lieder for Viola and Piano comes from Hugo Wolf, and, in The Song of the Trout, from Schubert. Motifs from these composers are used, but never literally. The intent was to convey the composer's involvement with the lyric and dramatic elements of traditional lieder in her own language."

Munn, Zae Website
of Notre Dame, Indiana

Our Hands Were Tightly Clenched for string quartet
Full Score 6'30" $18.00 #04187A AP-747A
Parts @4.00 each $16.00 #040147B AP-747B,C,D,E

Our Hands Were Tightly Clenched was written in 2003 for the La Catrina String Quartet, a graduate student quartet from Western Michigan University. The phrase "our hands were tightly clenched" is a metaphor for sustained, embedded tension and anger, and the material of the piece explores the rise of this tension and ways in which its persistence might be diffused or relaxed.

score sample (pdf)

Peachey, Janet Website
of Washington, D.C.

Fable for string quartet
Full Score 11' $20.00 #040094 AP-704A
Parts @4.00 each $16.00 #040129 AP-704B,C,D,E

The piece was written in 1987 and premiered the same year at a concert sponsored by the National Capital Area Composers Consortium.
Fable has had several outstanding performances by the Eakins Quartet. The piece is in one movement. A slow introduction gives way to an energetic motive leading to a climactic point. The final section is a soft chorale followed by a return of earlier motives.

Polin, Claire
(1926-1995)

Freltic Sonata for Violin and Piano
(performed from score) 16'15" $12.00 #040095 AP-705

"Freltic" is an elision of the words French and Celtic, referring to materials used in the outer movements.

score sample (pdf)
The first movement, Virelai-tions, begins with an Ojibway Indian folk tune treated canonically at first and later used as a chaconne line for five variations on Machaut's melody, Douce Dame. The second movement, Bariolage, is a virtuosic display. Breiz, the third movement, is based on a Breton rhythmic pattern with fluctuating major-minor colors and an exciting ending. The piece is performed from score.

Stölzel, Ingrid Website
of Kansas City, Missouri

Impulse for string quartet
13' Score $25.00 #040096 AP-706A
Parts $5.00 each #040130 AP-706B

The three movements are: Electrical Impulse, Mechanical Impulse, and Nerve Impulse

The composer writes:

"The simplest definition of the word impulse is the transmission of information from one place to another. In this information age, these impulses (electrical and mechanical) are as immediate as the air we breathe. Our own internal impulses (nerves) work to prioritize this increasingly frantic transfer. Musically, the pulse that lives in a composition is also a movement of information. The composer impulsively responds to an idea in her brain and that idea is then moved forward in time and space to an ear attached to another brain--the listener. Music is, by its nature, an impulsive act, not visible to the eye, but understood by all who listen."
The Point of Pressure for string trio
8' Score and parts $10.00 #040133 AP-740

The composer writes: "The word 'pressure' is a word which can describe both a physical sensation and a state of mind. Dual Meanings are at the heart of this piece. The pressure of the act of composing, the pressure of the fingers upon the strings. The pressure of the performers to play the music well, the pressure of the sound upon the eardrum. The pressure of the very act of being conscious, the pressure of the blood. Using persistent rhythms and repetitions, the composition begs both questions: what is the point when the pressure is first perceived by the brain and what is the point when it becomes unbearable to the body."

score sample (pdf)

Van Appledorn, Mary Jeanne (1927-2014)
formerly of Lubbock, Texas

Cellano Rhapsody for cello and piano
4' (score and part) $10.00 #040097 AP-707

 

Four Duos for Viola and Cello
6'30" $ 8.00 #040098 AP-708
Recording: Opus One 147 CD

"This work is a significant addition to the slim repertoire of duos for viola and cello." (The Violexchange)

Dedicated to Susan Schoenfeld and Arthur Follows, Four Duos was awarded First Prize in the Texas Composers' Guild Contest. It was premiered in and recorded on Opus One in 1989.
The movements are brief and are marked: Lento, Allegro, Moderato, and Presto.

Introduction and Allegro for violin and organ
2' $10 #040158 AP-751

Inscribed to Kirsten Yon and Sigurd Ogaard, Introduction and Allegro (2007) for violin and organ is a brief and straightforward piece of moderate difficulty.

Van de Vate, Nancy Website
of Vienna, Austria

Six Etudes for Solo Viola
Recording: Vienna Modern Masters CD2003
Score: American Composers Alliance

Composed in 1969, in Knoxville, Tennessee, the Six Etudes were premiered at Lincoln Center in 1974 by Jacob Glick. They are straightforward twelve-tone works in which pitch is the only element serialized.

score sample (pdf)
The set begins and ends with slow, lyric pieces; the fourth etude is also slow. The second and third etudes are fast and somewhat playful, and the fifth exploits irregular rhythmic groupings and shifting accents. Composed in the classical etude tradition of free-form works built on limited motivic/melodic material, these pieces are technically demanding and suitable for concert presentation. (Notes by the composer.)

 

Suite for Solo Violin
9' $ 7.00 #040100 AP-710
Recording: Vienna Modern Masters CD 2006
"Most impressive [is] the skillfully written Violin Suite..." (American Record Guide)

The Suite was begun at Yaddo, the artist's colony in Saratoga Springs, New York, in July, 1974 and completed in Knoxville, Tennessee in May, 1975, after having been set aside for some months. It was premiered at the New School in New York City in December, 1976 by Martha Caplin.

The work is in five contrasting movements, all of which are free forms. The first, fourth, and fifth movements employ primarily conventional playing techniques, and each is unified by the use of recurring motives or melodic material. The second and third movements are somewhat more avant-garde and employ special effects to achieve their coloristic aims. The slow, lyric fourth movement is a strict twelve-tone composition; however, no other elements are serialized. (Notes by the composer.)

 

Trio for Strings
14'40" Score and parts $ 9.00 #040101 AP-711 (Written for amateur performers.)
Recording: Vienna Modern Masters CD 2006
"calculated simplicity" (American Record Guide)

Van de Vate's Trio continues the tradition of Gebrauchsmusik considered to have begun with Bach and eloquently articulated in our own century by Hindemith and Krenek. The three-movement work was composed in 1974 for the 1975 Stowe Chamber Music Competition (USA), which sought works simple enough to be sight-read by amateur musicians. It was begun in Knoxville, Tennessee and completed at Yaddo. Winning Third Prize among almost two hundred entries, it was premiered in Stowe, Vermont in August, 1975.

Vercoe, Elizabeth Website
of Rockport, Massachusetts

Balance: Duo for Violin and Cello
Duration: 20 minutes
Score: American Composers Alliance

The Duo is in three movements: a fast opening movement with Bartokian string effects, an atmospheric slow movement of theme and variations, and a very fast and largely contrapuntal finale.

score sample (pdf)

 

Sonaria for Cello Alone
Duration: 9 minutes
Score: American Composers Alliance

"skillfully exploits the qualities and possibilities of the instrument" (The Jewish Advocate)

Sonaria (1980) is one of a series of introspective pieces for unaccompanied instruments. Each of these pieces makes some use of special effects on the instrument in order to create the wanted atmosphere
Here, there is a recurrent low plucked pedal tone and a brief, nostalgic theme that recurs ponticello and in harmonics. Since the music was written as commentary on an imagined dance/mime either live or filmed, the listener is invited to "screen" those private visual images sometimes evoked by music instead of hastily suppressing them and trying to "pay attention." The mood of the piece is at times tongue-in-cheek but for the most part is entirely serious.

Music for Winds

 

Bohun, Lyle de (1927-2015)
of Washington, D.C.

The Americas Trio
for flute, clarinet and bassoon
Score and parts 4'30" $ 7.50 #040104 AP-714

The piece is dedicated to Maria Suzette Elias Carreiro Dos Santos. It is in three short movements.

Bremer, Carolyn (1957-2018)
of Norman, Oklahoma

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
15'30" $15.00 #040105 AP-715
Recording: CRS CD 9561

"I found...warmth and creative fantasy in the American Carolyn Bremer's well-structured sonata." (Politiken, Copenhagen)

"Bremer's sonata sounded virtuosic and conservative, sort of an unpredictable extension of Brahms." (Infomation, Copenhagen)

The Sonata is in three movements and is permeated with subtle rhythmic shifts. The opening movement represents a microcosm of the whole in which two outer slow sections frame a quick driving section. A pair of clarinet cadenzas are featured in the slow second movement. Marked "aggressively", the concluding movement emerges from the second cadenza of the preceding movement. The piece was premiered at the 1989 Louisiana Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Brockman, Jane Website
of Santa Monica, California

Shadows: Duo for Flute and Clarinet
6' $ 7.00 #040106 AP-716

The tradition of imitation which has historically inspired two-voice music can be likened to an object and its shadow, continually evident in this composition. At times, the instrumental identities become obscured, and one is not certain which instrument is playing which line.

 
Also, the musical language of Richard Wagner still has much relevance for this composer. It is his shadow which is 'felt' throughout the work as the leitmotiv of Kundry (from Parsifal) is employed melodically, but without its characteristic rhythm--and in a new context. (Notes by the composer.)

Koplewitz, Laura Website
of Port Jefferson, New York

Ukiyo-E for Clarinet and Piano
5'30" $ 6.00 #040107 AP 717

Ukiyo-E (meaning "floating world") is an homage both to the genre of Japanese prints depicting waves and other scenes from nature and to the Impressionist composer, Claude Debussy, who was drawn to the Japanese prints.

Lauer, Elizabeth
of Wilton, Connecticut

Five Miniatures for Three Winds
for oboe, clarinet and horn (performed from score)
8' $ 9.00 #040108 AP-718

There are five brief movements: Prelude, Dance, Interlude, Games, and Epilogue. According to the composer, the piece is about three wind instruments, each of strong personality, speaking both individually and collectively.

painting by Anne Saussois

score sample (pdf)

McKay, Francis Thompson Website
of Washington, D.C.

Pegasus for Flute
7' $ 5.00 #040109 AP-719

"multi-faceted...rhapsodic...a highly descriptive work."
(The Washington Post)

There are three short movements: Morning/Invocation, Midday/Flight, and Night/Constellation.

score sample (pdf)
Each movement portrays one of the roles of Pegasus: as the steed of the Muses who transports poets during inspiration, as the winged mount of Bellerophon, and as a constellation in the northern sky. The Washington Post further describes Pegasus: "Mostly [the piece] exercises the flute's gift for simple song, but sometimes it calls for special effects, including the production of more than one note at a time or the sound of the wind in vast, open spaces."

Pierce, Alexandra
of Redlands, California

Set of Three for Oboe and Piano
7' $ 8.00 #040110 AP-720

The movements are: Scherzando, Cantilena, and A Short Spin. The first movement is a miniature rondo with the two instruments in a give and take conversation. The second movement is a through-composed song for the oboe against a pulsating accompaniment of open-spaced chords in the piano.
Beginning with a habanera-like figure in the piano, the piece continues with a rhapsodic melody in the oboe which is not coordinated with the piano, but which proceeds independently, as if improvised. The piece is dedicated to oboist Francisco Castillo and was premiered by him with the composer at the piano in 1995.

Shaffer, Jeanne (1926-2007)
of Montgomery, Alabama

Three Faces of Woman for Clarinet and Piano
In three movements.
17' $15.00 #040111 AP-721

Premiered at the 1996 convention of the Southeastern Composers League at Southwestern Louisiana State University, the work is the composer's Op. 193, nos. 1-3.

Premiered at the 1996 convention of the Southeastern Composers League at Southwestern Louisiana State University, the work is the composer's Op. 193, nos. 1-3. Movements are titled: Femme Fatale (blues), Femme Fragile (berceuse), and Feministe Furieuse (scherzo). She writes: "Since stronger versions of the themes of the first two movements are present in the third, the piece makes the statement that a feministe furieuse stage is necessary to break the stereotypes of the first two [femme fatale and femme fragile stages]. Also, the composer acknowledges that all three are present in herself and probably most women." Richard Stoltzman and the Warsaw Philharmonic have recorded the orchestral version for MMC compact discs.

Shore, Clare Website
of West Palm Beach, Florida

Nightwatch for Woodwind Quintet
(Full score) 25' $20.00 #040112 AP-722A
Parts (also available at $5.00 each) $22.50 #040140 AP-722B
Recording: Opus One 132

"...most provocative...highly impressionistic...positively orchestral." (Washington Post)
Commissioned by the Dakota Wind Quintet and dedicated to R.B., the piece was written in 1983. The movement titles are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. The Washington Post elaborates: "By far the most provocative was Nightwatch, Clare Shore's highly impressionistic evocation of the 12 signs of the zodiac. From its fanfare-like beginning to its quivering, haunting close, the piece covers an immense amount of dramatic territory. Each section reveals a clear structure and mood; at times Shore's layering and highlighting of flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon and horn is positively orchestral."

Van Appledorn, Mary Jeanne (1927-2014)
formerly of Lubbock, Texas

Incantations for Oboe and Piano
7'30" Score and Part $12.00 040113 AP-723
Recording: Living Artist Recording CD5

Incantations for Oboe and Piano was written in 1998 and dedicated to Amy Brisco Anderson who also edited the piece. There are four movements. In Memoriam, the first, is a short, free movement with many pitch bends and quarter tones for the oboe (with the fingerings precisely indicated) and long sustained chords in the piano. Bacchanal is a fast movement that gets faster as it builds momentum to a fortissimo finish. Ambience continues without a break, alternating outbursts in the piano with those in the oboe. Ritual has a moto perpetuo piano part with a more lyrical oboe part, and an extremely loud final flourish

 

Incantations for Trumpet and Piano
4' Score and Part $10.50 #040114 AP-724
Recording: Opus One CD 162
"Van Appledorn's Incantations has a bluesy tone straight from Miles Davis." (American Record Guide)

Incantations (1991) was commissioned for the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Music Education Building at North Dakota State University. Written for the celebration of the house, the piece also reflects upon the third Sunday after Easter for which the Introit of the day begins "Jubilate." It is in two short movements which are described in a review in Fanfare Magazine of the Opus 1 recordIing as "a yearning, chanting molto espressivo, followed by a rapid, celebratory piece which conjures up The Shrovetide Fair in Petrouchka."

Missa Brevis
for voice and organ or trumpet and organ
8' 30" $ 7.00 #040057 AP-336
Recording: Contemporary Record Society 8842

The piece had its premiere in October Hall at the Saratov State Conservatorie in Saratov, U.S.S.R., in 1987. The performance was by Anatoly Selianin with organist Trina Khudiakova. Robert Birch, trumpet, and Carol Feather Martin gave the American premiere at Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. and have recorded the piece on a Contemporary Record Society album entitled Brass and Pipes.

Walker, Gwyneth Website
of Randolph, Vermont

Sonata for Flute and Piano
(Score and part) 12' $11.00 #040115 AP-725

Written in 1978, the Sonata is in three movements marked: lively, dolce, and with spirit.

Chamber Music: Mixed Ensembles

Bohun, Lyle de (1927-2015)
of Washington, D.C.

Songs of Estrangement for String Quartet & Soprano
for string quartet & soprano
Score and parts 6'45" $ 8.00 #040022 AP-301

The four songs are entitled: Snow Has Lain, Flowers Fall, Death Has Risen and Love Is A-Borning. With metaphors from nature, this four movement work dramatically depicts the developing intensities of a romantic relationship which over time matures and stabilizes into mutual contentment.

score sample (pdf)

Brill, Elissa Email: ebrill@hcc.edu
of Holyoke, Massachusetts

Klezmer Music for Clarinet, Viola and Piano
9' $ 8.00 #040116 AP-726
Set of parts $ 4.00 #040135 AP-742
"Klezmer Music for clarinet, viola and piano expresses the joy and spontaneity of the Yiddish folk music that inspired it." (Elissa Brill)

The composer writes: "In Hebrew, k'lai zemer means musical instruments. In the European Jewish tradition, the Yiddish term "Klezmer" came to denote both a certain type of traveling musician, and the band in which he played. The word is also used to describe the characteristic music these bands performed. Klezmer bands were standard entertainment at weddings and other social events in both Jewish and non-Jewish circles. Klezmer Music is not a Klezmer piece per se, although much of its structure stems from this Yiddish folk form."

Funk, Susan
of Los Angeles, California

For My Beloved
a wedding song (easy) for medium voice, oboe and piano
3'30" $ 6.00 #040041 AP-320

A technically easy piece for weddings or recitals, this song was the composer's gift to her bridegroom. The text is from the Song of Solomon.

Laitman, Lori Website
of Potomac, Maryland

I Never Saw Another Butterfly
Six songs for soprano and alto saxophone or clarinet or bassoon on texts by children of the Holocaust.
Edition for Alto Sax and Soprano: #040043 AP-322, $17.50
Edition for Clarinet and Soprano: #040043B AP-322C, $17.50
Edition for Bassoon and Soprano: #040043C AP-322B, $17.50
Based on poetry by children from the Terezin concentration camp and written in 1996, the six songs of the cycle use varied imagery and musical styles. The composer writes: "One cannot help but be touched by the hope and innocence that these children put into their poetry, despite their terrible surroundings. The accompaniment of saxophone is intended to be haunting and soulful, with echoes of Klezmer music. The song titles are: The Butterfly, Yes--That's the Way Things Are, Birdsong, Man Proposes, God Disposes, and The Old House . The first performance was at John Hopkins University in 1996 with soprano Lauren Wagner and saxophonist Gary Louie, for whom the piece was written.

Larson, Anna Website
of Takoma Park, Maryland

Adagio for Trumpet and Strings
for trumpet, violin, viola and cello
Score and parts 7' $10.00 #040117 AP-727

Recording: Moravian Symphony, MMC 2128

score sample (pdf)
Adagio for Trumpet and Strings was written for the 1990 production of The Shadow Box by the Little Theater of Alexandria, Virginia. The play explores the stages, defined and popularized by Kübler Ross, that every human is said to experience when confronting the reality of his own death. The music is intended to represent, not the stages in acceptance of death, but rather the ongoing rhythm of life. The piece may be performed with a string trio or string orchestra.

Lauer, Elizabeth
of Wilton, Connecticut

Diamonds: Double Solitaire for Xylophone and Piano
(Score and part) 8' $11.00 #040118 AP-728

Diamonds received the 1992 composition prize from the Percussive Arts Society. There are three movements: Dialectics, Dialogue, and Diatonics. In this duo, the xylophone is treated as the frisky and high-spirited partner of the solid, supportive piano.

Five Songs after Poems by William Blake
Five polyphonic duets for contralto and viola.
6' $ 8.00 #040045 AP-324

The first four poems by William Blake set here are from his Songs of Experience and the fifth is from his Satiric Verses and Epigrams. The pieces are polyphonic duets with the titles: The Sunflower, The Fly, The Sick Rose, The Clod and the Pebble, and Injunction. In a paper entitled A Comparative Stylistic Analysis, Carol Ann O'Connor writes: "This set of five polyphonic duets for contralto and viola incorporates many aspects of musical personality and technique found in [the composer's] later works...and illustrate Lomon's sensitivity to capturing in music the essence of a poetic gesture or

 

McKay, Francis Thompson Website
of Washington, D.C.

Elegy in the Form of a Dream
for flute, violin, cello and piano
(performed from score) 12' $10.00 #040119 AP-729

"soul-shattering" (The Cape Codder)
"dropped like a plumb line into the emotional depths of awareness" (The Washington Post)

score sample (pdf)
The piece was completed in 1986, initiated by the death of a close friend of the composer, writer John Edward Hill. The music deals with the relationship between the external world, in which death is final, and the internal world, which transcends the limits of death and time. The tension and opposition between these two worlds is the subject of this composition. Dika Newlin describes the piece in the Richmond Times-Dispatch as follows:
"...expressionistic fantasy music, filled with strange rappings, thrumming inside the piano, [and] all manner of unexpected sounds designed to stimulate the imagination of the listener."

Munn, Zae Website
of Notre Dame, Indiana

A Fraction of Your Grace for clarinet and string quartet
8'40", $25.00 (score & parts) #040092 AP-702

Written for David Liptak in 1997, the piece was inspired by the grace with which he faced the impending death of his wife. There is an alternation of sections based on quartal chords and sections based on open fifths. Motives derived from the quartal and quintal structures provide most of the melodic material.

 

In the Maze of the Moment for horn and string quartet
8', Score and parts $25.00, #040141, AP-745

Two for Three
for soprano, flute and viola
8', Score and parts $11.00, #040048 AP-327

Two for Three (1994) is based on two poems by Peg Carlson Lauber: For a Few Minutes Lie in the Sun and Contemplate Cliché Angels. The structure of the first song puts musical parentheses around anger and bitterness by alternating serenity, venomous emotions and a return of serenity. The second song alternates humorous music with clearly derivative jazz. The two songs may be performed separately.

What's for Supper?
four songs for soprano, viola and piano
14', Score and parts $17.50, #040049 AP-328

Composed both to entertain and educate young people about contemporary concert music as well as serve as recital pieces, What's for Supper? was written on a COSTAR Grant from Saint Mary's College. The titles of the four songs are: I'll Go Along, What's for Supper?, If I Could, and Oh no! Not Me. The individual song

Ross, Elaine M. Website
of Morris, Minnesota

The Distant Light for flute, horn and piano
6' $9.00 (piano score and parts) #040152 AP-750

Written in 2003, the music is in one movement and is dedicated to Jerry and Erica Peel.

score sample (pdf)

Schonthal, Ruth
of New Rochelle, New York

Love Letters for Clarinet and Cello
11'25" $ 9.00 #040121 AP-731
Recording: Capriccio Vol. 1

The piece was written in 1979 and is in nine short movements.

Shatin, Judith Website
of Charlottesville, Virginia

Gazebo Music for Flute and Cello
6' $ 6.00 #040120 AP-730
Recording: Opus One 144 (Roxbury Chamber Players)
"delicate, understated writing" (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

"Judith Shatin's Gazebo Music (1981) for flute and cello was composed for a dance in which the dancers came through the woods up to the gazebo and then glided away. The arch form and flowing music fit perfectly: soft chords, pastorale, a waltz-like center section, pastorale, soft chords." (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Study in Black for Flute and Percussion
4'10" $ 5.50 #040122 AP-732

Study in Black was composed at the American Dance Festival at Duke University in 1981. The piece uses restrained gestures and a nuanced starkness that sporadically unleash flashes of energy until the final frenzied explosion and decay of the ending. The title reflects the choreographic suicide ritual created by Marguerite Fishman, as well as the linear design and emotional thrust that together shaped the composer's intent.

score sample (pdf)
 

Van Appledorn, Mary Jeanne (1927-2014)
formerly of Lubbock, Texas

Five Psalms for trumpet, tenor voice and piano
8'30" $ 7.00 #040056 AP-335

Written in 1998 and based on Psalms 100, 13, 117, 23 and 150.

Galilean Galaxies for Flute, Bassoon, and Piano
6'30" Score and parts $9.00 #040138 AP-739
Recording: CRS Artists CD0072

Galilean Galaxies was written in 2000. There are three movements: Spatial Nuances, Neutron Sparkles, and Super Novae.

score sample (pdf)

Passages III for Clarinet, Cello and Piano
8'30" $11.00 (piano score & parts) #040150 AP-749
Recording: Eroica Records JDT 3196

Passages III is a trio for clarinet, cello and piano that was commissioned in 2003 by Trio Montecino. The piece continues the composer's concept of creating movements based on the colors of a specific musical scale or motive. . The six movements do just that. The opening Allegro contains octatonic and modal scale constructions. The following Moderato features energetic bi-chordal structures. Third is a Presto of octatonic melodic and vertical structures.

score sample (pdf)
Fourth is a fugato based on a Lydian tetrachordal subject. Next is Mesmeric Moment founded on pentatonic structures in the D Dorian scale. Lastly, Marcato features minor ninth chords alternating with quartal structures performed at sforzando dynamics throughout.


Rhapsody for Trumpet and Harp
(Score and part) 7'45" $10.00 #040123 AP-733
Recording: Opus One CD 169

The Rhapsody (1993) is a ballade or 'song without words' that recalls the compositions of ancient wandering minstrels (rhapsodists). Unlike most rhapsodies, which are irregular in form, this one alternates two sections, A B A B A. Van Appledorn's music has been variously described as "highflying...a terrific trip" and "intelligent and evocative" (Fanfare).

 

Soundscapes for Solo Bassoon and Strings
8'25" $15.00 (score & parts) #040149 AP-748

Soundscapes is a sextet for solo bassoon, two violins, viola, cello and contrabass. It is in four movements alternating slow and fast and was commissioned by bassoonist James Hough, to whom the music is dedicated. The composer writes: "...each movement creates a particular soundscape of musical texture, timbre, melody and rhythm."

The opening Adagio creates a thick texture with a driving melody in the bassoon.
The second movement, Allegretto, features hammerstroke rhythms in the opening section and undulating melodic lines a tritone apart in the violins in the second section before the opening music returns. The Lento, also in ternary form, has a sonorous melody in sarabande rhythm at first, while the second part has a deeply expressive bassoon melody against duplet rhythms in the violins. The final Allegro is in rondo form and recalls material from earlier movements.

Vercoe, Elizabeth Website
of Rockport, Massachusetts

Herstory II: Thirteen Japanese Lyrics
for soprano, piano and percussion

Recordings: Capstone CD 8613, Navona Records
Duration: 19 minutes
Score: American Composers Alliance

"spare, reticent and suggestive" (The Boston Globe)

score sample (pdf)
Gardner Read writes the following jacket notes for the Northeastern Records recording: "Elizabeth Vercoe is a composer whose music reflects great sensitivity to sound materials. Her works are frequently brief, highly compressed-even aphoristic-expressions, generally with clear rhythmic foundations. It was characteristic of this composer that she sought out an exotic source for her texts, such as these haiku-like aphorisms by nine female poets of ancient Japan. Their musings on love-ecstatic, despairing, questioning, nostalgic-are deftly mirrored in Vercoe's concise and atmospheric settings. Each of the thirteen brief lyrics is treated in a distinctive manner... Piano and percussion together contribute an always apt and sensitive underpinning to the melodic vocal flow, the whole of Herstory II becoming the sum of its diverse but invariably relevant parts."

Weigl, Vally (1884-1982)

Dear Earth-a quintet of poems from Frederika Blankner
for French horn, violin, cello and piano, with medium voice (optional)

Score & Parts: American Composers Alliance
170 W. 74th St., New York, NY 10023
Recording: Orion Master Recording 80393

The song titles are: Evolution, Redemption, Post Factum, Dear Earth, and This Gift of Mine. The piece is dedicated to Ilse Sass.
The composer writes: "Although based on Frederika Blankner's poems, this music is instrumental in essence and can also be performed as Songs Without Words, with various instruments taking over the vocal melody as indicated."

 

Music for Harp

Bolz, Harriet (1909-1995)

Narrative Impromptu for Harp
5'30" $ 6.00 #040124 AP-734

The subtitle to the piece is Street of Dreams.

Lomon, Ruth (1930-2017)
formerly of Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dust Devils for Harp
7'40" $ 6.00 #040125 AP-735
Recording: 750 Arch Records S-1787

"fascinatingly written" (Chicago Tribune)

Composer Mel Powell describes the composer and this work as follows:

score sample (pdf)
" Throughout, Lomon's musical language is a model of coherence, no small feat when one considers the great degree of diversity informing this composition. The work is a pleasure to listen to, projecting the combined riches of elegant imagination, subtle craft, and an unfailing sense of apt sonority." The titles of the three short movements are: The Whorl, The Eye, and The Jinn.

Schonthal, Ruth
of New Rochelle, New York

Interlude for Harp
3'30" $ 6.00 #040126 AP-736

Interlude was composed in 1980 and is in one movement marked Andante, molto rubato.

Van Appledorn, Mary
Jeanne of Lubbock, Texas

Sonic Mutation for Harp
8' $ 6.00 #040127 AP-737
Recordings: CRS 8741 & Opus One CD
"The piece is captivating. . ." (IAWM Journal)

Written in 1986, Sonic Mutation is edited by harpist Gail Barber and dedicated to her. The nine brief movements explore the tone color capabilities of the instrument, using harmonics and percussive strikes of the soundboard.

Music for Orchestra

Bohun, Lyle de (1927-2015)
of Washington, D.C.

Motive and Chorale for Chamber Orchestra
(Full Score) 4' $10.00 #040062 AP-738A
Parts (2222 2220 strgs) Strings may be duplicated as needed. $12.00 #040139 AP-738B
Text of the chorale may be sung by unison chorus, or played only by the orchestra if desired.

The composer writes: "Harriet Morgan Tyng, founder of Williard Day School in Troy, New York, taught music and French there in the middle fifties, and was an inspiration to me. Although we never met, her educational concepts deeply impressed me, and her dedicated life was the major stimulus for the creation of the piece."

Lomon, Ruth (1930-2017)
formerly of Cambridge, MA

Terra Incognita
Full Score (10'30"): #040142A, AP-746A, $35.00
Parts (pic. 222 bs.cl. 2433122 perc celesta/pno. harp, strings) and Concert pitch score: #040043B, AP-746B, $45.00
Recording: MMC 2069
"Engaging and thought provoking" Liane Curtis, IAWM Journal

Terra Incognita for orchestra (1993) is rhythmic and characterized by forceful and abrupt gestures and a sense of menace. There is a rich tapestry of sound featuring quarter tones and extreme registers. Also featured are chance elements that appear early in the work and resurface periodically. Lomon creates the sense of exploring new worlds--as the title suggests--through dissonances, sudden gestures and musical fragments that remain undeveloped. This intense piece rushes to the close, only to slow and swell at the ending.

Munn, Zae Website
of Notre Dame, Indiana

Symphony of the Alcoves
(Full Score) 12' $35.00 #040131A AP-743A
Parts (2fl, picc, 4cl [Eb, 2Bb, b.cl], 42221, timp, perc, strgs). Strings may be duplicated as needed. $40.00 #040131B AP-743B
In three short movements. Completed in October of 2002.

score sample (pdf)
The composer writes: "The title draws on the image of an alcoveÇ a small, recessed extension of a room, often with an arched opening. Each movement might be seen as a room in a house. The outer 'rooms' have alcoves (three in the first, two in the third), with each alcove having both its own identity and its own intimate relation to the main room. A secret passageway of sorts recurs in each of the three rooms and serves to connect them.

The second room is the smallest of the three, too small for its own alcoves, and almost an alcove itself within the whole piece. It is unified by the continuous alternation of 3/8 and 7/1 meters, but with two distinct sections, rounded out by a short return to the first section."

It's the Soup That Animates the Noodles
(Full Score, in concert pitch) 10' $30.00 #040137A AP-744A
Parts (2211, 1210, 2 perc [timp, ten. drm, roto-toms], strings). Strings may be duplicated as needed. $20.00 #040137B AP-744B
In three movements.

score sample (pdf)
The composer describes her piece as follows: "The title is a phrase from Tampopo, the 1986 Japanese film which tells the story of a search for the perfect noodle. The first movement deals with a kind of "reverse heterophony", carving simpler lines and pedals from a more coplex strand. The second movement uses layering techniques to build intensity andcreates new lines from short quotations of different layers. Finally, the third movement alternates intense unisons based on additive rhythm and free, expressive, contrapuntal versions of the same pitch material."

 
 
Arsis Press scores may be ordered from individual composers.
(See Arsis Press Composers)


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