Planning ahead
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Over on my Facebook feed, I’ve been ranting for months now about the pandemic and those who would bury their heads in the sand about the seriousness of the situation we’re in, but just a few moments ago I announced that since those who were determined to ignore health experts’ advice were not going to be convinced, I was no longer going to try.
However, I warned them, they would be turned away from my memorial service/concert by people with megaphones. (I was a little more politically specific over there, but over here I try to keep it simple.)
Memorial concert, I hear you ask?
Yes, it’s been my snarky take on my own demise for about 20 years that my memorial will be a concert of all the music I’ve written that you people wouldn’t perform while I was alive.
I am not a monster, though; I will not make you sit through a five-hour concert. (Yes, in my entire life, I’ve only written five hours of music.)
So since I’m trapped here at home, I might as well put together the program for my memorial concert.
A lot of my early stuff doesn’t really come up to my present standards, but I have a soft spot for the Mass in C I wrote way back in the 80s, especially the “Benedictus.”
Mass in C: Benedictus | score [pdf]
Definitely “Sonnet 18” for TTBB chorus and two cellos!
Sonnet 18 | score (2005) [pdf] | SATB arrangement | YouTube performance
Something silly: Not Really Bad: an opening number for a middle-school theatre workshop focusing on character development, with the theme of “villains” (2014) | score [pdf] (This is the one that’s been stuck in my head for a couple of days now.)
Six Preludes (No Fugues) (2010)
I. Prelude (no fugue) No. 1 | score [pdf] | mp3 | premiere performance
II. Prelude (no fugue) No. 2 | score [pdf] | mp3 | premiere performance
III. Prelude (no fugue) No. 3 | score [pdf] | mp3 | premiere performance
IV. Prelude (no fugue) No. 4 | score [pdf] | mp3 | premiere performance
V. Prelude (no fugue) No. 5 | score [pdf] | mp3 | premiere performance
VI. Prelude (no fugue) No. 6 | score [pdf] | mp3 | premiere performance
Five Easier Pieces (2015) ( a companion to, and a partial apology for, Six Preludes (no fugues))
I. No. 1 (Invention) | score [pdf] | mp3
II. No. 2 (Waltz) | score [pdf] | mp3
III. No. 3 (Étude Héroïque) | score [pdf] | mp3
IV. No. 4 (Tango) | score [pdf] | mp3
V. No. 5 (Sonatine) | score [pdf] | mp3
Frog Songs: A Song Cycle: A song cycle of strange texts with music to match.
What a wonderful bird the frog are! | score [pdf], SATB version [pdf]| mp3
Life | score [pdf] | mp3
See the happy moron | score [pdf] | mp3
He and She | score [pdf] | mp3
Real life | score [pdf] | mp3
And I’d love it if someone would finally play the Cello Sonata.
Cello Sonata No. 1 (2011)
I. Moderato | score [pdf] | mp3
II. Adagio | score [pdf] | mp3
III. Andante (Elegy) | score [pdf] | mp3
I’d also love to hear a real pianist play Ginny’s Valentine (go listen to the mp3 vs. the performance of “Prelude (no fugue) No. 2” above to see why.)
Ginny’s Valentine [piano] (1998) | score [pdf]
Probably time for an intermission here.
Then it’s time for the biggies. We’ll start really big with Dream One from my unfinished opera, Seven Dreams of Falling, with libretto by C. Scott Wilkerson, based on his play of the same name.
Seven Dreams of Falling: Dream One
1. “Let us joyfully gaze” – Chorus | piano score (pdf) | mp3 | orchestral mp3
2. “Fly and fall” – Daedalus, Chorus | piano score (pdf) | mp3 | orchestral mp3
3. “I am alone” – Icarus | piano score (pdf) | mp3 | orchestral mp3
4a. “Hark, the sound of screaming fans” – Theseus, Daedalus, Ariadne | piano score (pdf) | mp3 | orchestral mp3
4b. “My mother, bored and pampered” – Ariadne, Theseus, Daedalus | piano score (pdf) | mp3 | orchestral mp3
4c. “And what of us”/”Let us joyfully gaze” – Daedalus, Theseus, Ariadne, Chorus | piano score (pdf) | mp3 | orchestral mp3
Then, I suppose, whatever you want to pick and choose from Christmas Carol. I would suggest the following:
Christmas Carol
Overture | mp3
A Reason for Laughter | mp3
Ignorance and Want | mp3
People Like Us | mp3
Finale | mp3
And finally, of course, William Blake’s Inn. As I say on the linked page, if you don’t have time or inclination to listen to all of it, I would suggest downloading the scores for #11 and #17. Listen to those two. You’ll be back for the rest of it.
William Blake’s Inn
Prelude | mp3
William Blake’s Inn for Innocent & Experienced Travelers | score | mp3
Blake’s Wonderful Car Delivers Us Wonderfully Well | score | mp3
The Sun and Moon Circus Soothes the Wakeful Guests | score | mp3
Two Sunflowers Move into the Yellow Room | score | mp3, extended mp3
Blake Leads a Walk on the Milky Way | score | two-piano score| mp3
I haven’t totaled the time, but it should be under three hours. An enjoyable, if regrettable, evening for one and all. Plus, I am assured, there will be plenty of megaphones.
