Soloist and Piano

Migration Concerto for Euphonium and Wind Ensemble (Piano Reduction) (2024)

$50.00

Duration: Approx. 18 minutes

Difficulty: 4/5

Format: PDF Score and Parts

The Migration Concerto for Euphonium and Wind Ensemble was commissioned by Dr. Robert Benton for the 2024 Great Plains Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference at the University of Kearney, Nebraska and was further supported by the Nebraska Arts Council, the Audubon Rowe Sanctuary, The Crane Trust, and the Great Plains Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference. The work is directly inspired by the annual Springtime great migration of Sandhill Cranes on the Platte River in Kearny. MIGRATION: Concerto for Euphonium consists of three movements that musically convey this massive event through the lens of both an onlooker and a Sandhill Crane: I. Arrival, II. Sistere (still), and III. Flight.

I. Arrival begins with a brief, bold polyrhythmic statement from the band followed by a curious and cautious introductory section. These portions represent the excitement of finally arriving at the Platte River and the process of getting acclimated to the environment. The music then swells into an optimistic “Hopeful” section featuring a soaring melody in the euphonium. The birds are now acclimated. The next section marked “With eager impatience” represents the cranes leaving the river early each morning to feed throughout the day at the local cornfields, meadows, and alfalfa fields. The final “Dance of the Sandhill Crane” section of the movement represents the crane’s well-known bonding and mating dance, where pairs engage in elaborate bowing displays with outstretched wings and leap high into the air, often throwing sticks or corncobs repeatedly in the process.

II. Sistere (still) is what I consider the heart of the Concerto. The Latin word sistere means “to stop” and “to cease moving”. This movement represents the Sandhill Cranes huddled together, roosting on the Platte River. An optimistic percussion introduction rings for ten seconds before an ethereal vibraphone-led progression leads into the solo euphonium melody. The soloist and ensemble build in intensity until a subito piano brings the music back into the initial dream-like chorale. There is another swell of intensity and a subito pianissimo before the music blossoms into a sweeping and passionate restatement of the original material, this time in a new key. The movement ends with a subdued, hopeful iteration of the chorale progression.

III. Flight is a celebration of the Sandhill Cranes and the amazing visuals and powerful sounds they make as they take off from the Platte River and fly through the air, continuing their journey north. The solo euphonium makes its presence known immediately with a soaring, powerful motive in 6/8 time while the ensemble flourishes with rapid-fire runs. Bell-like staggered entrances in the band introduce a heroic melody in the solo euphonium. This section represents the impressive sight of large flocks of cranes taking off in flight. A cadenza both reminisces on the past and looks ahead to the future by quoting material from the first movement and introducing new material. A recapitulation of the original soaring, powerful motive in an optimistic E-flat Lydian mode brings the Concerto to a thunderous final chord with the solo euphonium ending on an musically and symbolically open-ended 9th.

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Across the Still Water (2022) - for Countertenor and Piano

$15.00

When my aunt Jan passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in 2015, I struggled to express and comprehend the complex emotions I was experiencing. I adored my aunt Jan – an absolutely loving and kind human - and watching her ever-so-slowly slip away because of this terrible disease was such a painful experience. I happened to find the poem Gone from My Sight by Luther F. Beecher while grieving, and it gave me hope that she was finally at peace. I have thought about this poem often, and when I realized I was going to compose my first vocal work for this concert, and have it sung by my dear friend Aaron S. Ricucci-Hill, I immediately knew I wanted to have this poem serve as the text.

Text:

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,

spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength.

I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck

of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."

Gone where? Gone from my sight. That is all.

She is just as large in mast, hull and spar as she was when she left my side.

And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.

And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"

there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices

ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"

And that is dying...

Duration: Approx. 6 minutes

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Format: PDF Score (countertenor and piano)

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Sonata for Trumpet No. 1 (2019)

$20.00

Sonata for Trumpet No. 1 is a programmatic work with specific moods and emotions portrayed within each of the four movements:

I. Moderato: Serious, joyous.

II. Dream-like: Ruminative, calm

III. Driving, Rhythmic: Energetic, persistent, determined

IV. Slow, Menacing: Sinister, foreboding

Duration: 13 minutes

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Format: PDF score and solo part

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Sonata for Flute No. 1 (2018)

$20.00

Sonata for Flute No. 1 draws inspiration from various sources:

I. Mysteriously: The first movement is loosely inspired by Brahms' Clarinet Sonata in F Minor and the long melodic lines and wide intervallic leaps found in that work. Irish folk music was another influence, and a jig-like section followed by a brief cadenza leads us into a Stravinsky-esque, technical section. After a brief moment of tranquility in the form of a slow jazz passage, the movement ends with a recap of the original thematic material.

II. Romantically: The second movement of mixes elements reminiscent of Beethoven and the film music of Hollywood Western movies, specifically scores by Ennio Morricone.

III. Aggressively: The last movement is an aggressive tour de force finale which constantly switches between ideas but always ends up coming back to the repeated two quarter-note flutter-tongued motive before coming to a joyous conclusion

Duration: 11 minutes

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Format: PDF score and solo part

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