2022
My plan for 2022 was to write a new piece for wind ensemble, and to get myself in the mood, I arranged the first movement (Exodus) of my Symphony No. 3 for the same ensemble. I also hope to write some more piano miniatures to go with the 3 piano postcards from 2021.
I have also begun expanding Far From the Fading Light (see below). Here is the second suite, Children of the Distant Light. The first suite comprises all the other movement, which are more difficult, probably requiring a professional or advanced university orchestra.
2021-22
During the summers of 2020 and 2021, I wrote a series of “Postcard” pieces that use half of a sheet of letter-size paper and posting demos on Facebook. In 2021, I allowed myself both sides of the page.
These miniatures were meant to act as sketches for larger works. Here are some demos.
Far From the Fading Light was the main work from 2021. Here is the original version. I have excerpted 2 suites from it, the second of which (Children of the Distant Light) has been expanded to a larger orchestra. I intend to arrange the full work for the same size ensemble over the coming months.
I had two goals during the summer of 2021. The first was the orchestral piece, Far From the Fading Light, and second was to complete a work that I had begun several years ago, Temps. It was meant to be like Messaien’s Quartet for the End of Time, but composed of miniatures, some were complete postcards. Others were multiple postcards combined together.
I also wanted to write some trombone chamber music, so I added a Troublesome Stranger to that ensemble. The two pieces may be performed together or separately.
Woven throughout these two works are parts of 7 Duos for Violin and Cello, bits and pieces mostly, and sometimes arranged for piano.
2020-21
I originally began this project during the pandemic lockdown of 2020. I was having difficulty completing a commission for Tenor Saxophone and String Quartet, and I also wanted to write a string quartet. Part of my plan was to sketch for a larger ensemble, an octet, and then pare it back, many of these movements are collected in Summer 2020, which was shortened for a performance as Postcards from Home (removing 3 movements). You will find the performance under videos, but here is the complete collection:
The main work Shadows of Innocence used the 2020 postcards as a starting point, expanding some of them and in the case of the last movement, complete deconstructed a few of them and reworked them.
My String Quartet No. 5 sticks closer to the original postcards, assembling a group of 20 from the 51 postcards that I wrote. It was chosen for first prize in the Robert Avalon International Competition for Composers, but as it took place during the pandemic, the performance never happened.