DARWIN'S DREAM II

Composer: 
Elliott Schwartz
Instrumentation freestyle: 
chamber ensemble, video projections with sound

Ensemble Type

(Composer's program note excerpt)
The primary idea behind my composition is that of generating a musical process and seeing what happens to it: not necessarily “evolution” in the scientific sense, but a brand of musical “development” – organic growth and gradual change. Accordingly, Darwin’s Dream begins with a perky little electronic motive (created on an ARP synthesizer at Bowdoin College some 30 years ago). It is quite repetitive at first, almost minimalist, but gradually a few other layers of sound from my memory bank (literally, early works of mine taken from my tape collection) are added to the mix, altering the course of the soundscape.  Whenever a fairly dense texture is reached, I return to the original electronic tune and add a completely different set of sound-memories, leading to another altered fabric. The very last of these alterations produces the most complex texture of all, and segues into a snatch of the 1950s worm music – only to fade away to my original little tune.

audio/mpeg iconDarwin's Dream II excerpt from ACA Festival performance

FANFARE FOR AN UNCOMMON TIME

Composer: 
Mark Zuckerman
Instrumentation freestyle: 
2 tp, 4 hn, tbn, btbn or tba, bass drum

Ensemble Type

Instruments

audio/mpeg iconfanfare_for_an_uncommon_time_excerpt.mp3
List Price: 
$11.50 conductor's score

Parergon

Composer: 
Griffith Rose
Instrumentation freestyle: 
flute quartet

Ensemble Type

Instruments

for Pierre-Yves Artaud
and the Arcadie flute quartet

audio/mpeg iconExcerpt - Parergon - Arcadie flute quartet

LA RIMA

Composer: 
Reinaldo Moya
Instrumentation freestyle: 
mezzo-sop, vln, vc, pf

Ensemble Type

Instruments

audio/mpeg iconExcerpt - Abigail Fischer, mezzo-soprano

BOOK OF IMAGINARY BEINGS, THE (PART 1)

Composer: 
Robert Parris
Instrumentation freestyle: 
fl/pic,2perc,vln,vcl,pf/cel

Ensemble Type

Instruments

From the CRI CD:

Just as imaginary beings are, almost by definition, symbols of inner reality, the eight pieces that constitute THE BOOK OF IMAGINARY BEINGS are expressions of elusive, vague, mysterious and occasionally mystical states of feeling evoked by associative imagery. Its literary source is the book of the same name by Jorge Luis Borges -- a compendium, really, of the more illustrious creatures of the mind. Here are the superscriptions to the several movements, (and occasional bracketed remarks by the composer) adapted from Borges's bestiary:

audio/mpeg iconBook of Imaginary Beings (I) 1st movement; New World/CRI
List Price: 
$27 conductors score; inquire for rental of performance set

SCHILFLIED "The Reed Song"

Composer: 
Robert Helps
Scoring: 
pf

Ensemble Type

Instruments

Dedicated to Robert McBride and John Bird

audio/mpeg iconExcerpt - Alan Feinberg on Argo label; "The American Romantic"
List Price: 
$14

FIVE SONGS OF REMEMBRANCE - Mezzo Soprano

Composer: 
Vally Weigl
Instrumentation freestyle: 
alt version for Mezzo, clarinet (or fl or vln), and piano
Scoring: 
Mezzo, string quartet (or string orch)

Ensemble Type

5songs: 1.Heart, We Will Forget Him
2.What Shall I do When the Summer Troubles
3.Mother Nature
4.Wild Nights
5.If You Were Coming In the Fall

audio/mpeg iconexcerpt 5. If you were coming in the fall (Mezzo, Cl, pf version)
audio/mpeg iconexcerpt 2. What shall I do when the Summer troubles
List Price: 
$36.95 score and set of 5 parts
List Price: 
$24.95 trio version score and parts

Mir zaynen do tsu zingen! (We’re Here to Sing!)

Composer: 
Mark Zuckerman
Instrumentation freestyle: 
SATB a cappella

Ensemble Type

Instruments

audio/mpeg iconMir zaynen do tsu zingen - excerpt
List Price: 
$2.95 each booklet; Contact ACA for additional discount for 16+ or for unbound/PDF delivery

Deux Plaisanteries

Composer: 
Matthew Davidson
Scoring: 
Eb alto sax, piano

Ensemble Type

Instruments

1. Roll Jordan Roll; 2. Dangdut

 

Roll Jordan Roll’ (movement one) is a series of genre variations on the African-American spiritual of the same name. The melody was transcribed from a 78rpm recording of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and in turn, this appeared on the 1962 Folkways LP entitled An Introduction to Gospel Song.

audio/mpeg iconDANGDUT - 2nd movement
audio/mpeg iconROLL JORDAN ROLL - 1st movement

Sonata for Solo Violin

Composer: 
David Froom

Ensemble Type

Instruments

Commissioned by Curtis Macomber

“The most striking was David Froom's Sonata for Violin Solo (2003), movements that segue between episodes of lacy elegance, lurching violence and wistful lyricism, until a furious, rhythmically unbounded, toccatalike finale.”  (Anthony Tomasinni, The New York Times)

"It’s obscenely difficult to write creative, interesting, and listenable pieces for solo instruments (I’ve tried!), but Froom has done a bang-up job here. Every violin teacher should have at least one student learn this every year."  (American Record Guide)

 
audio/mpeg iconOpening of "Fast and Furious"
List Price: 
$16 loose-leaf, single side edition

Lightscapes

Composer: 
David Froom
Instrumentation freestyle: 
fl, pf

Ensemble Type

Instruments

Commissioned by the Maryland State Music Teachers Association for Lucille Goeres.  Winner of the MTNA National Competition.

 “David Froom's "Lightscapes" was an involving study in contrasts for flute and piano.”  (Stephen Brookes, The Washington Post)

audio/mpeg iconExcerpt - Goeres, Garth perf
List Price: 
$29 score + part

TROIS OEUVRES DE RAMEAU for Orchestra

Composer: 
Matthew Davidson
Scoring: 
2222; 2200; harp; perc (1 player); strings

Ensemble Type

Instruments

Orchestrations of three harpsichord works by J P Rameau
audio/mpeg iconLe Rappel des Oiseaux
audio/mpeg iconMusette en Rondeau

ASSUNPINK TWILIGHT

Composer: 
Mark Zuckerman
Instrumentation freestyle: 
picc, 2 fl, 2 cl, bcl, asax, tsax, tp, hn, tb, perc

Ensemble Type

Instruments

audio/mpeg iconassunpink_twilight_excerpt.mp3
List Price: 
$11.50 conductor's score

FROM THE DARK TOWER

Composer: 
Dorothy Rudd Moore
Instrumentation freestyle: 
mez-sop,vcl,pf

Ensemble Type

Instruments

audio/mpeg iconFrom the Dark Tower, excerpt, Hilda Harris, Mezzo-Soprano
List Price: 
$33 score
List Price: 
$69 set of 3 scores for performance

SOUNDINGS

Composer: 
Robert Gibson
Instrumentation freestyle: 
quartet for double basses

Ensemble Type

Instruments

The title of my double bass quartet, Soundings, is a reference in part to the nautical term for measuring the depth of water. This term has an obvious connection to the double bass as the “deepest” sounding string instrument of the orchestra. “Soundings” can also refer to various types of exploration, and the five movements of the piece are my personal “explorations” of the instrument that is closest to me. Soundings was commissioned by and is dedicated to Robert Oppelt, Rick Barber, Jeff Weisner and Ali Yazdanfar, all members of the National Symphony Orchestra at the time of this commission in 2000.

audio/mpeg iconFirst Movement - "Tenuous" Robert Oppelt, Rick Barber, Jeff Weisner and Ali Yazdanfar
List Price: 
$39.95 score & set of parts

STRING QUARTET NO. 3 ('Sigol: Thirty Flowers')

Composer: 
Brian Fennelly
Instrumentation freestyle: 
2vln,vla,vlc

Ensemble Type

Instruments

an evocative work written for the Pro Arte Quartet using materials first employed in SIGOL MUSINGS for solo violin. There are three movements: 1. Fantasy, 2. Scherzando/Variations, and 3. Fugue, all based on the Sigol 'theme.' Dedicated to the composer's

audio/mpeg iconFennellyStringQt3excerpt.mp3

THREE ETUDES FOR VIOLIN

Composer: 
Allan Blank
Scoring: 
vln

Ensemble Type

Instruments

Also published in the book "16 Contemporary Violin Etudes" published by Theodore Presser; Three Etudes by Allan Blank, sheet music, is available from ACA.

Etude No. 1, Toccatina, consistenly energetic eight-note pulse, very careful dynamic shpaing. Etude No. 2 had a combination of bowing techniques, chords, pizzicati, harmonics, dramatic and gentle gestures requiring instantaneous changes in energy and attention.

audio/mpeg iconToccatina, Etude No. 1, Eugene Gratovich, violin
audio/mpeg iconMixtures, Etude No. 2, Eugene Gratovich, violin
List Price: 
$9.50

Scenes from Sylvester Park

Composer: 
Mark Thome
Instrumentation freestyle: 
3 trumpets, 1 horn, 3 trombones, 1 tuba

Ensemble Type

Instruments

3rd prize winner of the 2009 Brass Chamber Music Workshop Composition Contest, Humboldt State University – Arcata, California
audio/mpeg iconScenes - excerpt 1. Daybreak (midi file)- Mark Thome
List Price: 
$15 conductor's score; parts on rental or inquire for purchase