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Wind Symphony Works
Scherzo – “joke”(as in the scoffing sarcastic type, not the jovial).
It is an exploration of aggression that remains unspoken and intensifies over time as a result of clinging to a series of
ideas and views that is contrary to how ultimate reality is. The piece can be viewed as the physical manifestation of that
aggression or as images created by papańca (Pali, “mental proliferation").
It’s structure is a fugato in fantasia form and is unified by two ideas – an ascending eighth-note motif of the
opening fanfare and the first three notes of the fugatto subject.
Performed by the Northdale Concert Band conducted by Prof. Stephen Chenette.
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It is a piece composed not only mourn and honour the dead but would also console and
comfort the living...to serve as a reminder that although the loss of someone can be a painful one, death should not be viewed
as an end but as a beginning.
It is unified by two elements:
1. A three-note topos (Ab-G-D in measure 2), and
2. The Introitus of the Requiem Mass (taken directly from the Liber Usualis) - the phrase "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine"
(Eternal rest grant unto them, oh Lord) is indicated in the score.
The piece opens with a canon that leads to a short lament. A fantasia dominates the middle part of the piece with a fragment
of the chant. The full chant is heard in the trumpets against a running counter-melody in the bass. At the final section the
topos is transformed thereby giving the piece a feeling of hope - redemption from the dark feeling of loss.
Commissioned and performed by the Northdale Concert Band conducted by Dr. Gillian MacKay.
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It is a letter in sound and the piece that defined the term: "Eternal Feminine."
"Perhaps the closest synonym for this term would be 'the ideal.' For every man or woman there is one person that completes
the pair, one who is perfect, hidden, and revealed only at the right time by an unseen omnipotent force. The Eternal Feminine
- sometimes she is one, sometimes she is many; her many traits found in one, the one trait found in many..."
The piece was premiered and commissioned by the Hart House Symphonic Band under the direction of Keith Reid.
Performed by the Silverthorn Symphonic Winds and the massed band of the Canadian Band Association Ontario Chapter 2012. Conducted
by Louie Madrid Calleja.
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The piece was conceived as a result of a recurring nightmare sparked by personal events
that occurred in the Spring of 2004. It is a story of a traveler who undergoes a journey into his personal Hell in search
of redemption. In this journey he discovers that who he thought was the source of his joy has become the cause of his pain.
Performed by the Northdale Concert Band conducted by Prof. Stephen Chenette.
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This piece is an exploration of grief associated with separation - of the emotion,
of the tension, of acceptance. It is a funeral march.
It is a polyphonic work unified by a 5-bar melody (first stated in the tubas) that serves as a "cantus firmus."
Performed by the Northdale Concert Band conducted by Joseph Resendes.
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The piece was composed in 1994 (revised in January of 2014) as a going-away present
for a close friend and her family.
The piece is structured as an arch-form and unified by two ideas - the opening tuba motif and a flowing 8-measure melody.
Performed by the Festival Wind Orchestra conducted by Louie Madrid Calleja.
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Choral/Vocal Works
Originally scored for solo tenor and organ, it was re-worked in 2011 at the request of Aleksandra Topor for the Puellae Orantes
Cathedral Girls' Choir from Tarnów, Poland (www.puellaeorantes.pl).
It was recorded in the summer of that year and premiered at Nowy Wiśnicz Castle on September 6, 2012.
Performed by the Puellae Orantes Cathedral Girls' Choir with Aleksandra Topor (soprano), the AIRIS String Quartet, with Fr.
Władysław Pachota conducting.
Recording posted with permission.
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Piano Works
A "soliloquy" for solo piano. It is two light variations on a 14-measure theme. The
second variation makes use of light "tintinabuli." It was completed in 3 hours.
Performed by Louie Madrid Calleja (solo piano).
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It is a "soliloquy" for solo piano. The title suggests everything. It was started
late evening of January 20 2012 and completed in the early hours of the 21st. It is unified by a 6-bar chord progression.
Performed by Louie Madrid Calleja (solo piano).
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Chamber Works
Written while I was still a student of the late avant-garde-ist James Tenney, it was
the result of a last-minute call to create short pieces for Toronto's Continuum Ensemble visiting York University. It explores
mirror writing and dissonant counterpoint. This piece was revised and retitled "Getting Water at Grandfather's Farm" and used
as an example in one of the chapter of my Master's thesis, "Approaches to Counterpoint" (2001).
Performed by the Continuum Ensemble (Toronto).
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For 2 alto saxophones and 1 tenor saxophone. It was composed in 1995 as a request
by a saxophone instructor at York University. It was completed one week later and performed during the second semester.
It is in the form of a French overture (slow-fast-slow) - the first part is a nostalgic and lamenting chorale reminiscent
of 16th century music (with some clusters); the second part is a "danse macabre" in 10/8 meter that makes use of a repeating
"organum" sounding rhythmic figure. The opening chorale (shortened) is recapitulated to conclude the piece.
Performed by:
Bill O'Brien (alto saxophone)
Dana Kimpel (alto saxophone)
Sandra Ignaciuk (tenor saxophone)
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A piece for flute and piano written for a colleague in the mid-1990s, it represents
a style of modal writing that is consistent in my compositions. The piece is unified by an open-fifth drone in the piano ritornello.
Performed by:
Raven Wong (flute)
Heather Wilton (piano)
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