Works for Solo Instruments and Chamber Groups
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Finished Works
Concerto No. 1 (String Quartet)
1st Movement
3rd Movement
This is my first composition. It was written when I was in 7th grade back in 1998 as part of an assignment. We were asked to compose something 8 measures or more long. I had seen the movie Amadeus around this time, and was very ambitious. I decided to write something bigger, and this was the result. I took some ideas from the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 we were playing in class and other music I was listening to. I also researched what a concerto was, and found that it was a piece with typically 3 movements having a Fast-Slow-Fast setup. I therefore took what little I knew and created a more Baroque modeled form.
Live Recording!
Someone in one of my theory classes was playing the Mario Brothers theme song on piano, and they said, "It would be fun of someone made a fugue out of this." As we were learning about fugues in theory class, I decided to take on the challenge. In high school, I had written several two part inventions based loosely on Bach's two-part inventions (i.e., they were inventions in two parts, and there were going to be a bunch of them) as my first attempts at counterpoint. I ended up losing those two-part inventions, but wanted another go at using counterpoint in a composition. After spending a year working, this fugue was the result.
The theme is the Mario Brother's Theme, slightly altered to allow it to fit into a classical-sounding fugue. The counter theme plays off of the syncopated rhythms in the melody.
Viola Sonata in D Major (Viola and Piano Accompaniment)
Written to make use of the Sonata-Allegro form I had learned from my music theory class, this Viola Sonata was one of my first knowledgeable attempts to work with Sonata-Allegro form.
Trio for Trumpet, Viola, and Piano
Finished Works
Concerto No. 1 (String Quartet)
1st Movement
2nd Movement
3rd Movement
This is my first composition. It was written when I was in 7th grade back in 1998 as part of an assignment. We were asked to compose something 8 measures or more long. I had seen the movie Amadeus around this time, and was very ambitious. I decided to write something bigger, and this was the result. I took some ideas from the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 we were playing in class and other music I was listening to. I also researched what a concerto was, and found that it was a piece with typically 3 movements having a Fast-Slow-Fast setup. I therefore took what little I knew and created a more Baroque modeled form.
Mario Fratrus Fugue (String Quartet)
Live Recording!
Someone in one of my theory classes was playing the Mario Brothers theme song on piano, and they said, "It would be fun of someone made a fugue out of this." As we were learning about fugues in theory class, I decided to take on the challenge. In high school, I had written several two part inventions based loosely on Bach's two-part inventions (i.e., they were inventions in two parts, and there were going to be a bunch of them) as my first attempts at counterpoint. I ended up losing those two-part inventions, but wanted another go at using counterpoint in a composition. After spending a year working, this fugue was the result.
The theme is the Mario Brother's Theme, slightly altered to allow it to fit into a classical-sounding fugue. The counter theme plays off of the syncopated rhythms in the melody.
Viola Sonata in D Major (Viola and Piano Accompaniment)
Written to make use of the Sonata-Allegro form I had learned from my music theory class, this Viola Sonata was one of my first knowledgeable attempts to work with Sonata-Allegro form.
Trio for Trumpet, Viola, and Piano
Written at the time for some great friends of mine, Dave Simon (Trumpet) and Natalie (Viola), this trio uses different time periods as inspiration for the three different movements. Dave and Natalie were dating at the time, but things didn't work out between them. Later on, Dave married Margaret Dibble (Maggie), another great friend of mine, who plays piano. I guess I chose the third member of the trio quite well. :)
(Recordings to Come!)
Viola Quintet: Sunrise
This Viola Quintet is based on a poem written by a dear friend of mine, Tamara McLain. It tries to depict some of the ideas presented in that poem using some unique chord clusters, different meters, and interplay between the different instruments. It was my first attempt at a quasi-impressionistic style piece. It was started at the insistence of a fellow-Violist, Julie Slaugh, who thought I should write something for our Viola studio, which at the time had 5 violas. Finished that semester but not performed, it has yet to have a live debut.
Walz for String Quintet
Walz was written for a teacher, colleague, and friend from BYU-Idaho, Ariel Loveland. She was teaching orchestra at Hobbs Middle School, and I wrote it and sent it to her for use in her class. She had me come and work with the kids on it the week of the concert and perform it with them. Ariel's a great teacher and her kids did a great job with it!
Works in Progress
String Quartet No. 1
1st Movement
Live Performance!
The Lyrical movements is in progress, and the other two are in the mulling over stages.
With this quartet, I wanted to portray musical ideas that were important to me in some way. The first movement uses a theme I heard coming from a trash compactor on campus at BYU-Idaho. I was walking from the Hinckley building and was weighed down by the question of whether or not to continue as a music major. As I walked, I heard the trash compactor and could hear a repeated pattern: DO, DO(8vb), MI, ME, and I wanted to stop and figure out what notes those were. In that instant, I knew: If I want to stop and solfege this trash compactor's melody, I do want to stay a music major.
The lyrical movement (I'm currently undecided if it will be the 2nd or 3rd movement, though I am leaning towards 3rd) is going to use elements from the hymn: "Lead, Kindly Light." Whenever I'm having troubles about deciding the future, the last line of one of the verses comforts me greatly: "I do not ask to see the distant scene/One step enough for me." It's a reminder that I don't need to know the future, but that I can take that one step and trust my Heavenly Father that it will all work out.
String Trio
1st Movement: Completed
2nd and 3rd Movements to come.
Written for two of my students, Anna and Eleyna. They are sisters, one playing violin and the other viola. I wrote this to give them an ensemble piece they could work on together. Lessons were discontinued before I got around to writing the 2nd and 3rd movements, but I still intend to finish them sometime.
Piano Works
Click Here to learn more about my works for piano.
Viola Quintet: Sunrise
This Viola Quintet is based on a poem written by a dear friend of mine, Tamara McLain. It tries to depict some of the ideas presented in that poem using some unique chord clusters, different meters, and interplay between the different instruments. It was my first attempt at a quasi-impressionistic style piece. It was started at the insistence of a fellow-Violist, Julie Slaugh, who thought I should write something for our Viola studio, which at the time had 5 violas. Finished that semester but not performed, it has yet to have a live debut.
Walz for String Quintet
Walz was written for a teacher, colleague, and friend from BYU-Idaho, Ariel Loveland. She was teaching orchestra at Hobbs Middle School, and I wrote it and sent it to her for use in her class. She had me come and work with the kids on it the week of the concert and perform it with them. Ariel's a great teacher and her kids did a great job with it!
Works in Progress
String Quartet No. 1
1st Movement
Live Performance!
The Lyrical movements is in progress, and the other two are in the mulling over stages.
With this quartet, I wanted to portray musical ideas that were important to me in some way. The first movement uses a theme I heard coming from a trash compactor on campus at BYU-Idaho. I was walking from the Hinckley building and was weighed down by the question of whether or not to continue as a music major. As I walked, I heard the trash compactor and could hear a repeated pattern: DO, DO(8vb), MI, ME, and I wanted to stop and figure out what notes those were. In that instant, I knew: If I want to stop and solfege this trash compactor's melody, I do want to stay a music major.
The lyrical movement (I'm currently undecided if it will be the 2nd or 3rd movement, though I am leaning towards 3rd) is going to use elements from the hymn: "Lead, Kindly Light." Whenever I'm having troubles about deciding the future, the last line of one of the verses comforts me greatly: "I do not ask to see the distant scene/One step enough for me." It's a reminder that I don't need to know the future, but that I can take that one step and trust my Heavenly Father that it will all work out.
String Trio
1st Movement: Completed
2nd and 3rd Movements to come.
Written for two of my students, Anna and Eleyna. They are sisters, one playing violin and the other viola. I wrote this to give them an ensemble piece they could work on together. Lessons were discontinued before I got around to writing the 2nd and 3rd movements, but I still intend to finish them sometime.
Piano Works
Click Here to learn more about my works for piano.
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