I'm thrilled to report that my new music for 2013 - 2014 is now available! I'm really excited about this year's selections and can't wait to share them with the world. I've included links in this post so you can buy the sheet music from J.W. Pepper and listen to and/or buy the recordings on the Alfred Publishing website.
First is Dragonfly, a piece in G minor that buzzes with energy and features darting, zigzag rhythms in changing meters.
How about a little online concert? Let's kick things off with Gauntlet, performed by the McMath 8th Grade Orchestra of Denton, Texas.
This might be one of the best performances of Gauntlet I've ever heard. Here's why:
1. The tempo is perfect.
2. The expression is really great (especially in the "hard part": mm. 56 to 80)
3. Fantastic intonation and rhythmic precision.
4. The articulations are dead-on perfect. Listen to how short those staccato notes are. They're so dry they're practically a fire hazard. You could go out and get a bite to eat between each of those notes.
Up next is the 2012 Middle School Honors Orchestra (there's no indication of what district or city, but I've been able to narrow it to the state of Georgia) performing Zydeco Two-Step (they start playing at 1:00).
Nice job! It's a little faster than I'm used to hearing it, but it was handled nicely and the increased tempo adds a rollicking feel to the piece. Also, nice use of dynamics. Everyone looks like they had a good time playing this one.
Finally, here's the Cooper Middle School Orchestra (possibly of McLean, Virginia?) performing Las Mariposas Exoticas.
Delightful! They did a good job of making it sound delicate and light. The key to this piece is to make the arco articulations match the sound of the pizzicato and this group did a great job, especially at the ends of phrases.
One of my absolute favorite things about working with Alfred Publishing is hearing their promotional recordings of my music. The studio orchestra does a great job every year and I always look forward to their professional interpretations. This year's recordings are no exception.
The links below are to Alfred's music download website, Alfred-music.com, and my three new pieces for 2012-2013. You can listen via Flash or download each piece for only $.99 USD. You can search for my name or for any of my pieces and you can download those as well. For example, Gauntlet, Gargoyles, Agincourt, and Maharaja. Enjoy!
Recordings of my three newly-published pieces are now available online! Just go to alfred-music.com and do a search for my name and you can get recordings of any (or all) of my published music for just $.99 per song.
Yes, it's the year of the "S's." I totally didn't plan it, the selection committee just happened to select three pieces whose titles start with "S." People would kid me years ago because three of my first four published pieces started with "G." As I'm sure you know from exhaustively reading all the posts on this blog and committing them to memory, titles are tough for me. If I were smart, all my titles would only start with letters A through M, so they always appear in the first half of alphabetically-organized lists of titles.
But I digress.
I'm really happy with how the recordings turned out. Some of my pieces are really designed for larger forces than the nine or ten studio musicians assembled to record the Alfred catalog, but the musicianship is of such high quality that I can't complain.
Consider this when listening to Star of Valor: I had a lot of trouble with counterpoint in college. All the rules just confounded me and I'd freeze up when asked to write out a simple chorale. My fugues were musical atrocities. And here I am years later, juggling simultaneous melodies and lyrical accompaniment parts like it's nothing. In fact, it was a lot of work to get it right and the studio musicians make it sound easy and natural.
Anyway, follow those links, enjoy the new music, and please buy it if you like it. Thanks!
First, my new recordings are now available at www.alfred-music.com. Do a search for "Spata" or go directly to the new ones: A Hero's Welcome, Porcupine Pantomime, and Quicksilver. The orchestra did a great job with all of them, but (as I wote earlier) A Hero's Welcome is the standout.
Second, my Concerto for Orchestra and Tuba is getting its world premiere tonight! Acclaimed tubist T. J. Ricer will perform it as part of his PhD. recital tonight in Rochester, NY. He'll also be performing my Sonata for Piano and Tuba and four of my pieces for string orchestra, which I arranged for tuba duet. Break a leg, T.J.!
