Archives for the month of August
March of the Ants
Part 1 of the "Insect Kingdom Suite," March of the Ants is a programmatic work, depicting the highly structured and soldier-like existence of ants. You can hear the ants working tenaciously, even rallying against enemies in battle, eventually marching on, nothing standing in their way.
Scheeringa
Scheeringa is actually the last name of a friend of mine, and I used the name because it sounded Irish to me, and very sprightly. It turns out, the name is actually Dutch, but it still seems fitting to me. I studied Scottish and Irish music during my time at Peabody, and tried to capture some of that flavor in this composition.
Noctum
Noctum is Latin for "Night." For me, this piece captures the feeling that night-time delivers. I wrote the entire piece over the course of many nights, and I only worked on it during the calm silence of the night. It was also an exercise for me, to see if I could keep the melodies simple and haunting, having no more than two lines weaving around each other at a time.
Ruckschlag
Ruckschlag is German for "frustration." I'm sure the music will make more sense with that in mind. I studied Bartok's compositional style during my graduate studies at Peabody, and used several of his stylistic elements in the writing of this piece.
Pensatina
Pensatina is pensive and even slightly lamenting. "Pensativa" is Spanish for "Thoughts" or “Thinker,” so I just changed the word slightly for aesthetics.
Ash and Pixie Dust
Ash and Pixie Dust was written about contrast. I meant for the darker side of the piece (mostly carried in the bass line) to be represented in the title by the "Ash" while contrasted simultaneously by the lighter, more melodic line, the "Pixie Dust" (after Tinkerbell from Peter Pan--the dust that made everyone fly.)