List of compositions
Selections from the forthcoming musical on the lives of famed pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read:
Welcome to Mankind (2020) - 8 minutes.
Program Notes: Opening Prologue of the Musical.
Anne Bonny’s father struggles with the fact that girls seem to be set on a path towards marriage and family from birth while boys are afforded more opportunity. He himself was afforded a great deal of opportunity which allowed him to become a successful middle-class lawyer. If only there was some way to afford his daughter, whom he loves so dearly, the same opportunity that he himself had.
Mary Read’s mother is left to possible destitution. She gets pregnant with an unknown lover’s child while her husband is lost at sea and likely dead. After hearing of the likely death of her son, her wealthy mother-in-law starts sending her money to support her and her 2-year-old son. The 2-year-old son dies of a fever shortly before she gives birth to Mary. She decides to dress Mary as a boy and call her Mark in order to pass her off as her dead son and continue to receive financial support from her mother-in-law.
Captain Calico Jack (2020) - 6 minutes.
Program Notes: As the pirates are finishing up preparing their vessel, their Captain approaches. We are introduced to Captain “Calico Jack” Rackham as he passes Anne on the docks. He makes note of her, recognizing her as someone he’s seen around. When Anne meets the Captain, she immediately falls for him, or possibly the way his lifestyle makes her feel and the freedom it represents. Calico Jack offers John Bonny money to divorce
I Want a Place to Call My Own (2020) - 2.5 minutes.
Program Notes: Mary Read is living in the Caribbean on their own and dresses as a man. They are struggling with their own identity as a woman and have been bouncing around from place to place for years now. Mary is tired of running away and starting a new life each time people inevitably discover that they were actually born a woman.
Fleeing Forward (2019) - for string quartet. 8 minutes.
Performed by the Dali Quartet
Program Notes: Performed in 2019 by the Dali Quartet, this work draws heavily on Eastern musical traditions. The intent was to combine this distinctly cultural sound with a contemporary sound steeped heavily in Neo-Romanticism. Written in a fast 7/8, the work is rhythmically aggressive, juxtaposed with a flowing, lyrical melody. The bridge of the piece, long enough to stand as a full work in its own right, evokes the intense emotion of the late Romantic era that it draws from. This elongated B section takes the listener on a journey far away from where they began, yet subtly works its way back to an incredibly satisfying return to the intensity and conviction of the primary theme, albeit even more aggressive and steadfast than before.
Fugue in D Minor (2019) - for piano solo. 3 minutes.
Program Notes: For solo piano, this work manages to adhere to J.S. Bach’s conventions of the Fugue, yet simultaneously evokes a distinctly modern and melancholic sound.
Groves of Sweet Myrtle (2019) - for alto voice, violin, double bass, mandolin, and acoustic guitar. 5 minutes.
Poem by Robert Burns
Groves of Sweet Myrtle is based on a poem by Robert Burns, seen by many as a national hero of Scotland. To me, this poem is about the desire to venture out into the world while longing for your homeland and struggling to maintain your roots. I sought to pay homage to these Scottish roots by honoring the traditional celtic “jig” rhythm and strophic formal structure. Though the harmony flirts with polytonality (the guitar and mandolin almost never play the same chord at the same time), it remains firmly rooted in A major. The accelerated harmonic rhythm at the end of the verses is very typical of the style, cycling through distantly related chromatic chords is not and is used to highlight the most tense lyrical moments at the ends of the first and third verses. There is also a constant struggle between the Ionian and Mixolydian modes, representative of the struggle to maintain this connection to the Scottish homeland. “Bluegrass” music was a result of Irish and Scottish immigrants bringing their musical culture to American Appalachia. The quasi-bluegrass section is used as a real-world demonstration of the impact of Irish and Scottish culture on the rest of the world.
Their groves o' sweet myrtle let Foreign Lands reckon,
Where bright-beaming summers exalt the perfume;
Far dearer to me yon lone glen o' green breckan,
Wi' the burn stealing under the lang, yellow broom.
Far dearer to me are yon humble broom bowers
Where the blue-bell and gowan lurk, lowly, unseen;
For there, lightly tripping, among the wild flowers,
A-list'ning the linnet, aft wanders my Jean.
Tho' rich is the breeze in their gay, sunny valleys,
And cauld Caledonia's blast on the wave;
Their sweet-scented woodlands that skirt the proud palace,
What are they?-the haunt of the Tyrant and Slave.
The Slave's spicy forests, and gold-bubbling fountains,
The brave Caledonian views wi' disdain;
He wanders as free as the winds of his mountains,
Save Love's willing fetters-the chains of his Jean.
- Robert Burns
Passion and Persistence (2019) - for solo cello. 7 minutes.
Program Notes: This piece follows a musical narrative that explores the trials and tribulations of establishing yourself professionally in your twenties. More specifically, establishing yourself in a passion-driven career; one that may not make sense in a world steeped in deteriorating economic conditions. I chose to compose this piece for a solo instrument to reflect the isolation we feel when facing a crisis of career and profession.
The first movement begins with the optimism many of us feel immediately after graduating college. Slowly, some hiccups, pitfalls, and challenges emerge, until ultimately our protagonist becomes full of frustration and contemplates giving up on his dream. This movement ends with our hero ultimately deciding to try to return to his original plan, with a new, possibly false sense of optimism.
The second movement begins with a sense of excitement and relief as our protagonist decides to change to a more stable career path. He quickly begins to experience some hesitation about his decision, reflected in the music by a few unsettling pauses on the note A-flat. Throughout this piece, he goes back and forth about whether or not he has made the right decision for himself by deciding to settle on an easier career path. After some thoughtful contemplation, he ultimately decides that his life must have purpose and he returns to his original vigor and optimism.
The third movement is all about the protagonists’ struggles to make it in his chosen profession, despite seemingly insurmountable odds. He isn’t quite as naive as he once was and he knows it will be difficult. When listening to this movement, the listener will hear hints of optimism and some fear, interspersed with general frustration and agitation. At the close of the piece, it is ultimately up to the listener to decide whether or not the protagonist has succeeded in his dream. This begs the question: “what defines professional success, anyway?”
This World is Not Conclusion (2018) - for piano and voice. 4 minutes.
Poem by Emily Dickinson
This World is not Conclusion.
A Species stands beyond –
Invisible, as Music –
But positive, as Sound –
It beckons, and it baffles –
Philosophy, don’ t know –
And through a Riddle, at the last –
Sagacity, must go –
To guess it, puzzles scholars –
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion, shown –
Faith slips – and laughs, and rallies –
Blushes, if any see –
Plucks at a twig of Evidence –
And asks a Vane, the way –
Much Gesture, from the Pulpit –
Strong Hallelujahs roll –
Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
That nibbles at the soul –
- Emily Dickinson
Organized Chaos (2018) - for oboe solo. 2 minutes.
Program Notes: This piece attempts to examine the complexities of personality traits. The initial theme is meticulous in nature, which subtly spins out of control into the realm of the disorganized. These two personality traits seem inherently contradictory; however, upon further reflection, may be two facets of the same idea. Can a meticulous person also be disorganized? Does being disorganized have an impact on a person’s meticulous nature? Is one personality trait a byproduct of the other?
Variations on a Theme of Sakura, Sakura (2018) - for violin, clarinet, and piano. 5 minutes.
Pervasive Percussive Polyrhythms (2018) - for two percussionists. 4 minutes.
Prelude to Bonny and Read (2017) - for full symphonic orchestra. 11 minutes.
Flute. Oboe. Clarinet in Bb. Bassoon. Horn in F. Trumpet in Bb. Trombone. Tuba. Timpani. Cymbals. Tubular Bells. Marimba. Violin 1. Violin 2. Viola. Cello. Double Bass
Light (2017) - for piano quintet. 5.5 minutes.
Program Notes: Written to highlight the extreme emotions that Jared and his wife Lindsay felt prior to and immediately following the birth of their daughter.