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  ORCHESTRAL EXCERPTS
  from "IPHIGENIA, an Opera
  
  These are excerpts from my unfinished
  opera on ~ The Life of an Unheralded
  Woman of Pure Heart, whose position
  as Gate Keeper to the Heavens is rudely
  shaken when God re-aligns the Universe ~
  
  ORCHESTRA
  • Flute I–II
  • Piccolo
  • Oboe I–II
  • Clarinet I–II
  • Bass Clarinet
  • Bassoon I–II
  • Contrabassoon
  • Horn I–II
  • Trumpet I–III
  • Trombone I–II
  • Timpani
  • Percussion
  • Violin I
  • Violin II
  • Viola
  • Cello
  • Bass
  
  For my 2nd opera, my imagination
  was similarly fired, though that one
  remains more fully unwritten.
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  SYMPHONIE in A-flat
  I. Rhapsodie
  II. Variations
  III. Scherzo
  IV. Grand March
  
  Why A-flat? I happen to believe in the
  individual expressive characteristics of
  the various keys—for anyone eschewing
  Equal Temperment.
  
  A-flat strikes me as a key most amenable to
  clear harmony, with broad, relatively widely
  spaced distance between, say, the 2nd & 3rd
  or 5th & 6th degrees. Of course, these are
  obviated in such "mechanistic" renditions
  as we are compelled to offer, but the char-
  acteristics of the key -- when one is at all
  inclined to be in a key in the first place —
  nevertheless exerts its pull on the creative
  momentum.
  
  Also, it helps that neither Haydn, Mozart,
  Beethoven, nor any other of my peers ever
  made a symphony in this key, so that I
  needn't worry about rivaling great men (:
  
  The 1st mvt is a tribute to my hero and
  role-model, Iphigenia of Argolis, who went
  to her death quietly and quickly; the 2nd mvt
  is a series of 20 Variations, but — as in Elgar,
  the identity of the theme remains an enigma
  (at 4:20 I imply that it might be the Bachian
  chorale "Werde munter, meine Gemüte") ;
  the Grand March Finale is an expansion
  and development upon the march-music
  from my unfinished opera.
  
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  VICTORY SYMPHONY
  It is well known that Beethoven’s most popularly
  successful and lucrative work, his “greatest hit,”
  the so-called Victory Symphony (Wellingtons
  Sieg, op. 91), was originally written for the
  PANHARMONICON—a kind of mechanical
  orchestra invented by Johann Nepomuk Maelzel—
  and that Beethoven and Maelzel came to blows
  over the rights to the piece. It is less well-known
  that Maelzel actually engaged many composers
  to write for the PANHARMONICON, one of whom
  was a noblewoman working pseudonominously, who
  made no effort to secure name, fame, or fortune.
  Her Victory Symphony is lost to posterity, though I
  have long wondered what it might have sounded like,
  and this is my imagined reconstruction. The style is
  Beethoven’s, but the message is not.
  
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  STRING SYMPHONY #1
  When all is said and done, I don't
  care much for an institution in which
  12 or more players are expected to
  follow, in lock step, the bowings, expressions,
  and affectations of a single leader, as is the
  case with the string sections of the Western
  symphony orchestra. Nevertheless, I have
  fashioned a Symphony in One Movement
  containing the usual Allegro–Adagio–
  Scherzo–Finale, with just a few caveats.
  The grim opening is no introduction, but
  a full-fledged piece that is developed and
  recapitulated; the Scherzo (from 5:10) is
  the most contrapuntally conceived part,
  though jocular nonetheless; and the Finale
  (with solo strings) is less an ending than an
  Overture in the Manner of an Opera Buffa.
  
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  SYMPHONY FOR THE ORGAN GRINDER
  The organ grinder is probably the lowest form of musician, if indeed he can be considered a musician at all. But suppose it were otherwise––that there was an organ grinder who happened to be a really fine musician, who night-after-night concocted one beautiful melody after another that he carved into a pinblock, and that the pinblock served to activate a large mechanical instrument consisting of flues, reeds, and strings that he wheeled onto the streets––What might this have sounded like? Here is a hypothetical answer, my 30-minute exercise in the form of a four-movement "Sinfonia alla maniera de Signor Haydn."
  
  
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  FIVE STRING QUARTETS
  Since someone will inevitably come along
  and "transcribe" these into orchestral pieces,
  I include them here. (NB: Transcriptions
  from string quartet to the string orchestra
  involve--or should involve--much more than
  simply the addition of Double-Bass parts, and
  I have never encountered one that was
  convincing, except from the point-of-view
  of the conductor's conceit.)
  
  QUARTETTA PRIMA
  —Serenata
  — Adagietta
  — Minuetta
  — Variatia
  
  QUARTETTA SECONDA
  —Serenata
  — Adagietta
  — Scherzetta
  — Variatia
  
  QUARTETTA TERTIA
  —Serenata
  —Variatia
  —Alla Rustica
  —Rondeletta
  
  QUARTETTA QUARTA
  —Divertimenta
  —Affetuosa
  —Saltarela
  —Symphonia
  
  QUARTETTA QUINTA
  —Divertimenta
  —Idylla
  —Barcarolla
  —Rondeletta
  
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  HARMONIEMUSIK
  for Wind Ensemble
  
  These are outdoor-styled pieces,
  fashioned upon the old "Harmonie"
  ensembles — Wind Bands that
  functioned and flourished in many
  18th-century Habsburg courtyards.
  To the best of my knowledge
  these ensembles did not include
  the Glockenspiel or other Bells,
  and of course, neither the Tuba
  nor the Saxophones had yet been
  invented. The usual scoring was
  for a pair of Oboes (and/or other
  treble instruments), pair of Horns,
  and pair of Bassoons, so perhaps
  my ensemble may better mirror
  the spirit, rather than the letter
  of the old "Harmoniemusik."
  
  It should be mentioned, however,
  that the Harmoniemusik was a
  quintessentially conservative
  genre — and I felt that, since
  my V i c t o r y S y m p h o n y
  could not be surpassed, that
  there was no point in trying.
  
  The pieces, by the way, are neither
  Septet, Octet, or Nonet—the roster
  of players is actually indeterminate,
  since you'd inevitably have multiple
  players-per-part. ... more
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