Instrumental Music, Secular Choral and other miscellaneous works

I. Etudes, Studies in Composition for Piano

Short compositions for piano from my undergraduate and graduate school days. I recorded the first Twelve Etudes many years ago, which you can listen to here:

II. Piano Sonata

One of my few large scale works, this Sonata uses a nine-tone scale, alternating half and whole steps (which I have heard called “half-diminished” and “octatonal”), with the exception of the fughetto in the fourth movement, the earliest completed section of the piece. I began sketching the fourth movement as early as 1992, and completed the final (second) movement about ten years later.

Not a piece for the faint-hearted, I once briefly and audaciously considered myself able enough to record the third and fourth movements, but am hoping someday (with some futility) for a definitive performance by a real pianist.

III. Poems of Wilfred Owen

Major works for six-part mixed chorus a cappella, as performed by The New York Virtuoso Singers, under the direction of Harold Rosenbaum. Two war poems by the English poet, Wilfred Owen:

1. Dulce et decorum est  (January 2004) [score and recorded excerpts]

2. Mental Cases  (March 2009) [score and recorded excerpts].

These were by far the most important premieres of my career, and I owe a large debt of gratitude to Maestro Rosenbaum and his extraordinary singers for their unparalleled dedication and professionalism. For complete recordings, please contact the composer.