Compositions
Scores are in various states of revision as of September, 2026, and will be available for purchase soon.
Music for Tuesdays with Morrie
Original music for stage productions
Commissioned by Cedarville University for their 2009 stage production of Tuesdays with Morrie; this saved them several hundred dollars in licensing fees. These eight original pieces replace the songs mentioned in the script like 'Body and Soul' and 'All the Things You Are' (the license for 'The Very Thought of You' is included with performance rights for Morrie).
Technical Difficulties
Sonata for clarinet in A and piano (2000, revised 2026)
I. Fugitive Televisions. A snarky Soviet-influenced march/tango with a somber ending.
Listen (pre-revision version)
II. Angel Band. Slow movement with a hymn tune weaving in and out of the texture, climaxing in a Southern Gospel section.
Listen (pre-revision version)
III. Eleventh Hour. A kaleidoscopic, unhinged Bulgarian-Klezmer-Boogie Woogie in 11/16 time.
Listen (pre-revision version)
Listen (pre-revision version)
II. Angel Band. Slow movement with a hymn tune weaving in and out of the texture, climaxing in a Southern Gospel section.
Listen (pre-revision version)
III. Eleventh Hour. A kaleidoscopic, unhinged Bulgarian-Klezmer-Boogie Woogie in 11/16 time.
Listen (pre-revision version)
Sergei Yesenin Songs
Four songs for soprano and viola on texts by Russian poet Sergei Yesenin (1998, revised 2026)
I. Fields and Fields of Grain. An ode to rural life and its vicissitudes, in a deceptively simple setting.
II. For My Sister, Shura. Fragments of childhood memories with a touch of dark humor.
III. Wind, Wind, Winter Wind. A passionate, mercurial song of sadness and longing.
II. For My Sister, Shura. Fragments of childhood memories with a touch of dark humor.
III. Wind, Wind, Winter Wind. A passionate, mercurial song of sadness and longing.
IV. I Regret Nothing. A clear-eyed look back at lost youth, ending in acceptance.
Songs without Good Words
Five songs for baritone, clarinet in A, and piano (1998, revised and expanded 2026)
I. The Ass and the Flute. A cute 7/8 pop song about a donkey who accidentally creates music.
II. A Fish Wish. An impressionistic and melancholy desire for a simple life in the water with a slightly naughty non-rhyme.
I. The Ass and the Flute. A cute 7/8 pop song about a donkey who accidentally creates music.
II. A Fish Wish. An impressionistic and melancholy desire for a simple life in the water with a slightly naughty non-rhyme.
III. From Ludwig to Johann. Crabby, randy, and patronizing selections from Beethoven's letters to his younger brother.
IV. The Limerick on the Mount. Five lines about Mt. Everest that are too clever for their own good.
IV. The Limerick on the Mount. Five lines about Mt. Everest that are too clever for their own good.
V. Lorem Ipsum. A setting of the gibberish placeholder text used by graphic designers with a chant-like voice part laid over wild piano writing.
An Abraham Triptych
For piano (2007/2009/2026)
I. Between Bethel and Ai. Based on Abram's journey after his call. Hope and doubt play off of each other until the music settles suddenly into into a new confidence. (Genesis 12)
Listen
II. An Horror of Great Darkness. God meets Abram in a deep sleep and foretells his peaceful death and the enslavement of his descendants. (Genesis 15)
III. God Hath Made Me to Laugh. Sarah gets the last word, expressing her joy at bearing a son. (Genesis 21)
II. An Horror of Great Darkness. God meets Abram in a deep sleep and foretells his peaceful death and the enslavement of his descendants. (Genesis 15)
III. God Hath Made Me to Laugh. Sarah gets the last word, expressing her joy at bearing a son. (Genesis 21)
Symphony in F
A bit of juvenilia from age 15. The orchestration is certainly naive, but in composing this, I had to teach myself several valuable things:
- How to use a copy machine, since I had to print my own staff paper
- Conventions of score layout
- Aural dictation -- transcribing a folk tune for the main theme
- Ranges, techniques, and articulations for each instrument
- How to read vertically quickly, which turned out to be an immense help with sight-reading
- Starting a project this big and doggedly finishing it