A little piece with an adventure-movie feel. Composition and sampled orchestration by Bob Young, 2022. (Image: Eberhard Grossgasteiger from Pexels.)

Mountain Spirit

Overture for a Hero

The inspiration for "Heat Waves" is my own climate anxiety. The feeling is always there, lurking below the surface of everyday moments.

Heat Waves

Literally, stella means "star" in Italian; nova means "new" in Latin. "Stella Nova" is the term astronomer Tycho Brahe used in 1572 when he made the first observation of a supernova (an old star exploding). So, with a nod to Brahe, this piece tells the story of a star's life: from protostar emerging in a star-forming nebula; to a mature massive star, aging to become a red supergiant; and finally going supernova (exploding) and spreading gas and dust -- to become a star-forming nebula. The process is circular. And mysterious, to me anyway.

4 Nebula

3 Supernova

2 Massive Star, Red Supergiant

1 Protostar

"Cantillation" is the ritual recitation of, and response to, prayers. It's practised by many cultures. In this piece, several melodies of ancient Hebrew cantillation meet European tertian harmony -- the basic triads of major and minor keys. The instrumentation here consists of piano, violin, viola, and cello.

Cantillations: Piano Quartet

Written in Phrygian Major mode, this hybrid piece has both orchestral and electronic sounds. The latter include both the high-pitched melody line and the atmospheric and percussive backup.

What Will Be

Inspired by Lawren Harris's Lake Superior paintings of the 1920s, this wind quintet alternates meditative moods with turbulent ones. It's a form of rondo: A-B-A-C-A-B-A. Each time an A- or B-section returns, it's modified to add variety. (Image: Lawren Harris, "Clouds, Lake Superior," oil on canvas, 40 x 50 inches, 1923. Art Gallery of Winnipeg.)

Clouds, Lake Superior (Wind Quintet)

Contemporary classical compositions. Once music composition is complete, these tracks are produced by Bob Young with the REAPER digital audio workstation (DAW), sometimes a synthesizer, and with sampled instruments from Spitfire Audio.