A brief atmosphere piece depicting sunrise on the Red Planet. Scored for French horn, timpani, and various Hexeract synth sounds.

Sunrise on Mars

An organ prelude based on an old piano prelude. I moved some voices an octave and added some staccato accents to make this work better on organ.

Organ Prelude in D Major

Musical impressions for oboe and piano, of a tour through the hall of orchids and bromeliads at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh PA. Dedicated to Susanna and Mort Rich. This is a Finale export from a rough-draft score. No pedaling or dynamics indicated in score yet, so it's all played at the same volume. The piece moves through numerous tonalities (E-Flat Major-C Minor- E-Flat Minor- Db Major - B-Flat Minor and then back to E-Flat. I have adhered to the actual range of the oboe and tried to allow breathing spaces. This is my first composition for oboe.

Orchids And Bromeliads

A Theme-and-Variations work somewhat in the manner of Elizabethan virginal music, such as the collection titled "The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book." This can be played on harpsichord or virginal (I'll post piano and organ versions if they sound decent). An early draft of this was composed in the 1980s when I had a Neupert harpsichord. There are no English themes employed -- just an imitation of this pre-Baroque style and its harmonic vocabulary.

An English Fantasia

This Prelude, expanded in 2003, opens up a simple theme into some dramatic statements with big chordal writing, and a couple of slightly dissonant notes (don't play on an out-of-tune piano!). Composed at the piano and then notated in Finale.

Prelude - Fantasia In G Major (Ver 2)

Prelude In F Minor Ver 2

My first piece for string orchestra. An elegy for Pennsylvania composer William Alexander, who was briefly my music theory teacher many years ago. He based a number of musical works on my poetry, so it is fitting that my tribute to him should be a musical elegy. This miniature symphonic poem is also nature painting of Edinboro and its glacial lake, and its outlet stream near which Alexander lived. (1) elegy in night fog, (2) the flitting of bats, (3)the mysterious glow of fireflies, (4) a tantrum of frogs and night sounds, and (5) a second elegy celebrating works and deeds. All the material derives from the opening bars, so this is a "continuous development" piece. It passes from C Minor to A Minor (Fireflies), back to C Minor, ending in faraway F-Sharp Minor. The Squirrel Hill Symphony Orchestra did not complain about not ending up at the tonal starting point.

Elegy and Variations for String Orchestra

This version has reverb added and sounds more natural than the one I posted earlier.

Elegy and Variations for String Orchestra - Better Version

I re-arranged my Elegy for String Orchestra into this version for String Quartet.

String Quartet No 1: Elegy and Variations

Work-in-progress. Introduction to a planned Organ Suite in D Major.

Brett Rutherford