As it Fell on a Holie Eve

Voluntary for My Lady Nevell by William Byrd. AS IT FELL ON A HOLIE EVE (recorded 2010)

Parthenia and Renaissance violinist Robert Mealy perform a set of fancy divisions on the tune FRAIS ET GALLIARD by Giovanni Bassano (c.1558–1617).
Les Amours de Mai CD 

Les Amours de Mai

Divisions on Frais et galliard by Giovanni Bassano (Recorded 2009)

Performed and Recorded by James Nova, all trombones.

Terpsichore (terp-si-core-ay) comes to us from Greek Mythology. One of the nine classical Muses, her patronage was that of lyric poetry, dancing and playing the flute. In our contemporary lexicon, the derivative adjective terpsichorean means (n.) "a dancer" and (adj.) "pertaining to dancing."

In 1612, the German composer and music theorist Michael Praetorius (1571—1621) published a collection of over 300 dances in a collection he called Terpsichore, Musarum Aoniarum. Arranged by Praetorius for unspecified instrumental ensembles, the dances were derived from the stately French dance repertoire of the day, which includes forms such as bourrée, gavotte, la volta, galliard, etc.

This work draws from the Branles Simple (la, la, la, je ne l'ose dire), which is included in Praetorius' collection and attributed to French composer Pierre-Francisque Caroubel (1556—1615?). My treatment of the material takes inspiration from another modern work, the colossal and rarely heard ballet/opera, Tanz-Schul, completed in 1987 by Mauricio Kagel (1931—2008). Kagel similarly sourced material from a manual of dance music, Gregorio Lambranzi’s 1716 treatise New and Curious Theatrical School of Dancing, which featured bizarre illustrations, detailed descriptions and short, melodic examples. Kagel's preference to satirize the material made special use of the fabulous illustrations and countless notational errors found throughout the musical engravings in the treatise.

I prefer to think of my piece as an examination of Praetorius and Caroubel's work as seen through a kaleidoscope. The source material floats like an earworm melody that's been stuck in your head for as long as you can remember; mutated, interrupted, deconstructed and reassembled in the churning tides of thought and memory.

(Completed May 31, 2024)�

"Terpsichore" (for Trombone Choir)

World Premiere peformance by the Las Cruces Symphony
Ming Luke, conductor
Atkinson Recital Hall, New Mexico State University
Saturday, March 29, 2025

Synopsis

Some years ago (in 2007 or 2008) I came across the following passage on a now forgotten website: “On September 24, 1235, General Yoritsume [sic] and his army observed unidentified globes of light flying in erratic patterns in the night sky near Kyoto, Japan. It is believed that General Yoritsume enlisted the services of a team of astronomers to investigate the cause of the incident, allegedly making this event the earliest known scientific analysis of a UFO sighting. After some deliberation, the General's advisors reported to him that it was merely the wind causing the stars to sway.” This story is presumed to refer to Kujō Yoritsune, the fourth shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate in 13th century Japan. Sixteen years later, a return to the internet yields the following anecdote in the Wikipedia article overviewing Yoritsune’s reign: “1244 (Kangen 2): In the spring of this year, a number of extraordinary phenomena in the skies over Kamakura troubled Yoritsune deeply.” There is no further information recorded about this event.

A cursory review of additional online references to this tale yields only paranormal and cryptid investigators and ufologists drawing biased confirmations that the former, unverified story contributes to the body of possible evidence that the ancient and classical worlds were, for some reason, visited by aliens. Interestingly enough, while the internet's base for validating pseudoscientific claims, conspiracies and urban legends has immeasurably deepened in the years since 2007, so too has the public’s awareness, interest and validation of so-called UFOs. It would have been hard to imagine back then that a decade and a half later both the United States and Japanese governments would hold public hearings in governmental chambers and establish legitimate ministries to investigate these matters. Without suggesting there are really aliens out there watching us, in a much more pragmatic way than the TV show predicted The X-Files has come true. “Wind is Causing the Stars to Sway” is a work for orchestra that is meant to provide a soundtrack for the curious, apocryphal tale of “General Yoritsume” and what he and his soldiers might have witnessed in the skies above medieval Kyoto. The underlying themes are rooted in the pitfalls of pseudoscientific investigation and circumstantial evidence being used to bolster present day, presupposed conclusions about UFOs and the significance of humanity’s position in the cosmos.�

Wind Is Causing The Stars To Sway (for Orchestra)

I've been wanting to arrange and overdub this terrific moment in the Hook soundtrack for quite some time! John Williams captures the incredible power of youthful vigor and energy in this amazing music. Hope you enjoy this arrangement for 11 parts (2 altos, 6 tenors, 2 basses and 1 contrabass trombones)!!

The Flight to Neverland

Dedicated to Satoru Iwata.

Gunk Loops

BlueTeeth

Taken from the album 'Hubris' released as LP, CD and Download,
Players: Oren Ambarchi, Crys Cole, Will Guthrie,  Arto Lindsay, Joe Talia, Ricardo Villalobos, Keith Fullerton Whitman

Hubris

Oren Ambarchi 'Hubris Part 3 (excerpt)' (EMEGO 227)

Choppy x13/2012

Christian Kriegeskotte (BFA, MM) is a composer and performing arts professional with two decades of experience in film, television, video games, the recording industry and arts administration. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Music in composition from Carnegie Mellon University School of Music. His primary teachers have been Leonardo Balada, Nancy Galbraith, Fabien Levy and conductor Robert Page. Christian started his formal education in 1998 as Carnegie Mellon’s only performance major in the Highland Bagpipe under the tutelage of Pipe Majors Alasdair Gillies and James McIntosh, MBE.

Christian's compositions and arrangements have been performed by the Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Opera, American Composers Orchestra, New York Pops, eighth blackbird, The Ethel Quartet, The Parker Quartet, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, The New York Miniaturist Ensemble, IonSound Project, Alia Musica and pianist Eric Clark. Upcoming performances include commissions by the Las Cruces Symphony (Ming Luke, conductor), Duquesne University Trombone Choir and Carnegie Mellon Jazz Choir. His music is also featured in the classic cabinet arcade game Nicktoons Nitro, developed by Raw Thrills Entertainment, a Chicago-based arcade game designer.

Christian's film and television credits include Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Stephen Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, Robert Rodruiguez’s Sin City, the animated feature film Robots, Idiocracy, Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Skeleton Key, The Longest Yard, The World’s Fastest Indian, The Interpreter, Hide and Seek, Meet the Fockers, The Pacifier, Red Eye, XXX 2: State of the Union, Ice Princess, The Fantastic Four, Elektra and others. Christian additionally prepared music for two seasons of The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill and for the premiere season of American Dad. Additional credits include orchestral charts for Kanye West, medley scores for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and charts for Paul Anka's 2005 album Rock Swings (featuring Anka's cover of "Blackhole Sun" by Soundgarden).

Wind Is Causing The Stars To Sway (for Orchestra)

Christian Kriegeskotte, composer

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