"Variations on an Original Theme" is a piece I wrote when I was 19; it consists of an 8 bar theme that I composed, and four variations upon it. This piece I dedicated to my former college teacher, Carl Johnson

Variations On An Original Theme [2007]

cello sonata no. 2 adagio.wav

Marco Elia Righi - Chlorophelia (2022)
Brano ispirato all'omonimo dipinto di Omar Galliani, Commssionato ed eseguito dall'Orchestra Sinfonica del Conservatorio di Reggio Emilia "A. Peri" e diretto da Marco Boni.

Piece inspired by the Omar Galliani painting by the same name. Commissioned and played live by the Reggio Emilia Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marco Boni. 
LIVE RECORDING

Righi - Orchestral Works

Chlorophelia

Clorophelia

“At Peace” is dedicated to the radical bass virtuoso, educator, and  civil rights activist Richard Davis, who always challenged the  boundaries of what was possible and where he belonged, both  musically and socially.  While improvisational based music is certainly more and more accepted in concert music settings now, it is still often considered as "the other", as opposed to thru composed classical music or song based musics.  As a lifelong student and practitioner of a few disparate musical traditions, I often find the separation between different musics that I love disappointing and frustrating.   Why can’t Arnold Schoenberg’s music be heard in concert alongside Charles Mingus’?  Why must Franz Joseph Haydn remain segregated from freely improvised music or Noh theater?  Why can’t the high  lonesome sound of Bill Monroe stand next to the grandeur of Duke  Ellington within the same work?   

As someone who loves so much music, I often feel pressure to conform to the boundaries or trends of a given style or genre, and feel like I'm not “supposed” to express everything I hear, or everything I want to say, if “doesn’t belong”.  Obviously many of these genre or stylistic limitations are conscious hundred(s) years old ways to segregate groups and classes of people, but remain a part of how institutions view styles of music.  Crazy, I know!  But as someone who has so much love in their heart for so many different musical histories, I really don’t care to separate the things that I love, and whether I planned on it or not, that is what is at the center of “At Peace”, for improvising trumpet and string quartet, written for Nate Wooley & Daedalus Quartet.  

This piece marries my love of the entire history of improvised music with my love of the classical tradition, taking far too many influences from in and outside of those histories to clearly identify to creatr something unlike anything I’ve written before.  So that’s pretty cool if you ask me!  Does it  mean it’s good?  Heck no!  But, it does mean that I can take all these things that I love, that I’ve been told to keep separate all of my life, and smush them together in one piece of music that feels like me, and that’s  something that makes me happy.  The bass playing and music of Richard Davis is something that constantly inspires me to be more of myself, no matter what, and with “At Peace”, I feel just a little bit more like myself.  Enjoy!

Daedalus Quartet + Nate Wooley - At Peace (2024)

Here to be found in my first string quintet; quirky, abrasive and seemingly complicated sections/gestures are all kept in check by the employment of Sonata form.

String Quintet Nr 1 in D minor

Most remember Gayle Dixon for her voluminous recording profile in Latin music and Jazz. She was also an excellent new music player in the European tradition. Here she is with Brenda Vincent playing a Duo for Two Violins in 1985 at the 13th Street Theater.
I. Ratamacues
II. Drags
III. Flam Taps
IV Paradiddles


Violin Duo

My formative work for string quartet. Dedicated to Martin Tanton.

"Movement" for String Quartet [2023-24]

Via Crucis - 2. Jesus Takes Up His Cross 4-04-25

Via Crucis - 3. Jesus Falls for the First Time 4/9/25

Via Lucis - 1. First- Jesus is Raised From the Dead 4/23/25

See the score: https://issuu.com/utsyochakraborty/docs/chakraborty_a_concerto_for_piano_and_orchestra

A Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (2020-21) 

1. A Triptych: Prelude - Partita - Toccata I (0:00-10:30)
2. Introduction - Cadenza - Nocturne (10:30-20:05)
3. Finale - Toccata II (20:05-29:12)

to Nicolas Kingman, on his 45th birthday. 

"A Concerto for Piano and Orchestra" was composed between the months of August and December 2020, with revisions being made in January 2021. Writing a concerted piece for piano with orchestra had always been something I wanted to do. After six abortive attempts over a span of 7 years did this piece come along. As time passed, my own conception of the work changed. I wanted to create a piece in which the orchestra had an important role to play and was not just merely accompanying the piano. Each instrumental group is an individual voice, or as Harry Birtwistle says "voices in a football chorus". The piece is laid out in three movements, closely interconnected to each other. The first movement is a Triptych, beginning with a brash and aggressive prelude and then leading into a playful game (thus, partita) before concluding with a rhythmically agile toccata. The second movement, a nocturne, is linked to the previous movement via a cadenza. This movement features a melody, developing slowly in the winds and brass, with commentary from the Piano, percussion and strings, till there is an almost exultant release of energy making that developing melody present itself uninterrupted. This leads directly into the third movement, which transforms the material of the toccata of the first movement into a frantic, jovial dance which dies away in the spirit of the nocturne. 

The work is a 45th birthday present for Nicolas Kingman, with whom I have had some wonderful conversations in music and who "wanted to hear the Piano Concerto quite eagerly!" 


cello sonata no. 2 adagio.wav

Christopher Gordon Forbes

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