"drip" is an electronic work entirely created from the sound of a dripping faucet which has been processed in various ways until its drippy origins have been completely obscured.

drip

My band arrangement of the Gurewich saxophone concerto, performed by Scotty Stepp in 2012. Recorded on an old iPhone, so apologies for the sound quality.

Gurewich Concerto--sax and wind orchestra

"The Star-Spangled Banner" arranged by Daniel Powers.
Carmel Symphony Orchestra (David Bowden, conductor)
Anderson University Choral Ensembles (Rick Sowers, conductor)
Recorded in concert April 12, 2014 at The Palladium, Carmel IN

The Star Spangled Banner

"Intrada" is my first piece for wind orchestra (i.e., band), finished in February 2014. The title is a semi-obsolete term implying a ceremonial processional of some kind; hopefully my reasons for using the term will be obvious. 

This is from the March 6 premiere by the Indiana State University Wind Orchestra, conducted by Roby George. There are some revisions I did later which naturally aren't reflected in this performance. Most of the changes were in the percussion parts (I have no idea what I was thinking, using that shaker in the middle section!). 

Intrada (2014)

This was one of the first projects I completed after purchasing the first version of Garritan Personal Orchestra back when it was first available. I had done an orchestration of this Debussy piano piece as an exercise several years previously, and I wanted to hear approximately how it sounded.

Debussy: D'un Cahier D'Esquisses (MIDI mockup of orchestration)

My arrangement for solo voice and orchestra (this performance uses a unison children's chorus in place of the soloist). Recorded in concert a long time ago by the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra and Children's Chorus.

05 Bring A Torch Jeanette, Isabella

Composed by Daniel Powers. Performed by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Robert Ian Winstin, conductor.

The Starry Messenger

A MIDI version, generated from the Finale file, of "Cloudscapes," my 2009 work for Flute ensemble. Scored for six flutes, alto flute, and bass flute, it is in two movements, "Cirrus" and "Nacreous." (Nacreous clouds are seen in the image here. To see them for real you'll probably have to go to Antarctica or someplace like that.)

Cloudscapes (Finale playback version)

Traditional French Christmas Carol, arranged for SATB and orchestra by Daniel Powers. Performance recording by the Indiana State University Masterworks Chorale and Symphony Orchestra, 2000 or 2001.



He Is Born, The Divine Christ Child (SATB and orchestra)

Some Nights in Midwinter was written between the Augusts of 2016 and 2017, with funding from the Indiana State University Arts Commission. This is its first performance.

I began the piece with the working title String Quartet no. 1, with an idea for a five-movement string quartet with a vocal part in three of the movements (following the precedent set almost a century ago by Arnold Schoenberg, whose Second Quartet includes an added vocalist in two of its four movements). As work progressed, I began to have second thoughts. A work with such a strong vocal presence seems better described as a song cycle rather than the more abstract designation “String Quartet.” On the other hand, the presence of two substantial instrumental movements, plus the integration of all five movements with recurring themes, chords, pitch sets, and so on, seems to place the work outside the usual understanding of the term “song cycle.” My decision to title the work Some Nights in Midwinter with the subtitle String Quartet no. 1 represents a—possibly awkward—attempt to have it both ways.

The three vocal movements use texts by Matthew Brennan, my friend and a colleague in the English department of ISU, and are taken from his book The House With the Mansard Roof. I had wanted to set his poem Nights Our House Comes to Life for a long time, so of course that was the first one I picked. The poem concerns the sometimes startling sounds that an old house makes during a cold winter night, and the unexpected memories those sounds evoke. I decided to fill out the piece with two more wintery poems. The second, December Sunset in Terre Haute, vividly describes a scene that will be familiar to most long-term Hautians. The quartet closes with Farm Houses, describing a late-winter storm and the delayed hopes for the emergence of Spring.

By design, the function of the two instrumental movements is more formal than descriptive. The second movement has a delicate dance-like character, providing contrast between the first two songs. For the fourth movement, I felt that something faster was required, so I wrote a movement based on a swirling triplet motive, with a middle section on a pizzicato theme introduced by the cello.

DanPowers