"There is no Light without Darknesse and no Substance without Shaddowe"
   ----Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor

Briefly Towards Night is a short mood piece scored for an ensemble of flugelhorn, vibraphone, harp, electric bass, and drums.

Briefly Towards Night (2021)

Involuntary Notions is a saxophone quartet in six movements:
Prelude, Caprice, Burletta, Musette, Ballad, and Scherzo.

Involuntary Notions (2020)

Tango Diabolique is the third movement of my piano trio, Fantasy Pieces. A danse macabre inspired by both Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1955 film Les Diaboliques, and the music of Astor Piazzolla.

Tango Diabolique

Danse Eccentrique is a quirky, loose-limbed dance from "Scorched Fountains," a recent work for violin and piano.

Danse Eccentrique

"Naiads (of Eastern Parkway" [2014] is scored for flute, Bb clarinet, cello, and piano and was inspired by the Jane and David Walentas Fountain in front of the Brooklyn Museum.  Plumes of water rise in the air from a row of hidden jets creating continuously changing patterns that are both balletic and musical. The water appears to hang in the air before gravity pulls it down in a percussive splatter. 
     In Greek mythology, the Naiads were water nymphs who inhabited and gave life to rivers, springs, waterfalls, and fountains.

Naiads (of Eastern Parkway) (2014)

  Two percussionists played a home made marimba constructed of 2x4's of varying lengths. With wooden sticks, they used an unusual technique of rapidly bouncing the sticks vertically off the bars to create remarkably complex interlocking rhythmic and melodic patterns.

Street Percussion (recorded in San Sebastian,Spain 7/29/15)

Gris-Gris is a single movement work for orchestra, scored for 3 flutes. 
3 clarinets, 2 horns, three trumpets, 5 percussion, piano, electric guitar, and strings. Gris-Gris is a Creole word that refers to magical trinkets, amulets, or incantations used for casting spells, divination, and healing.

Gris - Gris (for orchestra)

I wrote this setting of Maya Angelou's poem for the 2012 Black History Month Poetry Assembly at P.S. 34 in Queens Village, NYC.  The high-spirited performance is by one of the 3rd grade classes.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

The three "Twilight Waltzes" are : I (for Bill Evans), II (for Erik Satie), 
and III (for Maurice Ravel)

Originally composed for piano, they are orchestrated here for a chamber ensemble of flute, clarinet, harp, and string quintet.

Twilight Waltzes

"Strange Pavilions" is scored for jazz orchestra, comprised of reed, trumpet, and trombone sections, plus a "rhythm section" (vibraphone, piano, electric bass, and drums.) The writing is strongly influenced by jazz, but the work is through composed and without improvisation, placing it somewhere in between easily defined musical categories.

Strange Pavilions (for jazz orchestra)

New York-based composer David Koblitz writes music for orchestra, chamber ensemble, and solo instruments, as well as electronic music, dance scores, and music for film and television. He has been the recipient of grants and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, The National Academy/Institute of Arts and Letters, and the National Endowment for the Arts. His compositions have been performed by numerous ensembles including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and the Joffrey Ballet.

David Koblitz

Popular tracks