Guernica III. The War Horse

Guernica II. A Mother Mourns Her Child

Guernica I. The Bull

Based off of the iconic painting by Vincent Van Gogh by the same title, Starry Night invokes a realm in between this and another world. With its strong tonal melody and powerful use of extended effects from all of the instruments, it invokes a provocative look into the mind of Van Gogh and artists like him. While Van Gogh was completing the paintings of the landscape outside his window, he spent time in an asylum that he himself asked to be in while he contemplated his eventual suicide. The paintings that he created late in his life show a beautiful but distorted world. It can be made clear that while he was a part of this world, he longed to escape it and reality. His paintings, while of real objects and scenes, are distorted and show us what the world may look like from somebody outside of our existence looking in. This was Van Gogh’s escape. To see the beauty in a distorted world. This piece, Starry Night, aims to capture that same feeling as the beautiful melody that is first played in the harp and then later in the strings and other instruments is distorted both directly and also by the sound world that it’s immersed into. It’s the blending of two extremely different worlds to create an entirely new one.

Starry Night Live

https://www.derekcoopercomposer.com/crystalcaverns

Imagine a cave, filled with crystals that can glow even when no other light is present. As they glow, they sing a song to each other not of our world. The idea for Crystal Caverns originally came from the idea of light shining through a crystal in such a way that it refracted into a spectrum of different colors. One ray of light enters, but many rays of color exit. The same concept is conceived in the lower saxophones as one stream of air enters the horn, but multiple notes exit at the same time through multiphonics. From there, I imagined a cave full of these crystals. It’s a beautiful, magical, and engaging image that has been conjured in many fantasy and sci fi mediums; a cave full of multicolored crystals glowing, seemingly without anything to give them initial illumination. And so, the layers that go over these hypnotic multiphonics create a realm of magic and wonder, but also mystery as I imagine what a cavern full of these crystals would sound like.

An excerpt from the premiere by Iridium Saxophone Quartet at the 2019 Red Note New Music Festival

Crystal Caverns - Iridium - Excerpt

In Andean history, there was an Incan warrior princess named Huillac Humu. During the Spanish discovery of Chile during the 1500s, this princess and her tribe were forced from their area in what is now Northern Chile. She managed to escape her captures with a group of her people and disappear into the wilderness where she began a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Spanish conquistadors and their attempt to spread their culture and Christian beliefs, earning her the name La Tirana. After a while though, she fell in love with one her prisoners, Almeyda, a Spanish soldier. It was a forbidden love that they kept secret for a time. Eventually though, her tribe discovered her affair with Almeyda and sentenced them both to death. While waiting to be executed next to her lover though, Huillac committed herself to Christianity so that her soul could find Almeyda’s in the afterlife.
La Tirana follows this story in its four movements. The first movement reflects her time as a captive in the desert with the cadenza that follows, acting as her escape. The second movement conveys her war rampage against the Spanish. The third movement elicits similarities to traditional Andean folk music and instruments as a love song is shared between the alto flute, the guitar, and the viola. Finally, the fourth movement paints the picture of the tribe’s rage against their leader’s betrayal, and the execution of Huillac and Almeyda. At the end of the piece, the violist slowly leaves, while playing ascending pairs of notes, representing the souls of the two lovers, never parting one another as they leave this life for the next.

La Tirana Mvt. II

La Tirana Mvt. I

"On the Road Home" uses text by Sarah Shey to paint a picture of life after an abusive relationship. Premiered by Sarah Childer - Mezzo Soprano and Qin Ding - Piano at Manhattan School of Music.

On The Road Home

As I began conceiving a piece for two guitars and electronics, I was suffering from a bout of nights where I had immense trouble sleeping. During many of those evenings, I would hear rain falling outside. While rain can often be a relaxing way to fall asleep, this time it became a sound that I was consciously lost in, exploring the timbres and articulations of every drop that I could audibly find. This became the impetus for Insomnia Rain, a piece in which the music becomes both hypnotic and yet distracting all at the same time.

Insomnia Rain Premiere

Based off of iconic poems by American poet Carl Sandburg, "For Memory of Them" travels through the ugliness disregard of war for human life.

For Memory of Them

Among The Red Guns

Grass

Iron

Performed by Sonic Apricity and Pianist Clare Longendyke at the 2019 Alba Music Festival in Alba, Italy

Program Notes:  

	When considering how to write for a trio of violin, viola and piano, I was drawn to the viola, an instrument that I’ve long adored. The sound of the viola’s open strings immediately became a starting point for this piece and as I began to conceive the sound it would steer me towards, other ideas and imagery began to populate my imagination. 

	The open fifths became a perfect opportunity for me to draw on my past obsession with metal music as they began to invoke one another in the early stages of writing. I wrote a short, and admittedly amateurish poem about the waking of ancient unnamed deities and allowed that to become the driving impetuous to my imagination. And so, Heavens, Awaken is the sound of an immortal alarm clock. The snooze button is hit again and again, but mankind continues to beckon for help, until…

Heavens, Awaken

Performed by Blueshift Ensemble at the Crosstown Concourse in Memphis, TN.

https://www.derekcoopercomposer.com/exodus

Blueshift Performs Exodus

In Andean history, there was an Incan warrior princess named Huillac Humu. During the Spanish discovery of Chile during the 1500s, this princess and her tribe were forced from their area in what is now Northern Chile. She managed to escape her captures with a group of her people and disappear into the wilderness where she began a campaign of guerilla warfare against the Spanish conquistadors and their attempt to spread their culture and Christian beliefs, earning her the name La Tirana. After a while though, she fell in love with one her prisoners, Almeyda, a Spanish soldier. It was a forbidden love that they kept secret for a time. Eventually though, her tribe discovered her affair with Almeyda and sentenced them both to death. While waiting to be executed next to her lover though, Huillac committed herself to Christianity so that her soul could find Almeyda’s in the afterlife. 
	La Tirana follows this story in its four movements. The first movement reflects her time as a captive in the desert with the cadenza that follows, acting as her escape. The second movement conveys her war rampage against the Spanish. The third movement elicits similarities to traditional Andean folk music and instruments as a love song is shared between the alto flute, the guitar, and the viola. Finally, the fourth movement paints the picture of the tribe’s rage against their leader’s betrayal, and the execution of Huillac and Almeyda. At the end of the piece, the violist slowly leaves, while playing ascending pairs of notes, representing the souls of the two lovers, never parting one another as they leave this life for the next.

La Tirana - Mvt. I - A Traves Del Dolor

La Tirana - Mvt. II - Mata

Written for Martin Movagh and Samuel Zagnit and dedicated to
those who have lost their lives to unnecessary police brutality, "Matter" uses the sounds of a heart beat and breath to convey life and the tragic loss of it.

Derek Cooper

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