Reed Quintet No. 1 "Heroes and Villains"

This is music for 3am computer speakers
And driving at dawn

Un Jardin

Mountain Piques

Grabill & Warren, 5/19 Sound Session

The first movement of Reed Quintet No. 1 "Heroes and Villains," by Elliott Grabill
Performed by the Civitasolis Quintet

Many thanks to:
Luis Gallo Quintero, oboe and English horn
Amy Humberd, Bb and Eb clarinets
Beth King-Bennett, alto saxophone
Ryan Pereira, bass clarinet
Robert Alexander, bassoon

I. Heroes And Villains (Live)

The second movement of Reed Quintet No. 1 "Heroes and Villains," by Elliott Grabill
Performed by the Civitasolis Quintet
Many thanks to:
Luis Gallo Quintero, oboe and English horn
Amy Humberd, Bb and Eb clarinets
Beth King-Bennett, alto saxophone
Ryan Pereira, bass clarinet
Robert Alexander, bassoon

II. Dark Money (Live)

III. Jeering Song (Live)

IV. Patty Cake (Live)

V. Elegy (Live)

"Endurance" opens with a haunting melody, and often adopts a sinister tone.  It maintains a steady tempo, in accordance with the title.  

This is a reading of the piece from May 3, 2017 by a few friends at Peabody.  I wrote most of it during December 2016 and January 2017.

Endurance

Endurance, for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano

Demo / Draft Recording
A comic piece that brings out the joy of the holiday season!

Originally for SSA trio
Men's chorus version also available.
Ideal for a vocal ensemble with strong voice actors.


I wrote the libretto myself:

All:
I love winter!
Walking in the snow,
and dancing everywhere!

S1:
Ice skating figure eights, and drinking hot cocoa and watching chestnuts, roasting on an open fire!  Snowball fights!  Then going to Macy’s to buy myself a sexy new parka for Christmas!

S2:
Ice skating is lots of fun!  Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and snowball fights.

All:
But the thing I love most about winter
is when school’s out!

Alto:
We’ve got a huge blizzard coming down from the north, which is going to cause some major delays and lots and lots of school closings, including Baltimore County,

S1 and Alto:
Hallelujah!

S1:
Howard County, Fairfax County, Montgomery County,

Alto: 
In fact, why not all of us just take the day off today?  Just because it’s winter.

All:
I love winter, all the snowflakes that fall from the sky;
I love winter, keeping warm with my love by the fire.
I love winter, walking in a winter wonderland!

When it’s cold out,
I mean really cold,
When it gets to twenty degrees below zero…

S1:  
Slush!  Traffic jams, drunk relatives, waiting in long lines to return those things that I don’t like,

S2:
Being single on Valentines Day, and seeing all your friends out on dates, while you’re at home surfing Facebook.  Don’t forget gaining fifteen pounds from all that Christmas food!
Alto:  Idiots who can’t drive!

All: 
There are things that I don’t like about winter.
That’s why I’m going on a six day, all inclusive cruise!

S2:
Please have your seat backs and tray tables locked and in their full, upright position as the cabin crew prepares to take you on a non-stop flight to paradise.

I Love Winter

Many thanks to:
Nicholas Bentz, violin I
Chris Ciampoli, violin II
Jasper Zientek, viola I
Andrew Goo, viola II
Mauricio Gallego, cello I
Renée Delgado, cello II

Edwin Huet, sound engineer
Recorded in Heartwood Sound Studio
Baltimore, MD

Lake Pontchartrain

Elements are powerful things.  
Teaming with electrical charge
Bonds, energy, randomness
Electrons flying at the speed of light

Cadmium -- 48 protons, 48 neutrons
Spinning around, strongly bonded, 
their quarks bonded stronger
electrons following a topology 
unponderable to the human mind

When nuclei have too many protons, 
they become unstable, and fall apart.
Cadmium is large, glorious, silver and orange, 
it beams unconditional light like giant star

Cadmium

IV.  Waterfall

III.  The Heaven Of Animals

Part of me is deeply rooted in the classical music tradition.  In "Bursting at the Brim," I use modern day electronics to incorporate my own voice into the classical music genre.

"Bursting at the Brim" is the second movement of a twenty-five minute work, "Mountain Piques."  It was premiered in Baltimore by the Pique Collective in collaboration with the Black Cherry Puppet Theatre, who created abstract shapes as a visual accompaniment.   "Bursting at the Brim" embraces pastoral imagery, intricate polyrhythms, and other archetypal themes found in classical music.  The title comes from a line from “Ode to a Nightingale,” by John Keats.

I used the computer programs SuperCollider and AudioMulch to explore new sounds, rhythms, and microtonal harmonies.  The patch I created also has a feature where a musician controls the frequency in real time, resulting in glissando-like textures.  I wanted the piece to require musicality on the part of the electronic musician, and to allow for variations of tempo and expression.

II.  Bursting At The Brim

I.  The Rainforest

100% piano recordings.  The only manipulation I did was layering tracks on top of each other, and fading tracks in and out.

I.  Un Jardin

II.  Ceres

III.  Quasi Sostenuto

Elliott Grabill is a composer and math teacher from Baltimore City.  He offers a unique perspective to the new music community, having “a lot to say, both musically and verbally,” according to Ron Beckett. 

Elliott Grabill’s music has been described as hauntingly beautiful, with flowery textures and bittersweet emotions.  His work has been performed by Pique Collective, Dark in the Song, the Washington Men’s Camerata, L'Abri Trio, the Meridian Arts Ensemble, and numerous solo artists, including Melissa Lander, Lynn Hileman, Peter Sheppard-Skaerved, Shawn Earle, Andrea Cheeseman, Hila Zamir, and Tae Ho Hwang.  Prizes include the Dark in the Song Prize, 3rd place in the Peabody Prix d’Ete, and an honorable mention in the Arcady Emerging Composer Competition.  He holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the University of Virginia.  His film and dance collaborations have been featured at the Rosebud Film Festival, the Windup Space, the Athens Film Festival, Temple University, American University, and Dance Place.  

#classicalmusic
#electronicmusic
#composer

Elliott Grabill

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