Park

Large Ensemble

Relaxa

In the span of nine minutes, Nor Height, Nor Depth unleashes the taut drama of a symphony, with the kinetic energy of an overture.  Opening with a brash and resonant G-major chord, harmony in the upper strings begins to unfold over accelerating and decelerating murmurs between violas and cellos.  Upon a culminating tutti, symmetrically opposed intervallic ascents and descents in flutes and clarinets accompany an emergent melody in the oboe that ultimately blossoms in ripe fruition with the entire orchestra accelerating toward an explosive allegro.  Over a multi-layering of passagework in the strings, woodwinds and brass take turns at a foreground that swells toward a climax of tragic proportion.  After a brief detour in a seeming nether-world of muted strings and woodwinds that explore an obtuse and abstract harmony, principal thematic material emerges and wends its way toward its combustible and cataclysmic destination.

	While the writing of St. Paul is the source of the title, I was drawn to the extremes inherent in these words.  They seem to capture in my imagination the sorrows and failures of the first decade of the 21st Century.  At the same time, they imply the possibility of love and cooperation even in the face of tragedy.  This work represents to me a sonic rumination on that possibility: that in the face of war, violence, and the effects of climate change, we—like the central motives in Nor Height, Nor Depth—can endure despite context.

This performance is by Nobuyoshi Yasuda and the UWEC Symphony Orchestra.

Nor Height, Nor Depth

EllenSong came about as a result of the passing of one of our most treasured colleagues on the faculty of the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance in 2011.  Ellen Campbell brought so much to all of us – artistic excellence, thoughtful and creative teaching, unfailing collegial support, organizational leadership, strength of character, warmth of personality and a delightfully mercurial sense of humor.  EllenSong begins with a tune – Ellen taught her students first and foremost to sing with their instruments – played by both the ensemble horns and the soloist/leader.  After that, the music shifts into the mercurial, with sections of music of differing character, but always guided by Ellen’s sense of joie de vivre.  Among the many lovably unexpected things that Ellen did was her recent acquisition of a set of bagpipes.  Hence it seemed absolutely appropriate to quote a piper tune.  The choice, The Rowan Tree, was determined by the tune’s simple beauty, but also by association – the Conservatory planted a tree near her studio to honor her life and work.  As with the tree, her legacy remains with us.

I was moved beyond words to be asked by my colleagues to create this piece, with deepest gratitude for all of the gifts that Ellen shared with us so freely.  I was doubly grateful that this work should be written for the UMKC Wind Ensemble (including many of her students), conducted by another dear colleague Joseph Parisi, with maestro Thomas Bacon, long-time friend of Ellen’s and hornist par excellence, as soloist.


Ellensong for Wind Ensemble with Horn Solo

Heitor Villa-Lobos - Fantasia for Saxophone - I. Animé
With Cody Martin, Piano
Recorded Live, November 6, 2013

Fantasia for Saxophone - I. Animé

The fourth movement of my string quartet, "Namasté."

“Time, Matter, Light…Prana” evokes some of the visceral elements of meditation. This movement portrays a narrative of textures and colors, interspersed throughout with a descending syncopated chordal motive. The latter idea represents a diminution of the opening figure in the cello in the first movement—a figure that signifies “prana” or an ever-present life force.

Namasté:  Time, Matter, Light…Prana

"Nach Raum und Zeit" is a set of 5 songs for soprano and piano using a diverse set of short German poems from varying eras. The whole set was premiered on 13 February 2014.

Second Place, 2013 Rebecca Sherburn Vocal Composition Competition

More information can be found here: http://www.derekmjenkins.com/nach-raum-und-zeit

"Nach Raum und Zeit" for high voice and piano (complete)

"here there" was originally written for Violin and Piano in 2006. Live performance of the cello and piano version by Daniel Saenz, cello and Brendan Kinsella, piano. 

Program Notes:  The word "here" and the word "there" are in many respects the same. If you look up either in the dictionary you find the same definition for both: at or in this place.  Yet, they are not truly interchangeable. Their meaning is altered by the speaker’s perspective and frame of reference. My here can be someone’s there, and my there can be someone’s here, and so on. I was drawn to these words as a title because they fittingly describe the emotion that is conjured up when one is torn between two places. In a way it is comforting to remember that only a slight shift in perspective can bring the there, here.

here there (rev.2010) for Cello and Piano

Three Visions of El Greco for tuba and wind ensemble draws upon three paintings for its inspiration: “View of Toledo,” The Adoration of the Shepherds,” and “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.” The first movement, “View of Toledo,” is loosely based on a variation of a ‘bulería’ flamenco rhythm—a 12/8 rhythm that emphasizes eighth notes 3, 7, 8 and 11. While the bulería instigates the initial momentum of the movement, a robust and lively dance ensues. Pairing this music with the painting, one envisions a ghastly aura casting a pall over this medieval city, concealing a raucous celebration.

Premiered at the University of Texas-San Antonio and the International Tuba Euphonium Conference at Indiana University. Spring 2014.

Three Visions of El Greco: View of Toledo

Balmorhea - Remembrance

Balmorhea - Bowsprit

"Sleep now, O sleep now, O you unquiet heart!
A voice crying “Sleep now” Is heard in my heart."

--James Joyce

"All by myself I have to go,
With none to tell me what to do-- All alone beside the streams
And up the mountain-sides of dreams."

--Robert Louis Stevenson

"Save me from curious Conscience, that still lords Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole; Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,
And seal the hushed Casket of my Soul."

--John Keats

No experience adequately prepares one for the late night rituals of parenthood: the cry in the dark that seizes one from the depths of exhaustion; the lumbering footsteps that make their way cradle-side beneath the dull glow of the moon; tranquility split asunder by the anxiety-inducing cough, fevered skin, and undisclosed aches and tremors. Perhaps we are summoned by no more than the desperate, terrified pining of a tiny soul at once confronting their utter isolation in the profundity of night. In these moments, there are quiet words: stories rendered stream-of-consciously, simple songs, memories from the day, promises for the morning. Miracles transpire that are known only to those awake in these sacred, silent hours. To lull a child to sleep is to witness the crossing of a threshold--the abandonment of determined, grasping, fear as it acquiesces to surrender and to dreams.

Drifting From Midnight is a sonic exploration of that moment when thresholds are crossed; when anxious wakefulness surrenders to peaceful slumber and the transcendent glories of worlds and horizons known only to dreamers.

Concert Premiere: March 5, 2015 by Dr. John Zarco and the UT-San Antonio Symphonic Band

Drifting From Midnight (University of Iowa Symphony Band)

Dr. Mark Heidel and the University of Iowa symphony band performing "Corrida!"  A "corrida" is a bullfight, and the work strives to capture the primal energy of the bull bounding into the ring.

Corrida!

A little/ long improvisation. Literally the raw almost 7 minutes of me playing piano. Why? Because why not!

Opus 04

You took a Deep Breath, you fell into a Deep Sleep, and  you had a Deep Dream. Now you will be in a  the state of  "Deep Rest" ! Hope, you enjoy!

Deep Rest

*FULL PREVIEW*. When Uncharted Places was conceived, the one remix that came to my mind as an ideal beginning, was from the very first Places Series release by Kit. 'Girl Walking on the Beach Wearing A Skirt' was probably my favourite from Kit's release, and it's long, drawn out guitar plucks and subtle field recordings reflected a Markus Guentner remix playground. Markus obliged and as expected, delivered another out-of-this-world production.

Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri.

Available as part of the Uncharted Places compilation
http://astrangelyisolatedplace.bandcamp.com/album/uncharted-places

Nor Height, Nor Depth

Ethan Wickman