A Page from the Book of Nature for percussion quintet.

"The book of nature is written in the language of mathematics." - Galileo Galilei

Although Galileo was not referencing a literal book when he said this during his life in the 1500-1600's, this quote can easily be connected to a manuscript written a few hundred years before his time: the Liber Abaci ("The Book of Calculation"), written by Italian mathematician Fibonacci. This book's (arguably) most important  feature is a description of what has come to be known worldwide as the Fibonacci sequence - a sequence of numbers in which, after beginning with 0 and 1, each successive number is the sum of the previous two: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, etc. Knowledge of this sequence, famously featured in The Da Vinci Code, can be found much earlier in the work of several Indian mathematicians including Pingala and Hemachandra (for which reason the sequence is also rightfully known as the Hemachandra sequence). There is a reason that great mathematicians independently came upon this sequence: it appears naturally in the world in numerous ways, including the way in which flowers grow petals and the way that snails' shells spiral outward.

A Page from the Book of Nature is a reflection on this crossroads at which the deep relationship between nature and mathematics can be observed. The work explores this in many ways - rhythms and phrases are derived almost exclusively from Fibonacci numbers (though parts are also based on the first numbers of the Lucas numbers, a similar sequence named after Édouard Lucas, a French mathematician known for his study of the Fibonacci sequence: 2, 1, 3, 4). The seven-pitch-class set used in the work is derived from the Fibbonaci number 2,971,215,073, which, when translated to pitches, yields the set C, C#, D, Eb, F, G, and A. The work also utilizes a driving bassline in the marimba, respectfully borrowed from the song Lateralus by rock band Tool, which is also based heavily on the Fibonacci sequence.

Stylistically, the work explores several moods inspired by the wide and mercurial range of expression that can be found in the natural world, ranging from quiet serenity to wild intensity. Eventually, the end of the figurative page is reached, and the work ends with the slamming shut of the book.

A Page from the Book of Nature (MIDI)

The Hymn of Ys, composed in 2017 and revised in 2022.

The Hymn Of Ys (rev. 2022) (MIDI)

The world premiere of To Right Our Wrongs, performed by The Naperville Winds, conducted by Dr. Sean Kelley on October 7th, 2021. To Right Our Wrongs was composed for The Kneel Consortium.

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To Right Our Wrongs

These Radiant Moments, for wind ensemble

Commissioned by Dr. John Seybert and the Upper St. Clair High School Wind Ensemble

These Radiant Moments (MIDI)

Fanfare for Wild Youthful Occasions, for symphonic band. Commissioned by the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra for the 2022 inaugural season of the FWYO Wind Ensemble, conducted by Brian Youngblood.

It is a unique honor to have been the first person ever to be commissioned to compose a work for the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra, an organization with a nearly-sixty-year history of providing to young musicians the opportunity to gain myriad skills and to pursue excellence through musical performance. In late 2021, FWYO founded its new wind ensemble and brought in Brian Youngblood, Associate Director of Bands at Texas Christian University, to conduct the newly formed group. When Mr. Youngblood secured his new position, I was beyond honored that he'd think of me to compose a work for the group. He pitched the idea to the FWYO Board of Directors, who graciously and enthusiastically agreed to facilitate the creation of this fanfare in celebration of the beginning of their new wind ensemble.

At that time, I was finishing up my first semester at TCU; I had just recently transferred there, and although it was my seventh semester of college, it felt like my first again. I was trying to stay afloat in a sea of new places and new faces, searching for any solid ground I could find, and trying to find myself again in the process. One of the first places I began to feel comfortable—I  began to feel like me—was under Mr. Youngblood's baton in the TCU Symphonic Band. This was in no small part due to Mr. Youngblood himself. From early on, Mr. Youngblood was willing to indulge me in conversations about all sorts of musical topics, and he was glad to take a look at my musical efforts, even programming several of my works with the TCU Symphonic Band. His encouragement was hugely helpful as I moved through my earliest months at TCU.

This work, Fanfare for Wild Youthful Occasions, reflects all of the energy that came together in this particular circumstance. It contains within it the energy of new musical opportunity that groups like the FWYO provide for young musicians. It contains the energy of those young people all coming together like the particles of an atom to create something greater than the sum of its parts, and it contains the energy of the masterfully skilled people who come together to guide these young souls. It contains the energy of a kid in his early twenties who found a fraction of himself in a new place, and it contains the energy of you, the person who is reading this and somehow taking place in the experience of this music. Come be a part of this wild youthful occasion with us.

Fanfare for Wild Youthful Occasions (MIDI)

What We've Been Taught to Do With Death for wind ensemble. World premiere performance by the Wichita State University Wind Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Timothy Shade. To learn more about this work and peruse a score, check it out here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/what-weve-been-taught-to-do-with-death

Enjoy the music!

What We've Been Taught To Do With Death

The Paper Man for wind ensemble, performed by the SCBDA All-State Senior Band, conducted by Dr. John Lynch. Learn more and peruse the score here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/the-paper-man

The Paper Man loosely follows a short story of the same title that I wrote during my freshman year of high school, which in turn was a rewriting of an improvised "bedtime story" that I told my best friend at three in the morning on a road trip. The story follows a kind, unassuming young man with an unclear background who is simply known in his small secluded town as "The Man". His life is simple until a new waitress appears at the local café and their story is set in motion. At a whopping six pages long, the story is jam-packed with romance, dinosaurs, and a few thousand paper cranes. The Paper Man grew to be quite popular among my peers, and I found that it would be a great source of inspiration for a piece of music. The story is a simultaneously silly, sweet, and fun one, and it is these qualities that I aimed to depict within the work.

One unique aspect of this work is the use of paper to emulate the sound of flapping bird wings. Inspired by Eric Whitacre's use of this effect in his choral work Little Birds, I use it to represent living paper cranes, a motif seen throughout the story of The Paper Man. These paper cranes, represented also by a staccato motive first heard in flutes and moving throughout the ensemble, are as ever-present in the piece as they are in the story.

2022 South Carolina All State Band

The Paper Man (for wind ensemble)

Catalyst for symphonic band, by Harrison J. Collins. Performed by the Texas Christian University Symphonic Band, conducted by Josh Donnelly. Learn about this piece and purchase it through C. Alan: https://c-alanpublications.com/catalyst/

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Catalyst

Point of Resonance, sonata for trumpet and piano, by Harrison J. Collins.

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Point Of Resonance: I. (MIDI)

Variation V for wind ensemble, by Kevin Day, arranged by Harrison J. Collins. To learn more about this work and peruse a score, check it out here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/variation-v

Variation V (Kevin Day, arr. Harrison J. Collins)

Electric City by Harrison J. Collins, arranged for wind ensemble by Josh Trentadue.

Electric City (wind ensemble) (MIDI)

Fanfare for Wild Youthful Occasions for wind ensemble. Performed by the Texas Christian University Symphonic Band, conducted by Brian Youngblood. To learn more about this work and peruse a score, check it out here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/fanfare-for-wild-youthful-occasions

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Fanfare For Wild Youthful Occasions

These Radiant Moments for wind ensemble. Performed by the Texas Christian University Wind Symphony, conducted by Bobby Francis. To learn more about this work and peruse a score, check it out here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/these-radiant-moments

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These Radiant Moments

Dark Convictions for wind ensemble. World premiere performance by the New York University Wind Symphony, conducted by Harrison J. Collins. To learn more about this piece and peruse a score, check it out here:

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Dark Convictions

Nocturne, for wind ensemble, by Harrison J. Collins. Enjoy the music!

Nocturne (W.E.): I. Song for the Setting Sun

Shining as the Sun for Symphonic Band. World premiere performance by the TCU Concert Band, conducted by Matthew Garrett. To learn more about this work and peruse a score, check it out here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/shining-as-the-sun-band

Shining As The Sun (for band)

Christmas Night for wind ensemble. World premiere performance by the TCU Symphonic Band, conducted by Brian Youngblood. To learn more about this work and peruse a score, check it out here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/christmas-night-band

Christmas Night (wind ensemble)

Finding Home for chamber wind ensemble. World premiere performance by TCU musicians, conducted by Harrison J. Collins. To learn more about this work and peruse a score, check it out here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/finding-home

Finding Home

Assurance for wind ensemble. World premiere performance by the TCU Symphonic Band, conducted by Brian Youngblood. To learn more about this work and peruse a score, check it out here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/assurance

Assurance

J.R. by Kevin Day. 2023 Edition prepared by Harrison J. Collins. Performed by the TCU Symphonic Band, conducted by Brian Youngblood.

J.R. | Kevin Day | 2023 Edition

Carols in the Dark for wind ensemble. Enjoy the music!

Carols in the Dark (MIDI)

Nocturne for wind ensemble. Performed by the Texas Christian University Wind Symphony, conducted by Bobby R. Francis. Learn more, peruse a score, and purchase the work here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/nocturne-we

The word "Nocturne" means "of the night"; as a title, the word has been used for centuries by western art music composers. Despite this simple premise—or, perhaps, because of it—each individual brings a different and unique interpretation to what "night music" means and what it may evoke; and so, I have done the same. My Nocturne is set in three movements that semi-programmatically depict 1.) the setting of the sun at dusk, 2.) the "happenings" of the night, and 3.) the rising of the sun at dawn. Beneath this surface, the core of the work is an exploration of my experiences with Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety.

Song for the Setting Sun is a gentle, twinkling haiku (figuratively and literally—it is divided in three sections that utilizes phrases of 5 beats, 7 beats, and 5 beats, respectively). It goes as a sunset does, beginning gently and descending into a brilliant canopy of color and light before allowing the night sky to take over. It is a nostalgic nod to my childhood, in the days before I began struggling with mental illness at 12-13 years old. The questions that would come to fill my mind in the following years were extraordinarily heavy ones, and while I'm grateful to have grown and learned, I do still miss the days in which I was, put simply, less aware. Those days weighed much lighter on my mind.

Dancing Behind Closed Doors is a mercurial chronicle of life in the night. I am a night owl and have always been used to spending hours alone in the night since my young teens. This solitude has been both a time of freedom and solace for me and a time of great vulnerability. It is in these hours of night, alone, that I would let my walls down and face myself and my mental struggles head on. This unintentionally-habitual practice of self-exploration has been a crucial part of my journey to recognize what is my illnesses and what is me. This music accesses a decade of self-reflection, curiosity, confusion, anxiety, depression, and all else that I have felt as a kid; and it acknowledges the years of time I spent "in the dark" about the source of my struggles.

Light's Return is an anthem of hope. It begins in darkness and follows the sun's slow rise upward into the sky, bringing light and day with it. While my conditions have impacted my life since my early teens, it was only in my early 20's that I received formal diagnoses and began finding the road to recovery. As I've begun to understand my conditions (through work with my therapist and treatment by my psychiatrist, two concrete resources that I am privileged to have), I've become skilled enough to recognize their patterns and effects clearly: they make me feel as if I am trapped in darkness, unable to find the light I need to make my way forward. And, by extension, I've learned to recognize similar patterns in those I love who also struggle with mental illnesses. As I have supported myself and my loved ones, I have learned how crucial it is to remind myself—no matter how in-the-dark I feel—that I will come out the other side of it. I have found how powerful it is to, at the most personal level, have hope for myself.

Nocturne is dedicated to the people I love who deal with mental illness and to anyone out in the world we share who deal with it. I know very little at my young age, but no matter how dark it is in this moment, I know this: the sun will rise.

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Nocturne

Try for wind ensemble. To learn more and peruse a score, check it out here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/try

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Try (MIDI)

Carols in the Dark, performed by the Rock Hill High School Wind Symphony, Nathaniel Neugent conductor.

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Rock Hill HS Bands 12/13/2023

Carols in the Dark

The Hymn of Ys, performed at the 2023 Midwest Clinic by the Vandercook Symphonic Band, Alex Kaminsky conductor.

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2023 Midwest Clinic

The Hymn of Ys

This is Clash! Clash was the first piece I ever wrote, and it was published through Grand Mesa during the summer of 2015. There's no deep meaning behind the piece, it is simply meant to present exactly what the title implies- clashing notes, rhythms, melodies, and emotions. I hope you enjoy listening to it!

Read the score and purchase it here:
http://www.grandmesamusic.com/component/songpub/song/2035?Itemid=1386

Performed by The University of Northern Colorado Wind Ensemble, conducted by Ken Singleton. Copyright 2015 Grand Mesa Music Publishing

Clash

Live performance by the Orlando Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Christopher Wilkins, November 12th, 2017.

Read the score here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/the-paper-man-orch

The Paper Man is a short overture written as an entry for the National Young Composers Challenge. The name and idea of the piece loosely follow a short story of the same name that I wrote during my freshman year of high school, which in turn was a rewriting of an improvised "bedtime story" that I told my best friend at three in the morning on a road trip. The story follows a kind, unassuming young man with an unclear background who is simply known in his town as "The Man". His life is simple until a new waitress appears at the local café and their story is set in motion. At a whopping six pages long, the story is jam-packed with romance, dinosaurs, and a few thousand paper cranes. The story is a simultaneously silly, sweet, and fun one. It grew to be quite popular among my peers, and I found would be a great source of inspiration for a piece of music.
The piece itself is similar in character- silly, sweet, and fun. A effect used several times during the music is the occasional flapping of sheets of paper by various ensemble members to emulate the flapping wings of paper cranes. These paper cranes, represented also by a staccato motive first heard in flute and piccolo and moving throughout the ensemble, are as ever-present in the piece as they are in the story.

Enjoy the music!

Copyright Harrison J. Collins 2017

The Paper Man

I arranged this on my 18th birthday, and now use it to share with others to celebrate their birthdays.

Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday

O rose of May, performed by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Wind Symphony, conducted by Alex Kaminsky at the 2018 Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois.

Read the score here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/o-rose-of-may

O rose of May is a musical response to Hamlet, the world famous and deeply influential play by William Shakespeare. The work focuses on the character arc of Ophelia, Hamlet’s would-be love interest, and her internal struggle amongst the external conflict of the play. Represented by a solo clarinetist, Ophelia is depicted as singing a solitary, peaceful song in the opening of the work. After this introduction, an agitated melody takes over, representative of the conflict between the characters of the play. Ophelia’s song reappears - but every time it is more and more twisted. A brief respite suggests relief from the conflict, but the song is unable to begin again. It bends to the will of the conflict, the voices of the surrounding characters overpower her, and as Ophelia descends into madness, her song becomes a hysterical celebration. The final bars are a wild chromatic descent into the last note of the work- a reflection on Ophelia’s final moments, falling from her tree branch into the brook in which she drowns.

Enjoy the music!

Copyright Harrison J. Collins 2018

2018 Midwest Clinic

O rose of May

World premiere recording, performed by the Sinta Saxophone Quartet at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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Read the score here: https://harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com/drive

Drive is a series of miniatures each inspired in some way by my experiences with (and love of) driving. Since I first learned to drive as a teenager, it has been one of my favorite things to do. It gives me a sense of freedom that leaves me refreshed and invigorated like nothing else. It is this positivity that is musically reflected in each of the movements of Drive.

Sunset Street begins with calm reflection. There is a road in my home town that I like to drive on when I am seeking to clear my head or relax. I will take it east from my house all the way to its end several miles away, and then travel west back home. If I leave at the right time of evening, I can see the sunset cascade in its full glory as I drive west.

Where the Other Road Leads begins with wonder and imagination. I am a natural navigator; before I ever drove, I knew most roads of my hometown like the back of my hand. As a driver, I took the challenge of searching for the places I’d never seen and traveling the roads I’d never traveled. Often, I would find myself choosing between one path or another, and having to choose only one, would inevitably think about the road I had not taken, and whether perhaps it would have taken me to a new, exciting destination that I had not yet seen.

A Strange Familiarity begins with the spark of memory. Once, I took a drive down a turnpike to reach a destination quite far south of my home. This turnpike is one I am familiar with, though I had never before driven this far on this road. My surroundings were quite new to me, until I reached an underpass that I felt strongly was incredibly familiar. This place is too far away from my home that I could find any reason that I might have seen it in the past- and yet, I could swear that I have seen that underpass in a dream before.

Floor It begins with a blaring car horn and intense acceleration. The title is a common idiom, but one that I particularly appreciate. As my parents taught me how to drive, I would joke with them and respond to their teachings by saying “okay, so… floor it, right?” The final movement of Drive closes the work with this attitude; a mood of humor and positivity. It is a celebration of driving and my love for it. It is a joyride at a high speed, with just a little bit of a sense that it could go careening off the road at any moment.

Drive

Electric City is a short, blazing overture that is inspired by the vision of the big city at night. It is particularly inspired by a beautiful photograph taken by Mark Birk of downtown Dallas, very close to my hometown in Texas, and by glowing neon music like M83's "Midnight City".

Enjoy the music!

Electric City (MIDI)

Harrison J. Collins
J Stands for Joe Music
Your friendly neighborhood composer!

Dedicated to writing music that challenges and connects to performers and listeners alike.

Find more info on my works and purchase them at harrisonjcollins.squarespace.com - or contact me at harrisonjcollinscomposer@gmail.com!

Harrison J. Collins

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