Songs of the Wood
composed by J. A. Devor

dedicated to the performers: 
Strummer Steele - soprano
Aaron Hungerford - piano
© 2020 JDevor Music, LLC

George Washington Sears (aka. Nessmuk) was a sportswriter for Forest and Stream magazine in the late nineteenth century. He is still one of the most widely read authors in the American bushcraft community. In 1887, a few years prior to his death, he published a collection of poems entitled Forest Runes, celebrating the glory of living alone in nature. His poems often depict quirky or witty tales of specific animals or entities roaming through the woods and mountains.

I chose to set these four poems out of Sears' collection because of the direct and self-sustaining narrative written into each. Each poem addresses a contrasting relationship between an individual and the mindset needed to attain peace with the outdoors. “That Trout” tells the comedic tale of a narrator quasi-fighting with the outdoors, failing again and again to catch the piscatorial wonder. "Flight of the Goddess" is Sears' counterargument to an article in the October 1867 edition of Atlantic Monthly. Here, the narrator tells of an encounter with a Goddess who was previously living in the city, only to realize their relationship is eternally fleeting. Differing from the other three songs, "Disheartened" does not have a literal plot, but is an existential reflection of life's purpose if no one is ever truly honest with each other. “Isabel Nye” was a beautiful woman approached by several suitors during the autumn season, only to be won over by the Devil himself.

Songs of the Wood

from "Songs of the Wood"
composed by J. A. Devor

dedicated to the performers: 
Strummer Steele - soprano
Aaron Hungerford - piano
© 2020 JDevor Music, LLC

George Washington Sears (aka. Nessmuk) was a sportswriter for Forest and Stream magazine in the late nineteenth century. He is still one of the most widely read authors in the American bushcraft community. In 1887, a few years prior to his death, he published a collection of poems entitled Forest Runes, celebrating the glory of living alone in nature. His poems often depict quirky or witty tales of specific animals or entities roaming through the woods and mountains.

I chose to set these four poems out of Sears' collection because of the direct and self-sustaining narrative written into each. Each poem addresses a contrasting relationship between an individual and the mindset needed to attain peace with the outdoors. 

Differing from the other three songs, "Disheartened" does not have a literal plot, but is an existential reflection of life's purpose if no one is ever truly honest with each other.

Disheartened

from "Songs of the Wood"
composed by J. A. Devor

dedicated to the performers: 
Strummer Steele - soprano
Aaron Hungerford - piano
© 2020 JDevor Music, LLC

George Washington Sears (aka. Nessmuk) was a sportswriter for Forest and Stream magazine in the late nineteenth century. He is still one of the most widely read authors in the American bushcraft community. In 1887, a few years prior to his death, he published a collection of poems entitled Forest Runes, celebrating the glory of living alone in nature. His poems often depict quirky or witty tales of specific animals or entities roaming through the woods and mountains.

I chose to set these four poems out of Sears' collection because of the direct and self-sustaining narrative written into each. Each poem addresses a contrasting relationship between an individual and the mindset needed to attain peace with the outdoors.

"Flight of the Goddess" is Sears' counterargument to an article in the October 1867 edition of Atlantic Monthly. Here, the narrator tells of an encounter with a Goddess who was previously living in the city, only to realize their relationship is eternally fleeting.

Flight Of The Goddess

from "Songs of the Wood"
composed by J. A. Devor

dedicated to the performers: 
Strummer Steele - soprano
Aaron Hungerford - piano
© 2020 JDevor Music, LLC

George Washington Sears (aka. Nessmuk) was a sportswriter for Forest and Stream magazine in the late nineteenth century. He is still one of the most widely read authors in the American bushcraft community. In 1887, a few years prior to his death, he published a collection of poems entitled Forest Runes, celebrating the glory of living alone in nature. His poems often depict quirky or witty tales of specific animals or entities roaming through the woods and mountains.

I chose to set these four poems out of Sears' collection because of the direct and self-sustaining narrative written into each. Each poem addresses a contrasting relationship between an individual and the mindset needed to attain peace with the outdoors. 

“That Trout” tells the comedic tale of a narrator quasi-fighting with the outdoors, failing again and again to catch the "piscatorial wonder."

That Trout

Very difficult tuba solo with only three notes. Performed by Akshat Jain, tuba. https://soundcloud.com/akshat-jain-7

Shortcuts

Shortcuts 6 for tuba

Bulletproof

Heya! So at the beginning of this year, I was commissioned to make a BGM track for the webtoon series Everything is Fine! It's a horror/mystery series where everything is most definitely NOT fine. This track is featured in episodes 4 and 27 of the series, in two veeeeeery different contexts (I can't say any more without massive spoilers for the more recent episode) The author was looking for a cheery/cartoony 50s style track for this piece and so I did my best to deliver!

If you'd like to read the webtoon here's a link to the first chapter: https://www.webtoons.com/en/horror/everything-is-fine/ep-1-the-new-forever/viewer?title_no=2578&episode_no=1

Here's a link to all the webcomic author's socials!
linktr.ee/mikebirchall

Also, thank you to Eastershoe from discord for letting me use a frame of their gif as the cover art <3

Seventeen Days (from Everything is Fine)

Performed at West Chester University, April 14, 2022, New Music Concert Series. Dr. Emily Bullock, mezzo-soprano; Christine McCloskey, piano.

Love Songs for Ada is a setting of three poems written by American poet Amy Lowell (1874-1925). First published in 1922, these sensual and vivid texts are a testament to Lowell’s romantic relationship with
actress Ada Dwyer Russell.

VESPERS
Last night, at sunset
The foxgloves were like tall altar candles.
Could I have lifted you to the roof of the greenhouse, my Dear,
I should have understood their burning. 
 

IN EXCELSIS 

You—you— 

Your shadow is sunlight on a plate of silver;
Your footsteps, the seeding-place of lilies;
Your hands moving, a chime of bells across a windless air.
The movement of your hands is the long, golden running of light from a rising sun;
It is the hopping of birds upon a garden-path. 
As the perfume of jonquils, you come forth in the morning.
Young horses are not more sudden than your thoughts, 
Your words are bees about a pear-tree,
Your fancies are the gold-and-black striped wasps buzzing among red apples.
I drink your lips,
I eat the whiteness of your hands and feet.
My mouth is open,
As a new jar I am empty and open.
Like white water are you who fill the cup of my mouth,
Like a brook of water thronged with lilies.

You are frozen as the clouds,
You are far and sweet as the high clouds.
I dare reach to you,
I dare touch the rim of your brightness.
I leap beyond the winds,
I cry and shout,
For my throat is keen as a sword
Sharpened on a hone of ivory.
My throat sings the joy of my eyes, 
The rushing gladness of my love.
How has the rainbow fallen upon my heart? 
 

How have I snared the seas to lie in my fingers
And caught the sky to be a cover for my head?
How have you come to dwell with me,
Compassing me with the four circles of your mystic lightness,
So that I say “Glory! Glory!” and bow before you
As to a shrine? 
 

Do I tease myself that morning is morning and a day after?
Do I think the air a condescension,
The earth a politeness,
Heaven a boon deserving thanks?
So you—air—earth—heaven—
I do not thank you,
I take you,
I live.
And those things which I say in consequence
Are rubies mortised in a gate of stone.  
 

PRIME
Your voice is like bells over roofs at dawn
When a bird flies
And the sky changes to a fresher color.

Speak, speak, Beloved.
Say little things
For my ears to catch 
And run with them to my heart.

Love Songs For Ada

An orchestral reading of my work for full orchestra performed by The Hartt School's orchestra.

Artwork is Van Gogh's "Starry Night Over the Rhone"

Among A Sea Of Stars... for Orchestra (Orchestral Reading)

Circular Reasoning for String Quartet
Performed by the Bergamot Quartet at the DiMenna Center on April 21st. 
Recorded and mixed Tyler Neidermayer.

Circular Reasoning (for string quartet)

pop song for piano & electronics performed by conrad tao at new music on the point 2022

audio engineering: brian riordan
https://soundcloud.com/conradtao

pop song

Erika Boysen, flute
Joshua Anderson, clarinet
Christina Adams, violin
Allan Hon, cello
Mi-Eun Kim, piano

Sentient Serenade is a portrait of a day in compressed time, manifested through the voices of animals and their choruses. It begins with morning birds, moves to midday amphibians, and ends with nocturnal insects. It was inspired by seeing a spectagram of these sounds in nature at a museum in the Ozarks, which caused me to listen to my environment more carefully. Three times a emotive occurs which is different from the others, and which represents the human Observer. There is no literal mimesis of the animal songs; all motives are just the composer’s evocation thereof.

Sentient Serenade - Robert Carl

Written for the 2024 Gabriela Ortiz Composing Studio
premiered by Chelsea Meynig (flute), Sean Bailey (Clarinet), & Tom Kraines (Cello)


El Mirador Full Piece

Opening de Philip Glass

from "Songs of the Wood"
composed by J. A. Devor

dedicated to the performers: 
Strummer Steele - soprano
Aaron Hungerford - piano
© 2020 JDevor Music, LLC

George Washington Sears (aka. Nessmuk) was a sportswriter for Forest and Stream magazine in the late nineteenth century. He is still one of the most widely read authors in the American bushcraft community. In 1887, a few years prior to his death, he published a collection of poems entitled Forest Runes, celebrating the glory of living alone in nature. His poems often depict quirky or witty tales of specific animals or entities roaming through the woods and mountains.

I chose to set these four poems out of Sears' collection because of the direct and self-sustaining narrative written into each. Each poem addresses a contrasting relationship between an individual and the mindset needed to attain peace with the outdoors. 

“Isabel Nye” was a beautiful woman approached by several suitors during the autumn season, only to be won over by the Devil himself.

Isabel Nye

James A. Devor (b. 1998) is an American composer, sound artist and double bassist whose styles pulls from a diverse array of musical backgrounds. His music grapples with rapidly-changing human emotions and attempts to sort through the natural chaos of the world. When writing, he focuses on the act of collaboration which occurs between the composer, performers and audience.

Contact me via my website or email at jdevormusic@gmail.com for scores, commissions or collaborations.

Disheartened

James Devor

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