Sinfonia in C (No. 9) - 1. Allegro maestoso

Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano in A - 1. Allegro moderato

Quartet in A Minor for 2 Oboes and 2 Bassoons - 3. Adagio

Missa pro defunctis in C minor - 1. Introitus

Composed March 3-5, 2020, revised March 8-16, 2020.  Hymn for the Feast of the Holy Innocents.  

Latin Text:

Salvete, flores Martyrum,
Quos lucis ipso in lumine
Christi insecutor sustulit
Ceu turbo nascentes rosas.

Vos prima Christi victima,
Grex immolatorum tener, 
Aram sub ipsam simplices
Palma et coronis luditis.

Quid proficit tantum nefas?
Quid crimen Herodem juvat?
Unus tot inter funera
Impune Christus tollitur.

Jesu tibi sit gloria
Qui natus es de virgine, 
Cum Patre et almo Spiritu
In sempiterna saecula.  Amen.

English poetic translation:

All hail, ye little martyr flowers,
Sweet rosebuds cut in dawning hours!
When Herod sought the Christ to find
Ye fell as bloom before the wind.

First victims of the martyr bands,
With crowns and palms in tender hands,
Around the very altar, gay
And innocent, ye seem to play.

What profited this great offense?
What use was Herod's violence?
A babe survives that dreadful day,
And Christ is safely borne away.

All honour, laud, and glory be,
O Jesus, virgin-born, to thee;
All glory, as is ever meet
To Father and to Paraclete.  Amen.

Salvete, flores Martyrum - Motetum 4 vocibus

Music composed in 1865 by Nicolaos Mantzaros (1795-1872), poem written in 1823 by Dionysios Solomos (1798-1857).  Respectfully arranged for Mixed Chorus (SATB) with Piano accompaniment by J. Lee Graham, March 26, 2020.

Verse 1 - Greek:
Σε γνωρίζω από την κόψη
Του σπαθιού την τρομερή,
Σε γνωρίζω από την όψη
Που με βιά μετράει τη γη.
Απ' τα κόκκαλα βγαλμένη
Των Ελλήνων τα ιερά
Και σαν πρώτα ανδρειωμένη
Χαίρε, ω χαίρε Ελευθεριά!
Και σαν πρώτα ανδρειωμένη
Χαίρε, ω χαίρε Ελευθεριά!
Και σαν πρώτα ανδρειωμένη
Χαίρε, ω χαίρε Ελευθεριά!

English Translation:
I know you by the dreadful
edge of the sword,
I know you by the gaze
that measures the land with force.
Born from the sacred
bones of the Greeks
and brave as in the old times
Hail, oh hail, Liberty!
And brave as in the old times
Hail, oh hail, Liberty!
And brave as in the old times
Hail, oh hail, Liberty!

National Anthem of Greece - "Hymn to Liberty" (Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν)

Composed in 1834 by František Škroup (1801-1862), lyric written in 1834 by Josef Kajetán Tyl (1808-1856).  Respectfully arranged for Mixed Chorus (SATB) with Piano accompaniment by J. Lee Graham on March 27, 2020.

National Anthem of the Czech Republic - "Kde domov můj" (Where my home is)

Composed April 18 - May 15, 2020.  Electronic rendering by NotePerformer.
Deo gratias, et soli Deo gloria.

String Quartet No. 6 in G - 4. Allegretto vivacissimo quasi allegro

Commenced September 23, 2009, recently rediscovered.

Flute Concerto in C - 2. Andante sostenuto WORK IN PROGRESS

"Blue Hydrangeas" - Ragtime Two-Step for Piano (2020)

Composed 2000 at Los Angeles.  In humble homage to Ernesto Nazareth (1863-1934) - an inversion/variation on his famous Tango Brasileiro "Odeon" (1910).

"Um Eco Do Odeon" ("An Echo From The Odeon") - Tango Brasileiro for Piano (2000)

Composed November 3, 2008 on a concept from 1985, at Los Angeles.

Three Album Leaves for Piano - I.  "Down Country Lanes" (2008)

Three Album Leaves for Piano - II.  "Bitty's Lullaby No. 1" (2017)

Arranged August 14, 2020 at Austin.

Yiddish lyrics:
1. Oyfn pripetchik brent a fayerl,
Un in shtub iz heys,
Un der rebe lernt kleyne kinderlekh,
Dem alef-beys.

Refrain:
Zet zhe kinderlekh, gedenkt zhe, tayere,
Vos ir lernt do;
Zogt zhe nokh a mol un take nokh a mol:
Komets-alef: o!

2. Lernt, kinder, mit groys kheyshek,
Azoy zog ikh aykh on;
Ver s'vet gikher fun aykh kenen ivre -
Der bakumt a fon.

3. Lernt, kinder, hot nit moyre,
Yeder onheyb iz shver;
Gliklekh der vos hot gelernt toyre,
Tsi darf der mentsh nokh mer?

4. Ir vet, kinder, elter vern,
Vet ir aleyn farshteyn,
Vifl in di oysyes lign trern,
Un vi fil geveyn.

5. Az ir vet, kinder, dem goles shlepn,
Oysgemutshet zayn,
Zolt ir fun di oysyes koyekh shepn,
Kukt in zey arayn!

English translation:
1. On the hearth, a fire burns,
And in the house it is warm.
And the rabbi is teaching little children,
The alphabet.

Refrain:
See, children, remember, dear ones,
What you learn here;
Repeat and repeat yet again,
"Komets-alef: o!"

2. Learn, children, with great enthusiasm.
So I instruct you;
He among you who learns Hebrew pronunciation faster -
He will receive a flag.

3. Learn children, don't be afraid,
Every beginning is hard;
Lucky is the one has learned Torah,
What more does a person need?

4. When you grow older, children,
You will understand by yourselves,
How many tears lie in these letters,
And how much lament.

5. When you, children, will bear the Exile,
And will be exhausted,
May you derive strength from these letters,
Look in at them!

"Oyfn Pripetshik" - Yiddish Song by M.M. Warshawsky - arr. for SATB a cappella by J. Lee Graham

Composed August 17 - 23, 2020. To my friend Bernie Siben. with sincere thanks for his encouragement and support.

"Enigmatic Slow-Drag" - Ragtime Two-Step for Piano (2020)

Divertimento a 2 in C for Violin and Viola - 5. Menuetto - Allegro animato assai

WORK IN PROGRESS - Commenced December 27, 2019.
I.    Allegro non tanto ma con fuoco (complete)
II.   Menuetto: Allegro (complete)
III.  Adagio ed affettuoso (complete)
IV.  Allegro giusto a la breve (WIP)

Quartet in A minor for 2 Oboes and 2 Bassoons WORK IN PROGRESS

Composed by Giuseppe Donizetti (1788-1856) in honour of Sultan Abdulmejid I (1823-1862) of the Ottoman Empire.

Giuseppe Donizetti: Mecidiye Marsi - Ottoman Imperial Anthem - Arr. by J. Lee Graham

My name is Joseph Graham, and I am a composer, singer and instrumentalist originally from Los Angeles, California, currently located in Austin, Texas  While I can and sometimes do compose music in a contemporary vein, I am primarily what might be called an "historicist" composer, specialising in authentically crafted Classical-Revival, Rococo-Revival, and Baroque-Revival music.

If you would like to contact me, please use tuthaliash@gmail.com. 

Thank you for your interest.

J. Lee Graham

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