Modern Violin, Viola and Cello Concertos

Performed on March 7, 2014, by the Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble, conducted by Eli Chen.
The title Come prima is a standard Italian musical indication which means "as before" or "like the beginning." In this piece, the term applies to the work's literal structure: the opening section is reprised at the end, albeit in a notably altered and abbreviated fashion. The title also refers to something more philosophical: many pieces, which purport to express conflict or struggle, emphasize a process of transformation. In Come prima, I felt inspired to explore that which keeps a person in crisis grounded, or centered—what remains constant, what one can hold onto throughout the crisis which lends stability and strength. Most of the harmony in Come prima is derived from the opening chord of the last movement of Mahler's First Symphony, which Mahler called "an outburst of despair from a deeply wounded heart." Mahler's chord is first fully heard in the piece at the transition from the first slow section to the first fast section.

Come prima was composed for the Seattle new-music ensemble Contemporary Chamber Composers and Players, which gave the premiere performance in August of 2004, in Seattle. The work is dedicated to them and especially to my violinist friend Eric Rynes, which explains the somewhat difficult and prominent violin part.

Come Prima (Northwestern University performance)

Spinning Wheel 
- a sonatina for trumpet and piano by James M. Stephenson
https://composerjim.com/works/spinning-wheel/
duration: 12' 
Program Notes:
I have now been very fortunate to have composed two works for Robert Sullivan, professor of trumpet at the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music. This one, at his request, to be written for his feature recital at the 2015 International Trumpet Guild (ITG) to be held in Columbus, Ohio.
Bob asked for a work more "popular" and "lyrical" in nature.
Bob is one of the rare individuals who - through his trumpet - combines musicality with a beautiful sound, agility, strength, and exceptional lyricism. I tried to expose all of these qualities in "Spinning Wheel", while creating a work accessible in nature, yet imbued with subtle depth.
The title comes from the roundabout left hand of the piano, as it weaves its way throughout most of the entire work. The hemiola effect creates a sense of infinite motion, and propels the music forward.
Jim Stephenson; April 30, 2015

Spinning Wheel

Live performance of James M. Stephenson's Fantasie concerto for violin and orchestra.
Alex Kerr, soloist, with the Rhode Island Philharmonic; Larry Rachleff conducting.

Stephenson -  Fantasie for Violin and Orchestra (complete)

Dillon MacIntyre performing Sonata for Trombone and Piano Mvt 1 composed by James Stephenson. Trombone solo accompanied by piano.

Sonata for Trombone and Piano, Mvt 1 - James Stephenson

Dillon MacIntyre performing Sonata for Trombone and Piano Mvt 2 composed by James Stephenson. Trombone solo accompanied by piano.

Sonata for Trombone and Piano, Mvt 2 - James Stephenson

Dillon MacIntyre performing Sonata for Trombone and Piano Mvt 3 composed by James Stephenson. Trombone solo accompanied by piano.

Sonata for Trombone and Piano, Mvt 3 - James Stephenson

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti, conductor
Charles Vernon, bass trombone

Stephenson Bass Trombone Concerto (June 2019)

Commissioned by the Manhattan Sinfonia and violist Karen Dreyfus. Premiered at Alice Tully Hall in 1993. Recorded here with the Warsaw Philharmonic under the direction of George Manahan and Karen Dreyfus as soloist.

Program Notes:
"I have had the good fortune to have worked with and composed for some of America's finest violists, among whom several stand out: James Dunham of the Cleveland Quartet, Marcus Thompson, Walter Trampler, Sol Greitzer, and, most recently, Karen Dreyfus, who will give the world premiere of my Viola Concerto No. 3.
"It is to the many lessons and experiences taught me by these wonderful violists that my new concerto owes its creative and spiritual stimulus. My third concerto seeks to compress the most resonant tonal areas inherent in the viola, and at the same time, expand these areas into a romantic weave of dialogue and argument.
"Cast in three movements, there are strong Baroque and Classical reminiscences which nourish the musical narrative in traditional fashion.
"Throughout the Concerto's extended development, the intrinsic difficulties of balance and compatibility between the solo viola and the orchestra are compensated for in several ways. There are many interspersed cadenzas of varying length, as well as antiphonal passages between solo and tutti and strong orchestral developments which allow the viola to remain silent from time to time.    
"I was not content with 'baby-fied' accompaniments behind the soloist. Rather, I sought a rich and texturally interesting orchestral backdrop, giving the orchestra players an interactive role in the narrative. At the same time, I hoped to preserve and showcase the richness of the viola's most sonorous properties, or dramatis personae if you will.
"Beyond all explanation, the Concerto strives for direct and visceral communication, so as to draw the listener into its action and emotional drama."
—William Thomas McKinley (© 1993), from 22 Feb 1993 and 23 Feb 1993 programs.

Concerto No. 3 for Viola and Orchestra (1992): III. Prestissimo e diabolico

Concerto No. 3 for Viola and Orchestra (1992): II. Largo

Concerto No. 3 for Viola and Orchestra (1992): I. Lamento

Commissioned by Sol Greitzer and premiered with Greitzer as soloist with Jorge Mester conducting the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra in 1987. Recorded here with Karen Dreyfus and the Silesian Philharmonic under the direction of Jerzy Swoboda.

Program Notes:
"Composing in a neo-tonal, euphonious, contemporary language, I owe much to the achievements of the American romantic composers such as George Gershwin and William Schuman filtered and synthesized through my own personal experiences in American jazz. Although this new concerto is not meant to be an overtly jazzy work, the listener who is familiar with certain modern tonalities of jazz and popular music will hear the expansion of these tonalities along with modernist rhythmic elements, cast within a wide palette of orchestral color.
"I envisioned Sol Greitzer's role in the manner of Harold in Italy. (We have occasionally teased with the idea of 'Sol in Los Angeles' or 'Sol in NewYork'). The viola part is quite continuous, seldom resting, and moves in and out of phase with the orchestra. Its presence is usually dominant, but sometimes the viola is meant to be heard only as part of the total fabric. This allows me to indulge occasionally in the large sound of the orchestra and, due to intrinsic problems of balance when the viola is used as a concerto solo instrument, I was faced with the traditional task of balancing the viola against the orchestra while at the same time justifying and enhancing the orchestral presence and involvement in the musical dialogue. Thus, as in Harold in Italy, my concerto may be viewed as a symphony with the cantus firmus or main thread of continuity throughout the work's entirety centered in the solo part.
"There are three movements, the first cast a la Haydn in a monothematic or distilled sonata form, the second a veritable presto vivo scherzo type, and the finale a chaconne cast in a very large, developing variation form not entirely unlike the form of the passacaglia in Brahms' Fourth Symphony. There are cadenzas in the first and last movements interspersed with smaller quasi-cadenza-like passages. The cadenza in the third movement begins accompanied and gradually evolves into solo. Although I have used principally classical structures for the concerto's architecture, the overall drama does indeed unfold in a long-lined, romantically lyrical manner. Melody is extremely important.  Only in the domain of harmony and color have I consciously sought a modern surface."
— William Thomas McKinley (© 1987), from 13 Mar 1987 program.

Stephenson - Fantasie for Violin and Orchestra (complete)

James M. Stephenson

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