Highlights

written for and performed by Hypercube (Chris Graham, Andrea Lodge, Erin Rogers, Jay Sorce)

Throughout the composition, the musicians are presented with multiple staves.  They are allowed to choose and play from any of them, and can switch between staves at any time (barring a few rules).  The piece is meant to be a game for the ensemble, constructed as a "choose-your-own-adventure."

Two-Step and Game Sounds

Julia Perry's Prelude for Strings, Orchestrated by Roger Zahab. Performed live by Experiential Orchestra October 2, 2021 at the DiMenna Center, NYC in the work's New York Premiere.

Julia Perry Prelude For Strings Experiential Orchestra

Double concerto by Tim Garland peformed live by Abel Selaocoe (cello)  and Kyran Matthew(Saxophone) with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra conducted by Carlos Del Cueto at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.

Double Concerto for Saxophone and Cello by Tim Garland

Jonathan Harvey's "Still", written for tuba and live processing in 1995.

Many thanks to Beth McDonald (bethtuba.bandcamp.com) for the Max patch.

Listen with headphones and the lights off for maximum effect.

Reuploaded to fix the panning and mixing issues.

fuck off

Jonathan Harvey: "Still" for tuba and live processing

"The Lady and the Tiger" by Mari Valverde (b. 1987)
Poetry by Jacob Rakovan (b. 1975)

World premiere recording (October 2016)

Tiffany Valvo, bass clarinet
Ksenia Leletkina, piano

On Rocks, Radios, and Reversed Roles

The Lady and the Tiger (Mari Ésabel Valverde)

In recent years, the seed-saving and heirloom vegetable movement has put thousands of people back in touch with the diverse bounty and beauty of fresh produce. And perhaps the tomato – in all of its myriad colors, shapes, forms, flavors, and textures – is the ultimate show-stopper of the gardening world.  Heirloom Hallelujah! captures the abundance of heirloom tomatoes in a joyful musical mosaic of over 160 heirloom tomato varieties in about 4 minutes of music. Behind these unique (and sometimes hilarious sounding!) names is a tapestry of cultures, traditions, and personal stories that is still growing and evolving. The text itself was assembled from several sources, with thanks to Gary Ibsen, founder of the Carmel TomatoFest and heirloom enthusiast, whose website along with The Heirloom Tomato, a book by Amy Goldman, was consulted to choose which synonym and spelling of each variety was used for the lyrics. By celebrating the wholesome diversity of the tomato in song, perhaps we can begin to encourage and grow gardens of delight in our own lives, prompting more moments where our response should be nothing but “Hallelujah!”
​
Heirloom Hallelujah! was composed for VocalEssence Remix 2016 and premiered by mpls (ImPulse), a choir based in Minneapolis.

Score and Lyrics: https://www.jonathanposthuma.com/store/p64/Heirloom_Hallelujah%21.html

Heirloom Hallelujah!

World Premiere by the American Modern Orchestra at the Mostly Modern Festival, June 3, 2018. Martim Sousa Tavares, conductor

A "ricercar" is a Baroque form, often likened to a "fugal fantasia" and is usually improvised as an introduction to a larger work. As the first movement of "Chamber Symphony," broad harmonic and thematic concepts are presented, which will be developed in subsequent movements.

"Ricercar" from Chamber Symphony - Beams of Heaven

World Premiere by the American Modern Orchestra at the Mostly Modern Festival, June 3, 2018.

Martim Sousa Tavares, conductor

The second of four "tone poems" in the full work, "The Flood - clouds may hide tomorrow's sun" creates a watery landscape filled with rising tension and swirling currents of sound. The climax is a cloudburst, when the heavens open, allowing the listener to finally let go and "join the storm."

"II. The Flood - clouds may hide tomorrow's sun" from Chamber Symphony - Beams of Heaven

Premiered by American Modern Ensemble
June 14, 2018, Mostly Modern Festival, Saratoga Springs, NY

"Dream City" (Traum-Stadt, 1921)
Luminescent green, blue, pink, and silver shapes shimmer in the moonlight, creating a city of crystal, like one seen in a dream, which slowly evaporates into the night.

Dream City (Traum-Stadt, 1921) - No. 22 From Paul Klee Painted Songs

Premiered by American Modern Ensemble
June 14, 2018, Mostly Modern Festival, Saratoga Springs, NY

"Carnival in the Mountains" (Karneval im Gebirge, 1924)
Dimly lit but multi-colored figures, some appearing to be vendors, performers, animals, and costumed guests, blend together in a scene both jovial and grotesque beneath the faint blue mountains in the distance, which form a peaceful contrast to the frenzied activity of the foreground.

Carnival in the Mountains (Karvneval im Gebirge, 1924) - No. 17 from Paul Klee : Painted Songs

Premiered by American Modern Ensemble
June 14, 2018, Saratoga Springs, NY

"Rose Garden" (Rosengarten, 1920)
Twenty-seven roses are sprinkled aesthetically throughout a city of pink, orange, and white buildings, criss-crossed by streets and pathways. This use of a recurring symbolic motive keeps the eye moving throughout the community, and observe its structures from various perspectives while exploring the garden.

Rose Garden (Rosengarten, 1920) - No. 13 from Paul Klee Painted Songs

bluedream (2019), written for piano and fixed media, grapples with the conflicting feelings of contentedness, restlessness, and stagnation places of familiarity often evoke. This recording features pianist Conrad Tao

bluedream

In "Short Tempered", the performer reads a one-page score top to bottom with the accompanying electronic track in MaxMSP, then flips the page upside-down and reads a "reversed" version of the music with the electronics also reversed. This piece was commissioned and premiered by yours truly in 2016.

Ryann Daisy Swimmer: "Short Tempered" for tuba+electronics

The third movement from the string quartet "Sun Songs"

This music is about two people.

Performed by Tampa Homegrown: Michelle Painter (vln), Karim Ayala Pool (vln), Valeria Frege (vla), Eduard Teregulov (ce)

Associated Text:
Whispering pinks tell me my
streetlights are lightyears away and
their horizon hugs a new sky that I can’t see except
only in the detail.
And my streetlights glow from
lightyears away
and they show me a new sky
that I can’t see except
only in the detail.
Whispering greens tell me my
place is at once here and not here
- the silence breathes -
and you help me find Hercules

Sun Songs - III. gemini

The first movement from the string quartet "Sun Songs"

This music is about two people.

Performed by Tampa Homegrown: Michelle Painter (vln), Karim Ayala Pool (vln), Valeria Frege (vla), Eduard Teregulov (ce)

Associated Text:
pallid amethyst
catching embered sapphires
surged golds
the boldest of them
a ruby supreme
sundered opals
atop ashen grounds ushered
by unnatural natural
- the music hums -
and you say my eyes like it too

Sun Songs - I. passenger

play a vibration in the rhythm of the universe 
 play a vibration in the rhythm of dreaming 

 play a vibration in the rhythm of dreaming and slowly transform it
into the rhythm of the universe

repeat this as often as you can

Karlheinz Stockhausen: "Nachtmusik" from Aus den sieben Tagen

Collection of recorded compositions of Jonathan Posthuma, composer.

Heirloom Hallelujah!

jnthnpsthm

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