one

Not by the sun’s arithmetic
or my own
can I make the days
go fast enough.
Yet there are those
who beg God daily
for an extra hour.
I wish for them no solitude,
no time apart from what they love,
and let them have their extra hour.



two

In becoming part of someone else
    you lose yourself
          and
that’s the very least that happens.
Lucky are the ones who gain a language
or stumble on a system not yet tried
while they’re giving up
what little independence
there is left in life.



three

What I’ve gained
from being with you
(besides a belly
and a deeper beard),
I couldn’t say –
but any need for knowing
anyone but you
    is what I’ve lost.

Caught in the Quiet: one

Performed by soprano Regina Ceragioli

“The World Will End In Fire” was commissioned by soprano Regina Ceragioli. The idea was to take a series of poems she was constructing and fashion them into a set of art songs. However, the second poem could not seem to be written. So instead, I decided to string the outer movements together with a piano solo acting as the blank second, a kind of palate cleanser. The piece stands as this, three separate ideas connected by motif and mood.

i. Supernovae

Far away, the sun gives birth to a trillion bursts of flame.
Leap through the galaxy.
Taste the Milky Way
Stars join in fiery exultation as planets are swallowed whole,
And the atmosphere dances to the silent music of the end.

ii.

iii. Jubilation

Feel the tremors building beneath your feet
Hear the thunder as lava is thrust from the ground.
Rivers of fire blindly taste the earth’s face
Poison fills the air like a noxious perfume
All the while,
Ashes float from the sky 
Like discolored snowflakes
In an endless effort 
To bury the land below

Photograph by Juskteez Vu (www.500px.com/juskteez)

The World Will End In Fire

IV. Mountain Kiss is the finale to Blankets: A Cinematic Graphic Novel - Part One. As the music begins, Craig and Raina (the main characters) decide to drive up the newly snow-covered mountain to spend the day there. At the end, the two lovers kiss for the first time. The 46 minute work, a film (assembled using photoshop and final cut) + conducted live score, was premiered on April 13, 2014 as a part of my senior recital.

http://www.johnalbertharris.com/compositions/blankets/

This recording was performed in the Fall of 2013. Jeni Gustafson, flute; Jessica Robinson, oboe; Alberto Mantovano, clarinet; Owen Carlos, bassoon; Hannah Varnau, percussion; Cara Haxo, piano; Tricia Frasure, violin; Logan Jones, viola; Katie Burns, cello; Alexandro Cazares, bass; John Albert Harris, conductor.

"Mountain Kiss" from Blankets: A Cinematic Graphic Novel

Premiered by The Lunar Ensemble
Gleb Kanasevich, clarinet
Peter Kibbe, cello
Terry Sweeney, percussion
John Wilson, piano

"terrace walls and willow trees" was written for and premiered by The Lunar Ensemble (www.lunarensemble.com). The piece is inspired by a specific image perspective: when one is young and small and lying in the grass, peering up through the individual blades at the jagged terrace walls of a planted garden, and just above the flowers, the branches of a weeping willow hang wispily and elegent.

terrace walls and willow trees

Resound Duo (www.resoundduo.com): Jennifer and Tyson Voigt

Deep breath
by Kevin Vogel

I long to be a tree
in the crisp air of a secluded
mountain. I wouldn’t need many branches
or a Robin’s nest

I only wish to meet people one
at a time, and hear them speak
to themselves in words left
meaningless

I don’t want to think,
would have no need for
ambition.

just deep roots
frequent rain
and solitude.

Deep breath was written for the Resound Duo as a part of their 2014 Call for Scores. The soprano floats along through the poem of the same name, contemplating the idea of becoming a tree. What would she feel? What would she think? Would she even care at all? The poem suggests a desire for rest and isolation and the music relates this tone throughout. The piece utilizes the percussionist’s dexterity between marimba, temple blocks, and suspended cymbal, often playing all three instruments in quick succession. The marimba and temple blocks remind the listener of a tree (quite literally), while the suspended cymbal is present to provide a metallic, shimmering timbre; mysterious, like a forest on a mountain.

Image from the TV Show Mushishi

Deep breath

“Miami You Are About To Be Surprised” was written in the summer of 2015 as a commission for soprano Rebekah Smeltzer. My father had recently passed away, and as a part of his final wishes, he imparted unto his children any of his books we might want to keep. Knowing Thomas Merton was one of his favorite authors, I leafed through an anthology of his poetry and stumbled onto this poem. As I was studying and living in Miami at the time, the coincidence was too strong to not take advantage. The poem reveals a great depth to it that resonates with my personal values, and I found a quasi-minimalist/plainchant style arising while writing. I fully embraced this, as these were styles of classical music my father loved and raised me on. The end result is a work somewhat clashing in style, but this represents the nature of the poetry.

Photo by www.chrisjoelcampbell.com

MIAMI YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE SURPRISED
by Thomas Merton

You are going to be pleasantly surprised by this 
You will find yourself sweetly insulted
By earphones and you will also
Be pleasantly wet
Where you are going

For you shall make expensive waves
Meeting the answer to women’s questions
In a swift novel of suspense

IF YOU HAVE HEART FAILURE WHILE READING THIS
THE POET IS NOT RESPONSIBLE

And you will meet a lot of friends
Falling into hopeless spray
As if that were what you wanted
And limbo dancing (non-lethal)
Will focus the muscles of science
On your waistline
You can’t control so many
Wonderful people

When you become exotic bait
For a suburban afternoon
Well you wanted to stay in focus
But did you?

ALL NIGHT LONG WHEN YOU CAN’T STAND IT HERE
TAKE IT OR CRACK
WHERE ELSE CAN YOU FIND IT
IN A CAN?

You are going to be warned
By a gourmet with a mouthful of seaweed
Reaching all the way through superb
Armholes
He will try to help you decode
Your own scrambled message
Teach you your own way
As if you wanted that
Will you please try?

And you will be surprised
By Hilton candlelight
With more than the usual bill
(Unless you are pregnant)

Our new method takes you out of the stream
Of cold function
But you have to bend
Like all our other game birds
While you are gently made over
All the way down to the jawline
You don’t have to be young in years
For the machine to register your secret desires
Which are never secret and always foolish

So you are about to be surprised 

- - - - -

Text used with permission of New Directions Publishing

Miami You Are About To Be Surprised

Phil Doyle, soprano saxophone (www.soundcloud.com/phildoylesax)
John Albert Harris, piano

"Splintering Second" came from the idea to compose a 'spectral jazz' piece for saxophonist Phil Doyle. The structure comes from a traditional jazz lead sheet with chord changes. These chords are masked by the fundamental note of each change, using the harmonic series to determine pitches (Eb harmonic series and Db stretched series). The saxophone plays around these spectra and later improvises over the full jazz chord changes. The end is sudden, splintering off from the Db stretched spectrum - the bass notes are now the 1st and 3rd partials, octave-displaced, in a final unresolved cadence.

Photos:
Background by Martin Stanek (www.twitter.com/koucik)
Clock by Sonja Langford (www.unmorceau.com)

Splintering Second

NOTE: This is the premiere performance on March 20, 2014, at the JCA Composer's Orchestra Concert in the Schrott Center for Performing Arts. 

Score: issuu.com/johnalbertharris/doc…_end_in_fire__final_

“The World Will End In Fire” was written in 2014 for soprano Regina Ceragioli. The idea was to take a series of poems she was writing and set them as art songs in a set. However, writer’s block prevented her from starting a second poem, and so I decided to string the outer movements together with a piano solo acting as the blank second, a kind of palate cleanser. The piece stands as this, three separate ideas in movements that are at the same time connected by motif and mood.

i. Supernovae

Far away, the sun gives birth to a trillion bursts of flame.
Leap through the galaxy.
Taste the Milky Way
Stars join in fiery exultation as planets are swallowed whole,
And the atmosphere dances to the silent music of the end.

ii.

iii. Jubilation

Feel the tremors building beneath your feet
Hear the thunder as lava is thrust from the ground.
Rivers of fire blindly taste the earth’s face
Poison fills the air like a noxious perfume
All the while,
Ashes float from the sky 
Like discolored snowflakes
In an endless effort 
To bury the land below

The World Will End In Fire *Premiere Performance*

Aaron Ney, Jackson Arthur, Sam Exline, Jack Magann; trumpet
Szilard Molnar, Rhonda Kremer, Brandon Guillen, Josh Schwartz; horn
David Woger, Chris Jones; trombone
Michael Nunez; bass trombone
Brian Sugrue; euphonium
Immanuel Claude Shuford; tuba
Ryan Hecker; drum set

Cover art by Matt Eller (www.matteller.net)

"For Now More Than Ever" is a testament to courage in the face of fear. Here, the trumpets embody fear; their sputtering textures attempt to worm their way inside and destroy the ensemble’s chords. Battles erupt between the two groups, accented by the forward momentum of the drum set. The trombones and horns counterattack with a confident melody, fighting to the hilt until fear has been tamed. The sputtering will always return as a reminder to reject complacency, to keep all doubt at bay and take action in the face of adversity. This piece was commissioned by Michael David Krueger and the North Meridian Brass Choir.

For Now More Than Ever

Watch the full "Everything We Miss" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOUa6RYAX9s

Matthew Evan Taylor - Narrator
Emilio Rutllant - Flute
Leslie Miller - Clarinet
Nicole Oswald - Violin
Sarah Huesman - Cello
Inesa Gegpriftii - Piano
Monte Taylor - Electric Guitar
Ryan Hecker - Drum set

"Romance" from Everything We Miss: A Cinematic Graphic Novel

Performed by The BLT Trio:
Ben Hightower, bassoon
Leslie Miller, clarinet
Trey Bradshaw, flute

Program Note: This concert opener depicts the eruption of a perennial flower from the ground, year after year, which is an incredibly charming notion. Sixteenth notes drive the piece forward while playful motives intertwine above and lock together, exploring harmonic landscapes while melodic lines bounce between each instrument. The three players blossom as one, but it is only near the end that they hint at their yearly return.

Perennial Blossom

I've written a program note that you can read below, but it is ambiguous and prose-like because I was not sure how to talk about this piece at first. However, Adrienne Baker, the flutist on this recording, convinced me the day before the premiere to share with the audience the real inspiration for this piece.

"A Cohort of Wanderers" was written about a night I had on South Beach in Miami with the girl I was dating at the time, her best friend, and one of my best friends. This was near the end of our relationship (we were both graduating and going our separate ways). With that on our minds, we watched our best friends connect with each other and their relationship bloomed for the first time that night. As you can imagine, this was quite a strange feeling. So, the structure of the music parallels the structure of that night.

I assigned characters for each instrument. I am the clarinet. She is the oboe. Her best friend is the bassoon, and my best friend is the flute. Both the horn and alto saxophone play the roles of time and place. Each instrument interacts with the others in specific combinations. Most notably, near the end,  the clarinet and oboe share a duet. 

With all that in mind, here is the premiere performance by:

Adrienne Baker, flute
Jessica Robinson, oboe
Juan Carlos Martínez, clarinet
Dasha Nenartovich, alto saxophone
Laura Weiss, horn
Jacob Rogers, bassoon

PROGRAM NOTE
A Cohort of Wanderers (2016): This piece is about the time we spend with our friends. People come together at varying points in our lives for set lengths. These friendships can last a lifetime or a single night. But every relationship serves its purpose and helps us along the path. Personalities clash and coincide, both harmoniously and dissonantly. The time spent together should be treasured, in the moment & as memories. And we look to the future. 

This piece was written for The Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival 2016

A Cohort of Wanderers

"Thread of Continuity" was a collaboration between myself and dancer/choreographer Rosa Prigan in Fall 2015. The piece concerns itself with impermanence, the concept of 'Annica' in Buddhism. Our bodies and world are constantly changing. People come together for periods of time. Chaos reigns. Beauty develops and dissipates. 

The music and choreography reflect 'Annica' in an ABA form. The A sections representing chaos and the B section signaling a paused moment in time - two lovers uniting in a mesmerizing pas de deux. But it cannot last.

Performed and recorded by myself.

Thread Of Continuity

Tenor: Andrés Peñalver

"Wild and Willful"
by Nevada Lozano

Once
We were wild and willful
We were fame-seekers, fortune-hunters
Recklessly chasing frontiers,
Thrilled and enthralled by
The violent whimsy of the world
Sails unfurled,
We cut across vast,
Turbulent oceans in search of
Unspoiled land
Unsoiled sand

Now
We travel in uncompromising lines,
Plot our lives on narrow graphs
Once verdant fields
Lie laced and latticed with cement,
Transformed
Into the rigid grid
Of city streets, which we navigate
With all the spontaneity
Of beads on an abacus

Once
You were wild and willful
Racked with wrath,
Prompted by some vague,
Unearned, unlearned bitterness
To cut a path
Through the forests of your future,
To surge forward with the surf,
Claiming a virgin shore

Now
You travel in uncompromising lines
To precise points on a finite plane,
Having grown weary
And wary of the dangers
Of frontier life
Flanked by snarling regrets,
Flecked with a dismal drizzle,
You stand,
A weather-withered monument
To the person you once were

Wild And Willful

Choreography by Rosa Prigan (https://www.rosaprigan.com)
Music by John Albert Harris

Watch the dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqXMjfvLNps

Our Roots Keep The Light

John Albert Harris is a composer, producer, and creator of cinematic graphic novels. He is based in New York City.

John Albert Harris

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