Performed by Bruce Owen (viola), Dr. Stephanie Thompson (clarinet), and the composer at the piano.

Trio for Viola, Clarinet, & Piano: Allegro

Joseph Cieslak's Album

Bagatelle in A

Study In Resolution for piano

Trio For Viola, Clarinet, And Piano: Trio & Scherzo

Performed by Colleen Ryan and the composer at the piano.

I. Triolet for Laika, text by Ann Eichler Kolakowski
II. Winter Stars, text by Sara Teasdale
III. An Astronaut's Broken Heart, text by Sam Illingworth
IV. The 25th Link, text by Wakata Koichi

11-11-2018

Stars (Songs from Space)

Recorded by the Lamont Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Renee Gilliland.

Composed Winter 2019.

The inspiration from this piece came from many places, and was one of my first attempts to write something distinctly post-tonal for a larger ensemble. The opening figure in the basses was the first thing I wrote, and it's 'shrinking' intervals drove much of the compositional process for the entire piece. The various musical ideas introduced throughout the work tend to shrink. Even the pace of the work shrinks, slowly but inexorably becoming faster and more compressed. Emulating the darker orchestrations of Shostakovich and Bartok, I titled the work "Shrinking Violet" to reference both to its compositional process and the outward feeling I hoped to project.

Shrinking Violet

Recorded Winter 2019

Flute: Andrew Dewey
Clarinet: Quentin Marchetti
Violin: Izaak Walton
Cello: Katharine Smith
Keyboard: Blake Foster Wagamon
Piano: Joseph Cieslak

In Its Right Place is an experiment with the compositional possibilities of fixed-pitch sequences.  Following a slow introduction, a sequence of 12 notes are introduced gradually.  The music starts at various points in the sequence, but it always move to the subsequent notes, creating a sense of continuity throughout the work.  When the sequence is fully introduced, it is developed, fragmented, used in counterpoint and chorales, and finally combined with the introductory material.  An organic and shifting meter runs throughout the work, giving the piece an important rhythmic freedom to contrast against the relatively process-oriented pitch material.  The title is a reference to a Radiohead lyric, and describes well the fixed-pitch sequence in use throughout the work.

In Its Right Place

Performed by the Lamont Wind Ensemble, conducted by the composer.

On The Wing

Denver-based composer, conductor, and teacher currently studying at the University of Denver.

Joseph Cieslak

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