Four Poems of William Butler Yeats
for Tenor and Chamber Ensemble

Audio recording of the premiere of the complete song cycle.

Michael Desnoyers, tenor, Jeffrey Thomas, conductor, Valinor Wind Quintet, Arden String Quartet, Ian Scarfe, piano, and Megan McDevitt, contrabass.

Program Note
Songs of Love and Solace traces a young man's journey of love and heartbreak. The cycle of four texts by Irish poet William Butler Yeats begins with "Brown Penny." This short poem depicts a young man infatuated with the idea of falling in love, and then becoming awestruck as he contemplates its depth and power. In the second song, "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven," the poet, speaking to his  beloved, realizes he has nothing of value to offer but his dreams. "Tread softly," he implores, "because you tread on my dreams." In "When You Are Old," we find our poet, heart-broken. In his grief he peers into the future and foresees his beloved, in old age, remembering the depth and purity of the his love for her, "But one man love the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face." In the final song, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," the poet, saddened but wiser, wistfully resolves to escape the struggles and heartbreaks of his modern existence, and seek solace in the beauty and calm of nature.

Songs of Love and Solace, Op. 10

Live recording from American Interchange: The Chamber Music of Stillwell and Cwik. 
11 May 2014. First Unitarian Univeralist Church, San Francisco.

Valinor Winds
Sasha Launer flute, Jessica Huntsman oboe, Brenden Guy clarinet, Caitlyn Smith horn, Alexis Luque bassoon


Program Note

For a young composer, there is perhaps nothing more valuable than talented friends who are keen on one's music. The members of Valinor Winds have long been such friends. In the fall of 2012, Valinor's clarinetist, Brenden Guy, approached me about writing a woodwind quintet for the inaugural concert of his new music series, Curious Flights. I had only recently completed my Quartet for Clarinet, Strings, and Piano, which was written and premiered by Guy, and was thrilled to be so quickly asked for another chamber work. The resulting composition, Fantasy Pieces, was written in early 2013 and premiered that April.

At first glance, composing a woodwind quintet presents a unique set of challenges. A composer must consider carefully the presence of rests and breaths. In addition, the coloristic qualities of the instruments at first glance seem quite disparate. Yet these challenges can be transformed into musical virtues. Breaths and rests give a piece buoyancy and allow distinctive instrumental colors to come to the fore; and those five unique instruments, I quickly discovered, blend together with vibrancy.

As suggested by its title, Fantasy Pieces, is an abstract work cast in a four-movement formal structure. Much like similarly titled works by Schumann and Brahms, the word "fantasy" refers not to a lack of formal structure, but rather to the sound-world of the music itself.

The first movement, Overture, is somewhat grotesque in nature; a bizarre musical landscape superimposed upon a foreshortened sonata form. The musical themes are restless and in perpetual transition.

The Scherzo, is jovial and silly. The movement opens with a fast, pulsating first section that meanders into a "house of mirrors" middle section, before returning assertively to the opening material.

The third movement, Lamentation, is the expressive heart of the work. The long opening melody comes from augmentation of a musical reference suggested to me by Guy. Perhaps in friendly homage, the clarinet delivers the first long iteration of the theme.

After a brief pause, the Finale leaps suddenly into being. After the bizarre, almost absurd music of the first two movements, and the anguish of the third, the Finale exhibits a certain bold triumph. The resoluteness of the ending  chords hearkens the end of the Overture, as if snapping back into place that which had been left slightly awry.

Fantasy Pieces, Op. 17

Selected Works 2007-09

Premiere performance, 18 May 2012.
A Celebration of Bay Area Music, presented by Brenden Guy.
First United Unitarian Church, San Francisco.

Brenden Guy, clarinet, Kevin Rogers, violin, Erin Wang, cello, Aaron Pike, piano


PROGRAM NOTE
The idea of composing a chamber work for clarinet has been on my musical to-do list for years. In fact, a number of times I began sketches for such a piece, though all occupied a much lighter emotional landscape than the piece on this program. It was not until Brenden Guy and Kevin Rogers approached me this fall that the work truly began to take shape. The addition of violin to the instrumentation immediately suggested a much more serious musical language than I had previously envisioned. And while I typically do not subscribe to the notion of composition as self-expression, I cannot help but consider this piece my most personal to date.

The work is cast in a two movement, slow–fast form. The first movement, marked Adagio serio begins with a somber melody that appears in a number of different guises throughout the movement. The unfolding of the movement reflects my desire to employ a more organic approach to composition without sacrificing formal integrity. The movement is somewhat indebted to the Aaron Copland Piano Quartet, the study of which provided me with solutions to certain problems presented by my musical material.

If the first movement seems to look inward emotionally, the second, Allegro con malizia–with malice–is surely an outward reaction to such inner contemplation. The opening bars of the movement are from a discarded sketch for my String Quartet No. 1. I loved the rhythmic and emotional intensity the material possessed but couldn’t make it work at the time. Happily, those measures seemed the perfect conclusion for the present work, and quickly took on a life and direction all their own.

The work is dedicated to Brenden Guy and Kevin Rogers. A young composer could not possibly ask for two more devoted and enthusiastic friends and collaborators.

Quartet for Clarinet, Piano, and Strings, Op. 15

2008 | for wind ensemble or orchestra | Op. 8 No. 2

University of Wisconsin - Madison Wind Ensemble
Matthew Schlomer, conductor

Jaunt

2007 | orchestra or concert band | Op. 8 No. 1

University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Symphony Orchestra
Patrick Miles, director

Harbinger

Apologue, Op. 9

Recording provided courtesy of Choral Tracks by Matthew Curtis.

Two Motets: II. O Nata Lux

Two Motets: I. Ave Regina Coelorum

Fantasy Pieces: IV. Finale

Fantasy Pieces: III. Lamentation

Fantasy Pieces: II. Scherzo

Fantasy Pieces: I. Overture

The Lake Isle Of Innisfree

When You Are Old

He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven

Brown Penny

Lyric Music - II. Polonaise

Lyric Music - I. Air

Prelude after Chopin.

Composed for and dedicated to David Conte, on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

Premiered 1 November 2015
Scott Foglesong, piano
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Piano Works

Prelude in B Minor

Evan Kahn, cello, Kevin Korth, piano
18 February 2017
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Program Note:
Interlude for Cello and Piano was composed in the fall of 2004. I had just begun my sophomore year of college and was rooming with a double bass major. While we were terrible at getting up for eight o’clock music history class, we were great at staying up very late practicing and forgetting to eat. Writing a piece for the two us to play together was only natural. Though the work is entirely abstract, I distinctly recall creating a vignette of sorts in my imagination, which guided my compositional choices in an almost narrative way.

The transition from double bass and piano to cello and piano was made in 2007 when the piece underwent revisions in preparation for my senior composition recital. Now, the work may be happily performed on either cello or double bass.

into the wordless

Interlude for Violoncello and Piano, Op. 2

Michael Desnoyers, tenor
Kevin Korth, piano
18 February 2017
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Program Note:
Songs of Love and Solace traces a young man's journey of love and heartbreak. The cycle of four texts by Irish poet William Butler Yeats begins with "Brown Penny." This short poem depicts a young man infatuated with the idea of falling in love, and then becoming awestruck as he contemplates the depths of love’s power. In the second poem, "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven," the poet, speaking to his  beloved, realizes he has nothing of value to offer but his dreams. "Tread softly," he implores, "because you tread on my dreams.” In "When You Are Old," we find our poet heartbroken. In his grief he peers into the future and foresees his beloved, in old age, remembering the depth and purity of their forsaken love: “But one man love the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.” In the final song, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” the poet, saddened but wiser, wistfully resolves to escape the struggles and heartbreaks of his modern existence, and seek solace in the beauty and calm of nature.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Premiere performance, 18 May 2012.
A Celebration of Bay Area Music, presented by Brenden Guy.
First United Unitarian Church, San Francisco.

Brenden Guy, clarinet,
Kevin Rogers, violin,
Erin Wang, cello,
Aaron Pike, piano

Quartet for Clarinet, Piano, and Strings: II. Allegro con malizia

Quartet for Clarinet, Piano, and Strings: I. Adagio serio

vocals by Matthew Curtis, Choral Tracks
trumpet samples by Robert Chastain, The Black Collar Orchestra

Joseph Stillwell

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks