Each movement evokes a particular mood that can be gleaned from its title. 

Five Canzoni for Flute and Piano

Poem by Frank Clark

White robes prepare the messenger RNA longing to transform dark antediluvian souls.
Masked temporal lobes reemerge from hibernation reclaiming memories of deferred goals.

White robes prepare the messenger RNA searching for the once resilient regenerative cells.
Masked positive affirmations take sprout and flourish listening to the melodic sounds of Adele. 

White robes prepare the messenger RNA wishing to release the blockade of anhedonic humanity.
Masked lepers reveal the concoction vital to sustainability that is devoid of vanity. 

White robes prepare the messenger RNA lacrimating for ubiquitous healthcare reform. 
Masked shepherds rescue the marginalized sheep promising the avoidance of a disparity storm.

White robes prepare the messenger RNA dismantling biased neurons programmed for political and racial divide.
Masked infants bellow hymns of reciprocal love hoping deafened ears remove cerumen filled with pride.

White robes prepare the messenger RNA seeking to mend the sequelae of viral fatigue.
Masked athletes lament their fears in an arena desiring to play in a heavenly just league.

Soprano Soloist, Kimberly Colón

Divine Vaccine 2021

Winter's Chill

There's A Song In The Air

Fully Charged

This is a recording of my High School Choir singing my new piece, "That the Waters May Come Again". I was inspired to write the piece last year at Montreat when this text from Exodus was used in one of the Sermons. I was deeply impressed and disturbed at how all the Egyptians were crushed by these waters - even though they were probably just following some-one's orders. The piece starts out pretty dissonant, but then, at the end there is this eery calmness as the choir keeps repeating "There remained not so much as one of them".

That The Waters May Come Again

Ian's Song

Back Home East

Another Masco Moment 21

Scherzo, for Chamber Orchestra

Precipice Revised 2025

Alternating Currents Revised 2025

Now Blossom See From Jesse's Stem

Precipice

This piece was written for the Palmetto Band's 2015 Memorial Day concert in which they celebrated the accomplishments of my dad, William J. Moody.  As so many sons view their fathers, he is my "First Hero", and the piece is dedicated to the way he has lived his life - the way he has faced his adversities and ultimately triumphed!

First Hero

A song cycle about spring.  Here are the poems used:
A light exists in spring - Emily Dickinson
Chanson Innocentes, I - E. E. Cummings
Lines written in early spring - William Wordsworth
From you have I been absent in the spring (Sonnet 98) - William Shakespeare
Dear March - Come in - Emily Dickinson
Spring is like a perhaps hand - E. E. Cummings

Six Songs of Spring

“Eclipse” musically describes the day of a total eclipse starting with sunrise and ending with sunset. The piece uses “source material” from two famous pieces dealing with the sun and the moon - Haydn’s “In vollen Glanze” (No. 12 from “The Creation”) which depicts the sunrise, and Schoenberg’s “Mondestrunken” (No. 1 from “Pierrot Lunaire”) which depicts the moon. Work on the piece began on August 21, shortly after viewing the amazing eclipse of 2017 in person.

Eclipse

Five Canzoni for Flute and Piano, I. Idyll

Five Canzoni for Flute and Piano, II. Breathless Energy

Five Canzoni for Flute and Piano, III. Soliloquy

Five Canzoni for Flute and Piano, IV. Persistence

Five Canzoni for Flute and Piano, V. Epilogue

Bird of Dawning

Falling Leaves was composed in the autumn.  I was inspired by the beauty of the foliage, and by the spiralling journey the leaves took as they fell to the ground.  Some leaves fell peacefully on their own, and some were swept away in a storm.  Spring was just a memory, as was my dad.  I imagined the music from his clarinet as a leaf falling from a tree, taking a unique and mysterious journey through life, just as he had. 

Falling Leaves

Sonata for Violin and Piano

John Moody lives in Spartanburg, SC where he teaches AP Music Theory and Music Technology at Spartanburg HS. His piece “Drip” won the 2015 “treefalls call for scores” competition, and his piece “Tutti Frutti (for two-ti virtuosi flutti)” received an honorable mention for the 2016 FNMC Contest.  “Six Songs of Spring” was also a finalist for the 2016 NATS Composition Contest.

JohnMoody

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