Commissioned by the TCU Ex-Bandsmen association in remembrance for the lives and service of Craig and Kathy Smith. This is a piece composed for younger ensembles divided into two sections: a slow half and a fast half. Two main themes are present, the first played by a solo trombone and solo flute, followed by the second theme in horns and oboes which derive their notes from the first statement TCU Alma Mater.

The piece was premiered on April 12th, 2022 by the Texas Christian University Wind Symphony under the direction of Bobby Francis.

Celebrations

This piece is dedicated to Raven, a black leopard I had the honor of knowing and taking care of while I volunteered with the Center for Animal Research and Education in Bridgeport, Texas. Raven was a spirted leopard who was able to reach the ripe old age of 25 years of age. She passed away in the summer of 2022. 

This is the MIDI file for Draft 1. There are minimal percussion sounds due to Finale not having good sounds. There are also some silences i nthe piece where wind chimes will be playing.

Elegy For A Leopard (MIDI)

WIP
Movement one of four complete, MIDI Track.

Symphony 1 Mvt 1

Piece for 3 sets of 4 timpani. Yeah, that's a lot of drums.

War Drums Draft 1

KINESIS is a short work all about movement. There's rarely a moment where the beats
subdivision is not present, let alone the music halting. The piece is divided into three
sections, yet the eight-note remains constant throughout. The first section is in compound meter
and plays with the standard subdivision of the 6/8 meter in regular two beats per measure, and its
3:2 rythmic subdivision as well. The second section uses the same material, but in a simple meter
context and provides a much more lyrical expression of the same melodic material presented in the
first section. There are a few outbursts, but the section is larger orchestrated in smaller chamber groups
unlike the first and third sections. The final section is a recapitulation of the opening material, drawing
the piece to a close.

MIDI mock up produced by Harrison J Collins

Kinesis (MIDI)

Midi playback for the orchestrated draft of my concerto for Bari Sax and Wind Ensemble, IANOS. No, I'm not messing around with it too much to fix the compression.

IANOS

Galvanic Night (Driving on the Edge of a Storm) was inspired by a trip I made in my undergraduate years, going from TCU to my house which is 20 miles away. This one particular night, I was in a hurry to get home at 2:00am, and there was a lightning storm going on during the time, and all of the lights along state highway 121 were off due to a blackout. The road and my drive were only light up by flashes of lightning and my headlights. The awe inspiring nature of the drive, that electric energy that seemed to charge my drive, all of that still remained in my head even years later. In writing the piece, I didn't want to compose a tome poem, but rather a piece that still had that same electric energy, that same awe at the force of nature, and certainly the almost urgency to get home.

Premiered on Friday, February 10th by the Manhattan School of Music Composer's Orchestra.

Galvanic Night

The third movement of a piece for two pianos. (1st mov. is WIP)

Caprice in Yellow

The second movement of a series of pieces for two pianos (1st mvt is still WIP)

Reflections in Navy (2017)

I'm not a producer, just wanted to get that out there before you heard this. 

The inspiration of this piece comes from a very foggy commute I had to school. I drive about 20 miles to get to the TCU campus from my house. That morning was very unusual for me; it's not normally foggy, and to see only flashes of lights from passing cars and lamp posts was an interesting sight. I tried to recreate this by having small dull flashes of sounds come through a thick texture, just like the lights. 

Incognito Voyage

Certainly the largest work for band I've composed to date, taking influence from David Maslanka's passing in 2017, in addition to other events that were taking place in my own personal life during the years for 2017-2019.

Popular tracks by Mark Adam Sakovich