This feels like a cradle to grave journey, returning to the heartbeat.

beautiful piece! is classical music your forte?

You can feel the relief at the end.  Beautiful....

As usual, Robert, a fantastic masterpiece with awesome atmosphere and intense emotional sounds.  Great work!!

The sounds of heartbeats, children's' laughing voices and ITU sounds are intrinsic to and integrate/complement the strings so well.Compelling and often beautiful music and so very moving.

This play list does not include Enlightened City, Suite for String Orchestra or A New Eaarth for Orchestra, Chorus and Narrator. These will be added soon.

Video for A New Eaarth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZlzCkWUfwI

Full perusal scores: http://robertpaterson.com/orchestra/

Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/composers/robert-paterson/robert-paterson-works/

Contact: http://robertpaterson.com/contact/

Selected Orchestral Works

Prognosis II: Continuum's Relapse

LET'S GO!

Mother Nature's Symphony Sound

Pictures of you: those lips and those big blue eyes
Falling asleep with a smile that can't be disguised

Boxed memories that I stored away to hide, from myself
Tracing all the dots we never placed in our time and space

Even if it's only in my dreams
You've still got me smiling in sleep
Even if it's only in my dreams
You've still got me smiling in sleep

Back when I was young, I may have seemed one way
But I would always fumble all the words that I tried to say
Trying to play it cool in front of you
That's all I ever really seemed to do
Trying to play it cool in front of you
That's all I ever really seemed to do


Even if it's only in my dreams
You've still got me smiling in sleep
Even if it's only in my dreams
You've still got me smiling in sleep

A decade and a half since we were teens
And you've still got me smiling in my sleep

Words & Music by Sean Parsons © 2020

Smiling in my Sleep

Second preview of the new album incoming "Rise"

Rise

Way's End

From the Mist

Something pretty special happened here. I accessed a very vulnerable space in my mind I've never been to before. And now I can't wait to go back!

A HUGE thank you to Dan Phillipson for making one of the most beautiful musical pieces I've heard in my entire life. And for letting me sing along! Anyone interested in buying instrumentals that are chalk full of emotion check him out here! 

https://www.premiumbeat.com/artist/dan-phillipson

Duration: ca. 11'
Instrumentation: string orchestra and recording
World Premiere: American Modern Ensemble, Del Sol String Quartet, JACK Quartet and PubliQuartet, Delta David Gier, conductor, SubCulture, New York, NY, January 15, 2015

View Score: https://issuu.com/robertpaterson/docs/paterson_i_see_you__string_orch._ve

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B4565EIa_U&feature=emb_logo

Buy Sheet Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=2435

Note: versions for string quartet and string quintet also available.

PROGRAM NOTE
I See You is inspired by a week I spent at my father's side in a hospital. Having never spent much time in hospitals, I was unaccustomed to hearing the myriad of sounds, particularly in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where my father lay incapacitated, in critical condition. It was incredibly sad: I could see him, but because he was so sedated, he was barely aware I was even in the room with him. Despite this, there was something strangely soothing and almost musical about the constant pattern of beeps and noises emanating from the machines. To pass the time, I would imagine an orchestra playing, with the litany of noises as accompaniment.

I See You consists of three connected sections. The first section entitled Tranquillo is calm and soothing, almost like a lullaby, with long melodic lines. The second, entitled Sturn und drang (“storm and stress”) is more rhythmic and stressful, incorporating a cacophony of ICU sounds. The final section, entitled Return, is more like the first, perhaps a bit darker, but with rays of optimism toward the end. Throughout the entire work, I incorporate sounds one might hear in an ICU, manipulated and mixed with recordings of heartbeats, breathing and the sounds of children playing. The piece ends with the overlapping patterns of my own heartbeat, my father’s heartbeat, and my son’s heartbeat, and even my son's heartbeat when he was in my wife's womb, creating an intimate, multi-generational, rhythmic tapestry.

I See You (String Orchestra and Recording)

Sleep Walk This Way

Dark Mountains for orchestra
Commissioned by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Jaime Laredo, conductor
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=994
For More Information: https://robertpaterson.com/dark-mountains
View Score: https://issuu.com/robertpaterson/docs/dark_mountains_for_orchestra_fs-bou

PROGRAM NOTES
Vermont is famous for its green mountains, but I often find myself taking long drives through the mountains on overcast days or even at night, when the mountains lose color and become gray silhouettes. Many roads in Vermont are so dark, particularly in the Northeast Kingdom, that you need to use headlights, even during the day. Dark Mountains is meant to portray the beauty and grandeur of the mountains and the peacefulness of the open roads, but also the darkness and occasional treacherous passes one may encounter during the evening hours. The piece is in three connected sections. The first section portrays the calmness and austerity of a quiet evening. The second is inspired by a fast drive down winding country roads, with twists and turns, frequent tempo changes and shifting gears. The final section evokes the feeling of looking at the nighttime sky with moonlight shining through the trees and the sounds of nature in the distance.

This piece is commissioned by and dedicated to the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Jaime Laredo, and was originally written for the Made in Vermont Music Festival.

Dark Mountains (for Orchestra)

Electric Lines for Orchestra, music by Robert Paterson
Duration ca. 9'
Winner of the Lousiville Orchestra Composition Competition
Performances by Minnesota Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=932
For More Information: https://robertpaterson.com/electric-lines

PROGRAM NOTES
In past summers I have taken long trips across America from New York to Colorado. Driving along the highways, there are endless fields, infrequently dotted with farms and farm machinery. Contrasting the farmland's somewhat natural splendor, there are thousands of miles of electric lines—ubiquitous and perhaps even unsightly, yet somehow blending in with the scenery.

What I find most dramatic about many of these electric lines—other than their gargantuan size—is the realization that day after day, a dizzying amount of information travels through them and across great distances: billions of pieces of information are packed inside these powerful cables. In Electric Lines, my goal is to take the audience on a sonic roller coaster ride: I want the audience to feel tremendous energy and power and the thrill of instantaneously sending and receiving information at light speed.

Although electric lines inspire this work, there is nothing technically "electrical" about it: there are no synthesizers or electrical instruments used, with the exception of the vibraphone. The electric qualities in many sections are highlighted by tense string trills, long, powerful melodic lines and by giving many of the players energetic, concerto-like parts. I also try to make the melodic lines sound charged and electric by enhancing them with various types of orchestral accents and by pairing different instruments using parallel or almost parallel lines at close intervals.

A few of the sections and transitions in Electric Lines are modeled after the physical characteristics of the cables and power line towers. Many of the musical lines occur in groups of two’s and three’s; some of them dip and swoop like power cables, while others are electric rod straight, but tense and electrified. There are also occasional anvil-accented "power chords" that act as markers to delineate certain sections.

Even though Electric Lines might seem to have industrial underpinnings and allusions to mechanics, I am not trying to align myself with the early twentieth century Italian Futurists: it is more the present than the past that I am thinking of in this work.

Electric Lines (for Orchestra)

Symphony in Three Movements for Orchestra
Duration: 19’
Mostly Modern Festival, American Modern Orchestra, Chris Rountree, 2018 Faculty Conductor
Skidmore College, Arthur Zankel Music Hall, Saratoga Springs, New York (USA), 6/10/2018
Commissioned by the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra for their 25th Anniversary Concert, Kimbo Ishii-Eto, conductor
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=1339
For More Information: https://robertpaterson.com/symphony-in-three-movements

PROGRAM NOTES
The first movement, Bright and jubilant, is generally cheerful and upbeat, but occasional clouds of gray cast shadows over the musical surface. I associate this movement with traveling to a lover, and particularly over great distances. The brightness of this movement also subtly reflects the "silver anniversary" occasion for which this work was originally commissioned.

The slow second movement, Serenade, represents the unique intimacy that lovers share. Most string players in a chamber orchestra—even the first stands—never have a chance to play exposed material. This is interesting because although the string sections most often play as homogenous groups, the first stands of the string section are in an arc have an intimate view of each other. In this movement, the first stands of the violins, violas and cellos all have solo material whereas the rest of the strings often play gentle, long trills. My goal in to give all of the string players in the first stands an opportunity to shine.

The third movement, entitled Dancing games, is the most energetic of the three. It is has quirky, dance-like rhythms and a strong sense of pulse. In this movement, I imagine two lovers engaging in a bickering, yet friendly verbal dance match, their playful sentences bantered and volleyed back and forth like some sort of demented game of badminton in fast-forward mode. I suppose this would mean that the kind of dance I am imagining here is not one that you would necessarily move your feet to, but one meant for listening and that makes your insides want to move and shake.

Symphony in Three Movements - I. Bright and Jubilant

Symphony in Three Movements - II. Serenade

Symphony in Three Movements - III. Dancing Games

Perpetua

Grave Danger

Some tunes over "Jumping at shadows" by Fleetwood Mac.
Special thanks to my friend Panic and Freak out, who introduced me to this piece of gem!

Jumping at shadows - Fleetwood Mac (solo improvise)

Libation Upon Dubiety

American composer Robert Paterson is a true New Yorker—born and bred in Buffalo, he lived in Rochester and Ithaca for over ten years, in New York City for over twenty years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs, near the Adirondacks. Paterson’s colorful music embraces a wide variety of themes, everything from goddesses and online dating to mathematics and the environment. His music is filled with emotion and fierce rhythmic energy, marked by elegance, wit, and meticulous craftsmanship. Named Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall, Paterson is the winner of the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and his opera Three Way won the Grammy® under Best Classical Producer of the Year. His music is often a Best of the Year pick on National Public Radio. His orchestral tone poem, Dark Mountains, regularly airs on NPR’s Performance Today. Three Way premiered with Nashville Opera, then BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), and across the United States. Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, The Oratorio Society of New York, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Pro Musica, Albany Symphony, Musica Sacra, Austin Symphony, Vermont Symphony, and ensembles worldwide perform his works. Paterson gives masterclasses at the Curtis Institute of Music, New York University, the Aspen Music Festival, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and more. He is the Artistic Director and house composer for Mostly Modern Projects. Robert is a lifelong vegan and advocates for animals and the environment, celebrating the natural world with ground-breaking works such as his Triple Concerto, A New Eaarth, Listen, and I Go Among Trees.

I See You (String Orchestra and Recording)

Robert Paterson Composer

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