CLASSICAL - RE

Duration: ca. 20'
Music by Robert Paterson • Lyrics by David Cote

Instrumentation: baritone and chamber ensemble (wind doubler [flute, B-flat clarinet, oboe], violin, cello, percussion, piano)
Performed by American Modern Ensemble, Jorell Williams, Baritone

Purchase Sheet Music: (Version for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble): http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=2778

Purchase Sheet Music: (Version for Baritone and Chamber Ensemble): http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=2777

For more information:
Version for Baritone and Chamber Ensemble: https://robertpaterson.com/in-real-life-ii-version-for-baritone-and-chamber-ensemble
Version for Baritone and Piano: https://robertpaterson.com/in-real-life-ii-version-for-baritone-and-piano

In Real Life I for soprano and chamber ensemble and soprano and piano also available. (In Real Life I consists of different songs than In Real Life II.)

PROGRAM NOTE
As a follow-up to our song cycle for soprano and chamber ensemble (or piano), Robert and I  agreed the concept of five characters looking for love online should have a male counterpart. Written for baritone and chamber ensemble, In Real Life II looks at five contemporary men clicking their way to second chances and romance. In “No Frog” we meet a prototypical player, a guy who fluffs his profile, but the truth keeps slipping out. The tone shifts with “Sola Fide,” in which a U.S. veteran of the war in Afghanistan explains the tattoo on his chest and the wounds inside. An older gentleman envisions one last fling in the irreverent “Die with Me.” In “Still Vamping,” a gay man muses on his start-and-stop romantic history. Finally, in “Nice-Plus,” an everyday guy reveals a hidden passion. In Real Life II was commissioned by American Modern Ensemble with funding from the Doctorow Family Foundation.

In Real Life II - Dating Site Songs for Baritone and Chamber Ensemble

Duration: ca. 21'
Music by Robert Paterson • Lyrics by David Cote

Instrumentation: soprano and chamber ensemble (wind doubler [flute, B-flat clarinet, oboe], violin, cello, percussion, piano)
Performed by American Modern Ensemble, Marnie Breckenridge, Soprano
Formerly titled "In Real Life."

Purchase Sheet Music: (Version for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble): http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=2778

Purchase Sheet Music: (Version for Soprano and Piano): http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=2777

For more information:
Version for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble: https://robertpaterson.com/in-real-life-version-for-soprano-and-chamber-ensemble
Version for Soprano and Piano: https://robertpaterson.com/in-real-life-version-for-soprano-and-piano

In Real Life II for baritone and chamber ensemble and baritone and piano also available. (In Real Life II consists of different songs than In Real Life.)

PROGRAM NOTE
Forty million Americans do it: join a dating site hoping to find true love in digital space. In Real Life is a song cycle for soprano and piano that explores the humor and heartbreak of this modern ritual. Five women fill out their dating-site profiles, opening a window into their worlds. The first song is “A Regular Woman,” in which a lady outlines the exact sort of man she’s looking for with comical specificity, perfect for today’s on-demand culture. “Late Bloomer” is a sweet and wistful portrait of a woman who learns in her 40s that her romantic tastes have changed radically. Next, in “Anastasia,” we hear from a Russian looking for a husband—with all the broken English that entails. With “Collateral,” the mood turns dark, as a war widow contemplates returning to the dating pool. Finally, “Rewind” is a nostalgic anthem by a 35-year-old whose divorce has made her feel like an awkward teen again. Can she learn something from her younger self? Funny and sad yet full of hope, In Real Life is about reality, fantasy and second chances. In Real Life was commissioned by Austin Chamber Ensemble Artistic Director Martha Mortensen Ahern, in honor of its 35th season.

In Real Life

American Modern Ensemble: In Real Life

In Real Life II - IV. Still Vamping

In Real Life II - III. Die With Me

In Real Life II - II. Sola Vide

In Real Life II - I. Ain't No Frog

In Real Life II - V. Nice Plus

From the theater piece "Small Town in a Snuff Box" based on a story of V. Odoevsky

YouTube

Broken Organ

Elegy of Her Kiss

A reflective, mournful piece from Before I Forget by The Jeremias Langsämmer Ensemble, featuring lofi piano, cello, and subdued strings. This contemporary minimal classical track blends intimate piano melodies with gentle orchestral strings, perfect for focus, study, or contemplative listening. The restrained yet cinematic soundscape evokes quiet introspection while maintaining a modern, avant-garde sensibility.

For Fans Of:
Max Richter, Ólafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, Balmorhea, A Winged Victory for the Sullen

The Jeremias Langsämmer Ensemble – What The World Can't See (I Don't Hide) | Lofi Piano & Strings

Short modern classical piece for string quartet. Atonal style with patterns and musical phrases circulating from one instrument to another. 

Nightmare

July 14, 2022

In Real Life I - I. A Regular Woman

In Real Life I - II. Late Bloomer

In Real Life I - III. Anastasia

In Real Life I - IV. Collateral

In Real Life I - V. Rewind

Prison Cell for Two Percussionists
Duration: 10'
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=1347
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beD4-L0qgpI
For More Information: https://robertpaterson.com/prison-cell

PROGRAM NOTES
Prison Cell is a ten-minute percussion duet that musically, theatrically and symbolically represents a prison cell. The work centers around variations of a traditional, tonal theme and an original, more dissonant theme. The original theme and its variations are taken from a tone row built on the scale degree one half step above the tonal theme. This tonal theme is continuously alluded to through modulations, variations, chromaticism and dense, slowly evolving rhythmic and chordal structures. When the central, tonal theme is finally introduced, it is never completed, creating tension that is prolonged through the second half of the piece. The tonal theme eventually becomes immersed in the tone row and gradually fused into the original theme. The mutated, skeletal rhythmic motive of the tonal theme is all that remains.

The percussionist inside the set-up represents a prisoner. The percussionist outside the set-up plays two roles: when walking behind, this player represents the oppression of the cell; when walking in front, the player represents influences on the cell by outside forces such as prison guards. The tubular chimes represent the bars of a cell.

Prison Cell

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.

In Real Life II - V. Nice Plus

Robert Paterson Composer