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Up Down and Around Cloud Mountain

A song about loneliness and alienation, about feeling alone in a city full of people

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Watching the faded smiles
See these actors walking asleep
Like lifeboats stranded on the ocean
Floating alone

But down here in the dark
In this theatre of the cold and alone
No more hidden scars
Step out of the wings
Into the unknown

Look in my eyes
See how they shine bright
Watching our dreams take flight
As we sparkle and shine

Searching these darkened streets
For some trace of meaning
Lifeboats on the ocean
Tracing footsteps back home

But down here in the dark
In this theatre of the cold and alone
No more hidden scars
Step out of the wings
Into the unknown

Look in my eyes
See how they shine bright
Watching our dreams take flight
As we sparkle and shine

Lifeboats

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A push of determination. They will not be conquered. Evil has come, and it pursues its goal with a burning passion. But this wall shall stand.


Soli Deo Gloria!

This Wall Will Stand

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.

American Modern Ensemble: In Real Life

In Real Life II - IV. Still Vamping

Sight For Sore Eyes - Robert Grigg & Combstead

LUXURY DRIVE

(dadam dada...)
wenn jetzt der himmel brennt, 
die ganze welt zusammenfällt,
dann sind wir da. 
wenn diese zeit sich aus dem boden hebt 
und jeder noch was drauflegt ja, 
dann sind wir da. 

und wenn raketen über dächer fliegen, 
wär das schlecht für jeden, 
doch dann sind wir da. 
wenn sich die strassen biegen 
und sie sich in armen liegen (oh oh)
dann sind wir da.   

what u mean time, 
itz like nothing new but fine. 
we got to go. heaven knows. 
and the stars just shine shine 
shine (oh oh)
after the long time of luxury drive. 
wo lang fahr ma denn?
woher kam er denn? (ah)
get the party early enough to get it before. 
guess we can get it anymore. 
last gram of the time. 
so get it on get it on. get it on (oh ho)

wenn dieser horizont ein spiegel ist, 
der einfach bricht dann sind wir da. 
und wenn dann immernoch 
der eine oder andere von wachstum spricht 
ja dann sind wir da. 
wenn sich die klugen leute umdrehn' 
und das gestern heute unsinn ist 
dann sind wir da. 

lay the ball on the line. 
the last gram of the time. 
after a long long luxury drive. 
we reach the party early to get it right

(ahahaha ha. ahahaha ha
thatz right come on)

what you mean time?
itz like nothing new but fine.
(oh oh)
we got to go
heaven knows and the stars just shine
last gram of the time,
after a long long luxury drive.
after a long drive

(dadam dada...)

musik: kolkhorst
text: kolkhorst



UWE 2022

LUXURY DRIVE

a little tension

NED! NED!  NED! NED!
NED! NED!  NED! NED!

Suite for String Orchestra
Duration: 15'
For More Information: https://robertpaterson.com/suite-for-string-orchestra
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/composers/robert-paterson/
Purchase Sheet Music: http://billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=%22suite+for+string+orchestra%22

PROGRAM NOTE
Unlike some of my previous works, Suite for String Orchestra is not inspired by an over-arching programmatic theme. Although there are some technical and motivic relationships between some of the movements—particularly the first and fifth—the movements are generally unrelated and are meant to be noticeably distinct. It is in five short movements and is intentionally written in an “old-fashioned,” somewhat archaic style. I initially played around with the idea of titling this work Old-fashioned Suite or Old Time Suite, but there seems to be a sufficient sprinkling of “new fangled ideas” in this work to make these alternative titles seem inadequate.

The first movement, Allegro vivace, is written in a “mid-20th century American” style. My model for a few of the sections in this movement is the evocative, German phrase Sturm und Drang, which literally translated means “storm and stress.”

In the second movement, Trapped waltz, I imagine an ethereal, yet cognizant waltz floating above the stratosphere, looking for a place to rest, but hobbled and shackled by a pounding rock and roll drumset. I see this as a metaphor for the various dances throughout history that have come and gone but are continually vying for attention in contemporary culture. The movement fades out at the end, as if the waltz is eternally looking for a place to settle down. Admittedly, I was somewhat inspired by the collage works of Charles Ives.

The third movement, Nocturne, begins slowly and sadly, and I imagine the pulse in the beginning as similar to the gentle breathing of someone who is asleep. The middle of the movement is much more intense and violent, and the end is as soft and calm as the beginning. The first chair violin and the first chair violoncello have brief solos in this movement.

Although material from the middle of the fourth movement, Balinese scherzo, is derived from a Balinese scale, the beginning is somewhat chromatic and the ending is essentially based on the E-major scale. This movement is distinctive in that the orchestra is asked to play pizzicato almost the entire time.

The fifth movement, Finale: allegro moderato, is the movement that is most reminiscent of the first movement. The ending combines material from the beginning of both the first and fifth movements.

Suite For String Orchestra - II. Trapped waltz

Greater Heights

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.

Suite For String Orchestra - II. Trapped waltz

Robert Paterson Composer