Movement III — Scherzo “Dance of the Storm”....

Movement III — Scherzo “Dance of the Storm”

The synth and rhythm tracks are inspired by my love of The Who. Specifically Who Are You, Won't Get Fooled Again and Baba O'Riley. Once I started adding melodies it took on its own life. That's the cool thing about recording sometimes. The song goes where it wants to regardless of how hard I try. ;-)

03-02-18: Replaced original mix 3 file with MIX 5.
03-06-18: Replaced file with MIX 9
12/19/18: Replaced file with lossless AIF
05/02/19: eMastered mp3
08/12/20: Final Version v2.3

Shut Up & Play

Who's Rising

iTunes

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 - V. Finale: allegro moderato

I Do

▲𝐀 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐄𝐏 "𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐦"▲

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: https://bit.ly/3pCrU5m

ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ:  https://bit.ly/37JnhAn

Visual

Parking on the Turnpikes

Another song about friend(s) in need

LYRICS:

It seems to me that we’ve done it all wrong
It came to me when I was writing this song
Gonna start again and we can start at the end
Didn’t need to mend, think I just needed a friend

I’m falling apart
You’re driving a stake through my heart

You came to me when you were needing a hand
Afloat at sea, we put you back on dry land
You threw it all back in the drink
You blew it on smack and down your sink

We’ll try another time
Just one more time
One more time again

Dry Land (Try Another Time)

Hecludium Hecludis

Glimpses Of You

Elegy for Two Bassoons and Piano
Duration ca. 10'
Performers: American Modern Ensemble; Charles McCracken and Gilbert DeJean, bassoons; Elizabeth DiFelice, piano
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1073

PROGRAM NOTES (SHORT VERSION — FOR PROGRAMS)
After hearing my music, and in particular, my Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, bassoonist Charles McCracken asked me to write Elegy for two bassoons and piano in memory of his father, Charles P. McCracken, a well-known and highly-regarded cellist in the New York musical community. His only request was that I quote a work that his father loved to play, one of the cello suites by J.S. Bach. I also love Bach’s music, so this was an easy request. I quote Bach’s Fifth Cello Suite, one of his father’s favorite pieces, and also Bach’s Third Cello Suite, a work that Charles Jr. likes, creating a sort of father and son pairing of references. Although Charles described his father as gregarious, fun loving and larger than life, this work is perhaps more earnest than humorous, but with a sense of playfulness in the way I manipulate the musical materials.

Elegy was commissioned by Charles McCracken and Gordon Harris through the American Composers Forum and is written in memory of Charles P. McCracken.

Star Crossing

Elegy for Two Bassoons and Piano

Fantasia for Tuba and Marimba (six-mallets)
Duration ca. 6'
Performers: Dan Peck, tuba; Robert Paterson, marimba

Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=1292

For more information: https://robertpaterson.com/fantasia

PROGRAM NOTE
Fantasia is my first piece for marimba and another instrument. Perhaps because it is an older work, I had the urge to improve it. Composers are of two minds regarding revisions: some think that you should never revise, others revise constantly. This piece was moderately playable in its original form, but I took pleasure in tweaking it, being careful to keep as much of my original music as possible in tact.

Six Mallet Marimba

Fantasia (Tuba and Marimba)

A music representation of a feeling of despair. 
--
Photo by Dmitry Schemelev on Unsplash

Despair

Despair – Ambient & Cinematic Music

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 - V. Finale: allegro moderato

Robert Paterson Composer