Three movements for solo violin based on haiku. The structure of each movement, as well as the overall work, is taken from the syllabic structure of the haiku, as well as the make up of letters used. Premiered by Caxton Jones.
I. Red Shel l- anonymous
Are you kidding me
Who the fuck threw that red shell
I will fuck you up
II. Steak Knife - Danny Bland
Took out her stitches
With a steak knife at Shoney's
Pretty as can be
III. Hours - Susan Morrison
Hours are leaves of life
And I am their gardener
Each hour falls down slow

Three Haiku For Violin

This piece was written for and performed by Boston Musica Viva. Written for Pierrot ensemble, the piece experiments with color combinations within the ensemble.

Chromance for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano

This orchestral tone poem follows the basic story of two soul mates separated by death; one an accident, the other a suicide. Our hero crosses into hell to retrieve his soul mate. They encounter obstacles cited from Dante's "Inferno", such as icy rain, and Cerberus, the three headed dog. Finally navigating their way to heaven, the protagonists decide to travel back to earth to find each other again. This program is an amalgamation of similar stories from history, like "The Divine Comedy", "Orpheus", and the film "What Dreams May Come". This recording features the Boston Conservatory Composers' Orchestra.

What Dreams Will Come for orchestra

Altruism
for orchestra and eight amplified voices
 
Dominic Dagostino, Margaret Rowley, piccolo/flute
Andrew van der Paardt, Aidan Rodier, oboes
David Angelo, Sophie Kass, Chuck Furlong, clarinets (soprano, bass, contrabass)
Tylor Thomas, Daniel Beilman, bassoon/contrabassoon
Nick Auer, Jason Ford, Emma Staudacher, Amanda Chen, horns
Moxi Li, Matt Nishida, trumpets
Caroline Cole, Will Sloan, Tim Green, trombones/bass trombone
David Vess, Liam Sheehy, tubas
Jane Soh, harp
Jacob Hiser, piano
Daniel Pessalano, timpani
Eri Isomura, Taylor Ambrosio-Wood, Daniel deSimone, percussion
Nivedita Sarnath, Haley Leach, Gian Francesco Falbo, Caxton Jones,
Benedict Sin, Kelley McGarry, violins
Evan Uebelacker, Miriam Lee, Rebecca Miller, Jeff Madry, violas
Thomas Rodman, Sara Cook, Eden Raiz, cellos
Meyer Brown, contra bass
Amelia Wilber, Melanie Bacalling, Gwen Coburn, Laura Ethington,
Wes Hunter, Eiji Miura, Will Hurwitz, Simon Dyer, voices
Indervir Singh, conductor
 
            Altruism is as much about time travel, for me, as it is about the eight characters depicted within it. The majority of the text is taken from the online blogs of eight close friends during their early years of college. It follows the beginnings of the friendships through to their darkest moments, and eventually their dissolution. The idea of the online journal during the early 2000’s was a fairly new one, and young people were more than ready to throw their personal thoughts on the web to be archived forever. In these journals, shared experiences and events are recounted, complete with celebrations, fights, allegorical fantasy, somber moments, and rants. Three of the bloggers have written retrospective epilogues specifically for this work, and appear in the coda, almost in their entirety. The piece utilizes an arch form with a coda, and much of the musical material is built around octatonic scales.  This piece is dedicated to the people that exist in it, and the people they have become, for without them, I wouldn’t be here today.

Altruism for orchestra and eight amplified voices

Pathways
 
Margaret Rowley, flute
Caxton Jones, violin
Jacob Hiser, piano
 
            Pathways was conceived after a health scare from my grandfather in September. I decided to write a piece in a way where each instrument represented me, my father, my grandfather, and our paths through our lives. The idea came from a letter written to me from my grandfather during college. He would often write to me with life advice, emphasizing that no matter how much we plan or what precautions we take, many of the important events in our life are often by chance; random interactions. I tried to bring this concept in to the piece by employing chance procedures to some of the material during the writing process.
 
An excerpt from The Opportunity of Unplanned Events:
 
            “So what can I conclude from these situations? That even though we should do everything we possibly can to prepare for the future, situations may arise in our lives that can change our lives for the better (or for the worse; we have to carefully evaluate these new opportunities and make the best guess possible on which it will offer). Obviously we should not just sit back and wait for someone to offer us a great opportunity that we were not otherwise aware of. But at least we can treat other people as we would like them to treat us (I like to think of that as a sort of a golden rule) and maybe that will give us a reward in the form of a future opportunity. And it takes judgment in evaluating new opportunities. The current saying is, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” But sometimes, just saying ‘sure’ can improve your life a lot. Or not.”
-Mike Fossier

Pathways for flute, violin, and piano

Språk
 
Nick Auer, Steph Smith, Emma Staudacher, Jason Ford, horns
 
            I began composing this piece with the goal to write a challenging work for horn quartet that was approachable as a horn player and accessible as a listener. I wanted to showcase the horn’s strengths, the things I love to hear the horn do, and the kinds of things I like playing as a horn player. This involved brassy cluster chords, rips and glissandi, and soaring melodic lines, which are heard throughout the work. The second thing I thought about was that the premiere would be very close to my birthday. Thus the entire piece is structured around a tone row based on my date of birth. The row is stated in the introduction in the low register. Afterwards, the row is mutated and inverted and applied harmonically. The piece begins slowly, acclimating to the tone row, then takes off on a maniacal romp, building up expectations in a teasing manner, and then dashing those expectations. The title is derived from a misspelling of the word "spark", resulting in sprak, which might sound like noise the horn would make. It just so happened that "språk" is Swedish for "language", which is evocative of the "language" of the horn I am exploring throughout this piece.

Språk for Horn Quartet

Leaves: Songs on the Poems of Walt Whitman
Leaf I. After The Dazzle
Leaf II. Canary Bird
Leaf III. To Those Who’ve Fail’d
 
Amelia Wilber, soprano, Nivedita Sarnath, violin, Henry Buck, piano
 
            After the Dazzle of Day was written in 2011 for a composition competition. The visual imagery that is aroused by Whitman’s words is wonderful, and I wanted to sonically create this “dazzle”. I was also drawn to the musical nature of the poem. After finishing Dazzle, I wanted to compose a song cycle using Whitman’s poems as the overarching theme, since Whitman is a popular poet whose work lends itself well to text setting. My Canary Bird is an innocent seeming poem at first read, but then evokes intriguing thoughts as it likens the soul to a caged bird. The text is set to a simple melodic line for the soprano, but the accompaniment is meant to confine her. To Those Who’ve Fail’d was the first work I finished at the Boston Conservatory, and choosing the text for it was a little daunting, considering Whitman’s body of work. To Those Who’ve Fail’d struck me immediately upon reading it. Failing is a part of life, and I think everyone can identify with that theme in someway or another. The poem begins like a poignant ode, and towards the end takes a dark turn, both of which I attempt to portray.
 
After the Dazzle of Day
After the dazzle of day is gone,
Only the dark dark night shows to my eyes the stars;
After the clangor of organ majestic, or chorus, or perfect band,
Silent, athwart my soul, moves the symphony true.
 
My Canary Bird
Did we count great, O soul,
to penetrate the themes of mighty books,
Absorbing deep and full from thoughts, plays, speculations?
But now from thee to me, caged bird, to feel thy joyous warble,
Filling the air, the lonesome room, the long forenoon,
Is it not just as great, O soul?
 
To Those Who’ve Fail’d
To those who’ve fail’d, in aspiration vast,
To unnam’d soldiers fallen in front on the lead,
To calm, devoted engineers—to over-ardent travelers—to pilots on their ships,
To many a lofty song and picture without recognition—I’d rear a laurel-cover’d monument,
High, high above the rest—To all cut off before their time,
Possess’d by some strange spirit of fire,
Quench’d by an early death.

Leaves: Songs on the Poems of Walt Whitman, for voice, violin, and piano

Scherzo Concertante is an arrangement of a work by Václav Nelhýbel, originally published in 1966 for solo horn and piano. The original piece is a staple in young hornists' solo literature and significantly impacted me as a young performer and budding composer. Nelhýbel's music is known for its non-functional modality, pan-diatonicism, and motor rhythms, all of which are evident in Scherzo. While at first glance, this work (and subsequent arrangement) might seem innocuous, do not be fooled. It is a fierce puzzle with tiny, seemingly unimportant pieces that fit together to create a highly effective, electric showpiece. Performed by the Degaf Quintet: Francesca Ferrara, flute; Andrew van der Paardt, oboe; David Angelo, clarinet; Grant Bingham, bassoon; Emily Wiebe, horn.

Scherzo Concertante

Regenesis was commissioned by the Chimera New Music Collective in Boston, MA to be performed by the Adenium String Quartet, and to be premiered at the Matter & Light Art Gallery in conjunction with an exhibition of artwork by Aristotle Forrester.

The title draws inspiration from Aristotle's work, Symphony of Genesis, while the sound world draws inspiration from his artistic style in general. In addition to the allusion to Aristotle's work, the title also has other implications. As 2016 draws to a close, one is reminded of the many ups and downs it brought, including the many deaths of musical icons, and a veritable political circus. Composing this work as acted as a catharsis, and a need to "reset".

The intention for this work is to create a collection of thirteen "moments", rather than longer movements. This collection contains the first four.

Regenesis: Moments I-IV

Forge, written for the Pueblo City Schools All-City Honor Band, is performed here (in rehearsal) by the 215th Army Band of Fall River Massachusetts. This recording was made for rehearsal purposes.

Forge (1/7/18)

Commissioned and performed by percussionist Eri Isomura, this piece based on the parable of the good Samaritan.

Ryan Fossier

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