The first of four movements of the Suite of Four Miniatures for solo piano. Program notes coming soon!

Suite of Four Miniatures for solo piano: I. Prelude [Raw Audio] (2013)

The fourth of four movements to the Suite of Four Miniatures for solo piano. Program notes coming soon.

Suite of Four Miniatures for solo piano: IV. Waltz [Raw Audio] (2013)

Wedding Processional

Processional for Violin and Piano
Composed by Ryan Nathaniel (b.1988)
Dedicated to my darling wife Stephanie on our wedding day.

Copyright 2018 by The Music Brewer. All Rights Reserved.

Wedding Processional - MIDI (2018)

The Lord Bless You and Keep You
a choral benediction composed by Ryan Nathaniel (b.1988)
for unaccompanied SATB choir

Copyright 2020 by The Music Brewer. All Rights Reserved.

The Lord Bless You And Keep You (2020)

This work is an orchestral transcription of a choir piece of mine still yet to be performed ("Agnus Dei"). It is constructed around few musical ideas. The first is an exploration of a gesture in which there is a sense of growth and then decay. This is achieved through dynamic swells, alterations in tempi, melodic shape, as well as changes in the density of orchestral textures. The second element is that of stepwise motion, whether it is by semitone or whole tone, usually implemented both melodically and harmonically. In contrast, a characteristically disjunct theme appears in the middle section, but is still supported by stepwise harmonic motion.

"A Chorale for the Lamb of God" is written in a loose ternary form. The first 'A' section has a mainly homophonic texture, whereas the 'B' section, in contrast, is more contrapuntal in nature. With the return of the 'A' section, the opening gesture is heard briefly in a major mode before returning to its original tonality. A small coda is added to close the piece, ending in a warm B major (a semitone from the original B-flat minor).

This recording is from a 2010 reading session by the SUNY Fredonia College Symphony.

A Chorale for the Lamb of God (2010)

"Fragment Statements" is roughly constructed as a short, four-part rondo. The work is completely based around the characteristics of the theme that is stated by the horn at measure seventy-two. This theme is broken up into a series of fragments and pieced together as the work progresses. Melodically, the primary theme is quite angular, making use of many major and minor sevenths (the opening statement, which is the reoccurring material of the rondo, utilizes these intervals to create a fanfare-like pyramid). Upon further consideration, it was found that if you interlock the sevenths, the result is a set of stacked fourths, which is implemented as the basic harmonic motion of the piece.

This work was premiered by The Boston Brass as part of their "25 fanfares" project in October, 2010 and recorded live in King Concert Hall at SUNY Fredonia.

Fragment Statements (2010)

"Diminishing Returns..." is a composition for electronic playback that explores the technicalities of polyrhythm and polymeter. The piece begins by establishing a steady tempo with the use of various percussion sounds. A scale is partially introduced in a piano timbre, signifying the harmonic (or, rather, intervallic) substance of the work. The scale is constructed of gradually increasing intervals, beginning with a minor second and growing through a major seventh.

To account for the extreme range of this scale, octave displacement is applied. The piano figure that is first heard contains the first seven pitches in the scale, which, along with the pulse established at the start of the piece, create the framework for other patterns to develop. In addition, chordal textures that accompany these figures will be the resulting sonorities of any number of pitches in the scale that are combined.

After all of the figures have been introduced, there is a short break, after which all of the figures return together and are looped. At fairly regular intervals of time, the loops are trimmed by a specific duration related to the figure itself, enhancing the effect of the polyrhythms. Following an accelerando to the apex of the piece, a bold restatement of the initial piano figure is heard, and a gradual diminuendo of the underlying pulse brings the work to a close.

Diminishing Returns: an experiment with polyrhythm for electronics (2010)

II. A Dream
As the title of poem suggests, the textures in this movement are stereotypically dream- like. A raised fourth scale degree and the use of whole tone motion create the affect of a scene from imagination. The piano, in this movement, is relatively inactive, at times only supplying a wash of resonance for the violin and singer to interact against. There are four distinct sections to compliment the four stanzas of the text. The outer sections are similar in melody and harmony, while the middle two sections move through the harmonic scheme so that a return to the initial harmony in the opening section is logical.

In visions of the dark night
I have dreamed of joy departed,
But a waking dream of life and light
Hath left me broken-hearted.

Ah! What is not a dream by day
To him whose eyes are cast
On things around him with a ray
Turned back upon the past?

That holy dream - That holy dream,
While all the world were chiding,
Hath cheered me as a lovely beam
A lonely spirit guiding.

What thought that light, thro’ storm and night
So trembled from afar,
What could be there be more purely bright
In Truth’s day-star?

Poe Songs - II. A Dream (2011)

Performed live at Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall, State University of New York at Fredonia, May 01, 2011

John Cieply, soprano saxophone
Ryan Sewell, alto saxophone
Garrett Tanner, tenor saxophone
Dan Knorr, baritone saxophone

"Flourish" is an exploration in motivic treatment. As the piece begins, the main theme is stated in octaves by all saxophones. The characteristics of this motif will be developed throughout the duration of the work in a multitude of ways – diminution, inversion, retrograde, tempo change, different textures in the accompaniment, etc.

The basis of the some of the harmony is borrowed from the second movement of Howard Hanson’s "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 36." The middle, slower section deviates from the harmonic structure and is ultimately dictated by the melodic development that occurs. As the slower section closes, it transitions into a restatement of the beginning material and continues on with the borrowed harmony.

An important figure that is also borrowed from Hanson’s piano concerto first appears in the soprano saxophone at measure 12. This group of four notes cascading upward is integrated into the texture in many ways, while still taking care not to quote directly from the Hanson.

Flourish for Saxophone Quartet (2011)

Ryan Nathaniel (b. 1988) is a composer whose works encompass a wide variety of genres, including works for large and chamber instrumental ensembles, voice, choir, and electro- acoustic music. He has been a participant in many composition master classes with world-renowned composers such as William Neil, George Tsontakis, and Paul Moravec. In 2010, his work "Fragment Statements" was given its world premiere by the Boston Brass as part of their "25 fanfares" project celebrating the ensemble's 25th anniversary.

A native of Dansville, NY, Ryan holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Composition from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. He has studied with Donald Bohlen, Rob Deemer, and Karl Boelter. In addition to composition, Ryan has studied voice as a baritone with Dr. Quinn Patrick Ankrum and Dr. Gwen Coleman Detwiler, and conducting with Helen Ihasz, John Maguda, and Paula Holcomb. While attending SUNY Fredonia, he was elected to the board of executives of Ethos New Music Society in 2007 and served various positions through 2011, including President of the organization in its 2008-2009 season.

As a compliment to his career in composition, Ryan also recently began pursuing work as a music engraver and arranger, along with self-publishing his own works under the name “The Music Brewer.” He is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).