American Troubadours has a genesis that I am particularly proud of. One of my former Music Theory students and alumni of SFCM, Patrick Galvin, agreed to play a piece of mine on a recital I had a few years after his graduation. He was impressed enough by my style of composition that when he had an opportunity to choose a composer for a commission, I was his choice. American Troubadours is a result of a commission by Patrick Galvin and InterMusicSF, an arts organization focused on representing artists who create and commission music for small ensembles.
         Patrick Galvin is not only a classical violinist but he also plays in an Americana-folk band dedicated to seamlessly representing many different styles of American folk music. It only seemed fitting that this unique set of crossover skills should be aptly represented in a piece of music written for him.  I set out to find American folk songs that embodied this spirit.

Cwik - American Troubadours

Performed by Rebecca Bouc and Stefan Cwik
Composed by Stefan Cwik (www.stefancwik.com)

A close family friend, Leticia Villasenor, commissioned Prayer for the Pilgrim. It was commissioned for the 57th birthday celebration of the Most Reverend Gustavo Garcia-Siller, M.Sp.S., Archbishop of San Antonio, Texas. Most Reverend Garcia-Siller wrote a prayer book entitled "Transforming Prayer for Pilgrims". This, a book of meditation, outlined the experiences he had with the writings of the Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida, a Roman Catholic Mystic writer and missionary. As a mystic she claimed to have heard the voice of Christ through meditation and wrote a multitude of reflections on her experiences and what she considered them to mean to our existence. Her writings and meditations total over 60,000 handwritten pages, approaching that of Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Catholic Church looked favorably upon her writings and although she died in 1937, Pope Saint John Paul II declared upon her the Catholic title "Venerable" in 1999.

Below is the text of Prayer for the Pilgrim:

I surrender to the Spirit, the spirit of truth
The Spirit comes to the aid of my weakness
I call the Holy Spirit with penance and tears, with ardent desire
My heart is one with the Lord, through prayer

I contemplate, my hands empty to you,
I contemplate the mystery of salvation.
I follow the way of love and truth,
I no longer live, but love lives in me.

I embrace the whole of the universe,
My prayer is one with the heart of all,
I am transformed by suffering, by love,
I raise heavenward this cry, this cry of my soul
This is my body...This is my blood!
This is my body...This is my blood!
Jesus! Savior of all people, save them, save them, save them!

In union with all, with intentions of love, with intentions of love,
Salvation with all that is, and all that ever will be

I present my soul to God
Receive me now with all my soul and heart,
My dreams and my past, my present,
My agony, and my death
So God may convert them to life
Jesus, Savior of all people, save them, save them, save them,
so that we may find...peace.

-Stefan Cwik

Prayer for the Pilgrim

'Terpsichore' is an orchestral tone poem. It is programmatic, meaning that the music follows a story or dialogue. Terpsichore, in Greek Mythology, is the muse of Dance. She was born from a union between Zues and Mnemosyne, who is the goddess of memory and the subconscious. In these piece we are presented with that raucous dance music of Zues, followed by the cerebral and seductive music of Mnemosyne, end ending with a choral that combines the music of both, signifying the birth of Terpsichore. This piece was performed and recorded by the Juilliard Orchestra and conducted by Jeffrey Millarsky.

Terpsichore - Poem for Orchestra

The 'Eight Miniatures' was a winning work of the 2010 BCMCC and were written as an homage to the chamber works of composer Igor Stravinsky. The piece contains appropriations of Stravinsky motives taken from many different pieces, but thrown together in a mosaic of one piece. Sometimes Stravinsky is directly quoted, other times imitated, and other times infused stylistically into my own language. It is a purposeful recreation of the 'Stravinsky' style of chamber music orchestration and thematic treatment.

Eight Miniatures - II. Gigue

Eight Miniatures - I. Introduction

The Third movement of my first solo Piano Sonata. Performed and recorded by Scott Foglesong

Piano Sonata No. 1: III. Gigue - Presto

Sunstone

Transfigurations included animated artwork by the artists Eduardo Rodriguez Calzado. The video can be found on your tube (https://youtu.be/BL19M15jPYk?si=-K-J_kscGxRemTdQ) and includes animations of 5 of Calzado's paintings. Each movement of the work is a different animated painting put together to tell a story of death and rebirth.

Transfigurations For Brass Quintet And Wind Ensemble

1. En La Entrada (At the Entrance)0:00 - 4:15
2. Purificación (Purification)4:15 - 9:05
3. Luz Dorada (Golden Light)9:05 - 12:06

Composed by Stefan Cwik. Premiered by Symphony Parnassus on June 11th 2017 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the direction of Steve Paulson, Conductor. This piece musically explores three images by extraordinary abstract artist Eduardo Rodrigues Calzado (https://eduardorodriguezcalzado.com/paintings/paintings-2015/).

1. En La Entrada (At the Entrance)
2. Purificación (Purification)
3. Luz Dorada (Golden Light)

Cwik - 'Luz Dorada' for Orchestra

Piano Sonata No. 1: I. Allegretto Grazioso. Performed by Scott Foglesong  (http://www.scottfoglesong.com/) at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. May 2010.

Piano Sonata No. 1  I. Allegretto Grazioso

Piano Sonata No. 1: II. Adagio e dolce. Performed by Scott Foglesong  (http://www.scottfoglesong.com/) at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. May 2010.

Piano Sonata No. 1  II. Adagio e dolce

"Relics" for orchestra and percussion quartet, featuring the OrphiQ percussion ensemble (http://www.marimbaone.com/community/artists/orphiq-0). Premiered by Symphony Parnassus and conducted by Stephen Paulson (http://www.symphonyparnassus.org/).

Cwik - Relics (Master)

Composer, Guitarist, and Pianist living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. Follow me for news on concerts, events, and updates including new recordings. Contact Stefan at stcwik@gmail.com


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