Capriccio (2021) is a short and light piece for orchestra to conclude the difficult year of 2021 on a happier note.  The music is about as toe-tapping tonal as my musical language will allow.  The sound is at times reminiscent of the legions of spectacular American Drum-Corp marching bands that perform with volume, precision, and unbound energy at outdoor stadiums in the Midwest.  

While you listen, feel free to imagine complex formations of a hundred or so elaborately-dressed musicians and twirlers continually moving in 3-dimensions spaced out along a 120-yard football field on a blistering, humid, sweltering summer day.  Henry Brant and Charles Ives were both early influences on my music, and may have been instigators here.  

My "Capriccio" was composed in the spirit of fun, and strives to meet the definition of a "lively, loosely structured musical composition that is often humorous in character."  It also could be heard as a set of freely constructed variations.

The work is published by Universal Edition AG:

https://www.universaledition.com/Werke/Capriccio-for-Orchestra/P0209337

Capriccio for Orchestra (2021)

See the score here:
https://issuu.com/utsyochakraborty/docs/chakraborty_paper_theatre

"Paper Theatre, Five dioramas for ensemble" was composed in two and a half weeks in December 2021 for eight instruments. It was conceived as a sequel to my 2019 piece "Shadow Theatre", also for a small mixed ensemble. 

The instrumentation is as follows:
Piccolo (doubling on Flute and Alto Flute)
Oboe (doubling on English Horn)
Trombone
3 Percussion 
Electric Guitar (doubling on Bass Guitar)
Double Bass

My friends, knowing how interested I am "classical music" wanted me to step out of my comfort zone and comment on what they found interesting. They sent me links of a wide variety of music: ranging from the austerity of Carnatic music to the cheesy ease of Bollywood; from the coolness of jazz to the almost unlistenable screams of Metallica. Given how resistive I could (and still can) be to certain stylistic approaches, I decided to forego my preferences and just listen without any expectations. To my surprise, a lot of music was to my liking. However something strange also started to happen during this period of assimilation: I started to think of how I could deal with or manipulate certain aspects of the pieces I heard (namely repetition, rhythm, melodic development, etc.) and integrate them into my interested areas of composition. This gave rise to the piece, which was composed rather quickly. 

There are five scenes, each with its own itinerary: 

1. March Past: a marching band coordinated to a central beat given by the Bass and Congas but each with their localised and improvised quirks; like organised chaos. 

2. Ikebana: an intimate pattern making session by four voices, relying on literal repetition to highlight the gradual harmonic development throughout.

3. Spring Jukebox: Romantic music - an improvised birdsong like introduction which gives rise to a simple (yet sometimes microtonally inflected) melody sung by the piccolo and English Horn, superimposed on an ostinato on the vibraphone. Clockwork like percussion joins in as the song progresses. 

4. Shapeshifter: a piece with shifts and contrasts among three phases, sometimes gradual while sometimes abrupt. It leads directly into the fifth scene. 

5. Rave: a wild, frenetic dance party with an exploration of extreme registers. The chaos eventually ends up being busted by the police.

Paper Theatre - Five Dioramas for ensemble (2022)

Restless Legs

One of my most favorite films is Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. This is my homage to that extraordinary mind bending adventure. I try to capture Dave's feelings when he realizes he is all alone in deep space, lost somewhere in time. It was created with the sounds from my Korg O1/W in an early sequencing program known as Opcode's Vision.

I have a personal website you are welcome to visit if you dare:
www.stephenjablonsky.net

Dave's Lament (MIDI) 1992

Way back in the mid-20th century Morton Feldman was kind of a phantom character in the New York music scene. He was not physically attractive and nobody dug his music. It was only later that many of us came to understand how beautiful he and his music really were. I based this homage to him on the descending major third in his Madame Press Died Last Week at 90, his homage to his piano teacher in 1970. Morton died at age 61 but he did write a lot of good music.

Check out the video version on YouTube.

I have a personal website you are welcome to visit if you are so inclined:
www.stephenjablonsky.net

Pavane For Morton (2016) woodwind quintet and string quartet

“Tone Poem confirms that you are a long line composer in the Sessions tradition, have superfine ears for harmony and harmonic progression, pay attention to voice leading, and are good at dramatic structures...”  
          - David Rakowski, Composer, Brandeis University

"James is a composer with a fertile imagination.  His work 'Tone Poem' exhibits a mastery of form, orchestration, and harmonic movement.  The final Epilogue is a heart-wrenching remembrance of 9/11.  The variety of texture, orchestration, and dynamics excite the ear throughout.  The piece should receive the excellent performance it deserves." 
              - the late Robert Ceely, Composer, New England Conservatory
 
"Vienna lives.  I was continually made to think of Sezession, the Wiener Werkstaette, and the more elaborately patterned paintings of Gustav Klimt.  I'd love to hear a live performance.  Good luck with it: it deserves it." 
           - the late Ezra Sims, Composer, Cambridge MA

“You are, in my estimation, an extremely talented and sensitive composer.  Your orchestral work is incredibly detailed, imaginative and beautiful.” 
	- the late Peter Lieberson, Composer, Santa Fe NM

“Tone Poem is a very impressive accomplishment.  An extremely complex orchestral texture, filled with choice details, is placed in the service of a large-scale musical statement that in the end is quite moving.  It deserves a performance.”
	- the late Martin Boykan, Composer, Brandeis University

“I agree with my colleagues that your ‘Tone Poem’ is a remarkable work, and I already had decided to nominate it for an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters…”  
          - the late Milton Babbitt, Composer, The Juilliard School & Princeton University

"A remarkably beautiful work -- elegantly crafted and strikingly orchestrated" 
	- the late Donald Martino, Composer, Harvard University

Score published by Universal Edition AG:
  
https://www.universaledition.com/james-ricci-8177/works/tone-poem-2003-34832

Tone Poem for Orchestra (2003)

On December 5t, 2017 I celebrated my 76th birthday. Two days later I learned that my best friend, Danny Elliot, died in a hospital in LA. We went to junior and senior high together and have been buddies for 65 years. I chose to celebrate his life with a joyous festival of scales.

Alive! (2017)Woodwind quintet and piano

When Pierre Boulez took the NY Phil down to the Village back in the 1970s one of the pieces he scheduled was Four Organs by Steve Reich. Because I have always been hyperkinetic I had difficulty sitting still for the entirety of the performance. Since then I have come to appreciate much of Steve's work especially his Octet which I honor here by imitation.

Petite Homage (2018) woodwind quintet and piano

UMO Jazz Orchestra
First Performance: Savoy Theatre, Helsinki, Finland, May 28 2019

Dave's Lament (MIDI) 1992

Stephen Jablonsky

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