A miniature for orchestra on an original song by Charles Ives. Text employed: "Now came still Evening on, and Twilight gray and in her sober livery all things clad; Silence accompanied; for the beast and bird - They to their grassy couch, these to their nests were slunk, but the wakeful nightingale; She all night long, all night long her amorous descant sung; Silence is pleased." From Paradise Lost by John Milton.

Evening

Variations for brass quintet on the A.P. Carter song, "Can the Circle Be Unbroken", Arrangement composed as a memorial to Maurice Samuel Schwartz of York, Pennsylvania.

A Quiet Place To Rest

This single movement work describes the feeling of impending doom classically trained musicians experience when faced with a daunting piece of sight reading. It was composed as challenge for an amateur trio piano organized by my sister, Maria Kowalsky Schwartz, a marvelous cellist living in Baltimore and working at Loyola University of Maryland.

Adrenaline Rush

Prospero's Storm - Version for Bassoon and Piano

Near the shore of the Potomac River on land once owned by the grandson of Martha Washington, Arlington National Cemetery is a place for heroes. On June 15, 1864, Secretary of State Edwin M. Stanton approved the use of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s home as burial site for Union soldiers dying in the Civil War. The house became unlivable as its land received thousands of interments. Over succeeding decades, service members from every part of the country and walk of life were also laid to rest here. They would be joined by Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, members from the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as individuals from national movements such as Civil Rights and Women’s Suffrage. A few of the most visited landmarks include Memorial Amphitheater, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, JFK’s Eternal Flame, monuments to the victims of 9-11, and the astronauts who perished in the Apollo 1 fire as well as the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters. Of equal importance is an average of eight to ten new interments occur on weekdays, with honor guards from the relevant service branch accompanying each burial detail. When visiting Washington DC, please stop by this place of transcendental beauty. Even on a cold winter’s day you might be fortunate to hear a bugler playing, “Taps”. Remember, while touring the grounds please show proper respect because everyone interred at Arlington National Cemetery has earned places within our nation’s Most Hallowed Ground.

Arlington is a walking tour for string ensemble and bugler. It traces the passage of an average weekday from sunrise, visits to landmarks across its spacious grounds, through nightfall. Included is a glimpse of an interment procession, focusing upon the hymn “Abide with Me” and playing of “Taps”. The bugler also performs calls for raising the American flag prior to opening the gates and lowering the flag as the cemetery closes.

This work was composed to honor my father, Lubomir L. Kowalsky, who received the U.S. Army Bronze Star for heroism in World War II. He is interred at Bronswood Cemetery in Oak Brook, Illinois. No matter the location of eternal rest, I wrote Arlington for all heroes – past, present, and future – because each deserves special remembrance.

Arlington

Fade in.

An aging veteran is asleep in a comfortable armchair, newspaper spread across his lap and adjacent lamp burning brightly. He begins to stir from a troubled sleep. As the images in his mind turn nightmarish, their ferocity throws him out of the chair with a terrible scream. Upon realizing that he is not trapped by his subconscious he slowly resumes his seat and reminisces on brighter moments of service to the country. While his spirits are momentarily raised, this forces him to retreat further into a world of nostalgia. The diversion turns out to be short lived, driven from his mind when the nightmare returns with a vengeance. Alternate reality takes firm hold when he rises and reaches for a battered fatigue jacket and cap draped across the back of the chair. As he puts them on details of the nightmare emerge: an attack on a formidable position and its bloody repulse. With each new image that enters his mind he becomes increasingly distressed. Reaching the breaking point he pleads for the nightmare to end, but it veers off into the hideous world of the attack’s aftermath. Doomed to relive a terrible episode step by bloody step, he is overwhelmed by guilt and angered by his role in the carnage. Leaping from the chair he bitterly denounces those responsible for the torment he continues to suffer from so many years after the fact. Falling to the floor, his mind becomes locked onto the image of the recent suicide of his best friend. Pointing an accusing finger at no one in particular he mocks himself for buying into the misguided belief that war is “glorious”.

Fade out.

With Blood on My Hands examines the often horrifying dreams of veterans who are experiencing the debilitating effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  Siegfried Sassoon, acclaimed British poet and author of the texts chosen for this monodrama, is presumed to have suffered from this illness after serving with distinction in the trenches along the Somme River during the First World War. Upon receiving permission from his son, George, as well as Sassoon's publisher Faber & Faber, the score was premiered in April 1997 at the University of Chicago's Mandel Hall. Baritone soloist Nicholas Solomon masterfully portrayed the afflicted veteran, supported by the new music ensemble, Contempo, under the baton of Barbara Schubert, Director of Performance Programs.

With Blood On My Hands

Based upon the chapter “Where is the Kamloops?” from Dwight Boyer’s Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes, this work describes the disappearance of a Canadian Steamship Lines freighter as it tried to negotiate a raging storm on Lake Superior during the night of December 6-7, 1927. The 2,302 ton, three-year old vessel was in the midst of a late season run from Courtright to Fort William, Ontario. Severe storms could appear with little advance warning and were not uncommon for that time of year. Captain Bill Brian and his veteran crew were considered to be more than capable of handling the brutal weather conditions that descended upon the ship, but Kamloops vanished without a trace. Its final port-of-call remained a mystery for the next fifty years. Then on August 21, 1977 recreational scuba divers found the nearly intact hulk resting at the bottom of an underwater slope at a depth of over two hundred feet, yet less than one hundred yards from the rocky western coast of Isle Royale. The storm on that fateful night in 1927 had overwhelmed he ship so quickly it gave the crew little chance at survival. A few of Kamloops' sailors did manage to reach shore, but had died from exposure long before their frozen bodies were discovered by local fishermen.

Upon reading about the circumstances that led to the Kamloops' tragic fate, I was intrigued by the background story of its mascot, a mixed breed dog named Ginger. Despite having accompanied Captain Brian on every previous trip, nothing would convince Ginger to cross the gangplank for what would prove to be a last voyage. While staying at the home of one of the Captain's friends during the wild night of the freighter's disappearance, the dog was found whimpering under a table, unwilling to be comforted. Back in the town of Courtright, owners and relatives of the crew were unaware of the events unfolding at that moment on Lake Superior. As time passed without word of the ship's arrival at any port, a hard truth began to dawn about the presumed fate of the vessel and its human complement. This reality was too terrible for the people of Courtright to comprehend, yet it was something Ginger instinctively deduced and had already accepted. The Kamloops had been lost with all hands.

My orchestral work intentionally takes a canine rather than a human perspective for its narrative structure, using our family dog's observed patterns of behavior as a representative case. Ginger's emotional rollercoaster is hopefully reflected by the music that you hear. Many animals have the ability to sense imminent danger, with restlessness prior to earthquakes often cited as an example. I leave this matter to your speculation, but I consider Ginger's story a mystery of Nature where we are left with more questions than answers.

Last Voyage won the Composers Competition for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s centennial, sponsored by the Ernst & Young Emerging American Composers Fund. The premiere took place at Wheaton College during the CSO’s 1990 tour of Illinois, led by Music Director Daniel Barenboim. Subsequent performances under Maestro Barenboim’s baton were held at Augustana College in Rock Island, Sangamon State University in Springfield and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana as well as subscription concerts at the orchestra's home venue of Symphony Center.

Last Voyage

"Darkest forest, your shade is gloomy" is the twelfth member in a cycle for vocal quartet and piano four hands composed by Johannes Brahms. The entire collection of fifteen love song waltzes has proven to be tailor-made for the expressive colors of a woodwind quintet. The track you are listening to was created by using the Finale 2012 software package in conjunction with samples from Garritan Personal Orchestra 4.

Schwarzer Wald, dein Schatten

"Mother gave me roses" is the sixth member in a cycle for vocal quartet and piano four hands composed by Johannes Brahms. It is the fourth solo song, once again scored for soprano. The entire collection of fifteen love song waltzes has proven to be tailor-made for the expressive colors of a woodwind quintet. The track you are listening to was created by using the Finale 2012 software package in conjunction with samples from Garritan Personal Orchestra 4.

Rosen steckt mir an die Mutter

"Dark shades of night" is the second member in a cycle for vocal quartet and piano four hands composed by Johannes Brahms. The entire collection of fifteen love song waltzes has proven to be tailor-made for the expressive colors of a woodwind quintet. The track you are listening to was created by using the Finale 2012 software package in conjunction with samples from Garritan Personal Orchestra 4.

Finstere Schatten der Nacht

"Relinquish, o heart, the hope of rescue" is the first member in a cycle for vocal quartet and piano four hands composed by Johannes Brahms. The entire collection of fifteen love song waltzes has proven to be tailor-made for the expressive colors of a woodwind quintet. The track you are listening to was created by using the Finale 2012 software package in conjunction with samples from Garritan Personal Orchestra 4.

Verzicht, o Herz, auf Rettung

First Observations is a collection for piano reflecting upon stellar phenomena within the Milky Way galaxy as well as more distant objects.

The Crab Nebula (NGC 1952) is the remnant of a supernova observed by Chinese astronomers in 1054 AD. It is found in Perseus arm of the Milky Way approximately 6,500 light years from Earth. Within the nebula’s boundaries is the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star with a rotation rate of 30 revolutions per second and an extremely strong source of radio wave emissions.

First Observations - Crab Nebula

Drizzle was composed for an atonal theory class at Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music. Its rather unique instrumentation reflects the performers available. Case in point. For the original performance, I covered the cello part on bassoon.

Although short, this piece is intended to be programmatic. During the winter of 1987-88 almost daily rain squalls plagued Cincinnati, Ohio. As a student habitually low on cash, the only pair of walking shoes I owned had holes in both soles, prompting sidestepping to avoid puddles. Fortunately, the Conservatory was located just five blocks away from my apartment. One rainy afternoon, a post-Conservatory grocery run resulted in a thoroughly soaked composer, bassoon case slung over the shoulder, carrying two bags of provisions. As I opened the door to my apartment, one of the bags failed spectacularly and spilled its contents onto a clean kitchen floor. A glass jar of pasta sauce shattered upon impact. With the benefit of hindsight, the result was similar to those self-inflicted mishaps suffered by actor Rowan Atkinson in the classic BBC-TV series, Mr. Bean. Drizzle will hopefully generate a few giggles, because the idea is to illustrate the events leading to the grocery bag incident. The inevitable caption: “When it rains, it pours”.

The version heard in this recording was generated with the assistance of Finale 2014.5 software, in conjunction with sound libraries from Garritan Personal Orchestra 4.

Drizzle

Pastime with good company, originally composed by King Henry VIII, is the first movement of an English Renaissance suite. The arrangement is scored for two flutes, violin and two cellos.

Pastime with good company

Cleare or Cloudie, sweet as April show'ring, originally composed by John Dowland, is the fourth movement of an English Renaissance suite. The arrangement is scored for two flutes, violin and two cellos.

Cleare or Cloudie, sweet as April show'ring

The Silver Swan, originally composed by Orlando Gibbons, is the fifth movement of an English Renaissance suite. The arrangement is scored for two flutes, violin and two cellos.

The Silver Swan

Now is the month of Maying, originally composed by Thomas Morley, is the sixth and final movement of an English Renaissance suite. The arrangement is scored for two flutes, violin and two cellos.

Now is the month of Maying

Chrysalis was composed in the Winter of 1988 while I was studying at Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music, It examines the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly, employing two instruments from the same family – English horn and then oboe. Both are played by a single musician. In other words, a musical metamorphosis. The score exists in two forms: a 1988 handwritten original using period graphic notation and a 2020 revision based on Finale 26.  This performance is derived from the latter. Due to software limitations regarding graphic notation and its audio realization, the Finale setting employs approximations and therefore has a more traditional approach. With the piano acting as the natural habitat, the English horn portrays the Monarch from larva through five growth spurts known as instars. Awkwardness of rhythm, melodic line and harmonic language also reflect the caterpillar’s behavior and color scheme warning predators about what will occur if attempts are made to ingest the insect’s lethal cocktail of toxins. Successive cadenzas trace the caterpillar as it weaves the chrysalis and undergoes metamorphosis. After the last cadenza, the instrument change to Oboe signals emergence of the adult butterfly. Large numbers of Monarchs gather to feed, find mates, and begin the lengthy migration to winter grounds, bringing the cycle of life full circle.

Chrysalis

Woodwind quintet arrangement of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by J.S. Bach. Preliminary realization with the assistance of Finale v26.

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV 565

I have been a free-lance composer since 1991, creating original works as well as arrangements for orchestra, band, opera/music theater and a variety of chamber ensembles. My orchestral work, "Last Voyage", won the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Centennial Composers Competition. This achievement brought the title of an Ernst & Young Emerging American Composer. In addition, the Chicago Opera Theater presented my one-act chamber opera, "Commuter", at its New Music Showcase. Other important premieres include the performance of my monodrama, "With Blood On My Hands", at the University of Chicago, featuring bass-baritone Nicholas Solomon and Contempo. In addition, I been extremely fortunate to receive terrific performances from ensembles such as the Pacifica Quartet, DuPage Symphony Orchestra,  West Suburban Symphony as well as the Augustana College Choir and Symphony Orchestra. For further details about my background, please visit my page at LinkedIn.com

Stephen Kowalsky

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