RoughTrack#07

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 truly earned places within our nation’s most hallowed ground.

Arlington traces the passage of an average weekday from sunrise, visits to landmarks on its grounds, through nightfall. It includes a brief glimpse of an interment procession, focusing upon the hymn “Abide with Me” and the playing of “Taps”. The bugler also performs additional calls to raise and lower the American flag.

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, Arlington is meant for all heroes – past, present, and future – because each has earned and deserves special remembrance.

Arlington

for Violin and Piano
May 2014, Voertman Hall, Denton

Violin: Mia Detwiler
Piano : Eva Polgar

Witold Lutoslawski : Subito

Composer : Charles Wuorinen
Guitar : Alexandre Gérard

https://www.charleswuorinen.com/compositions/hexadactyl/

#wuorinen

Charles Wuorinen : Hexadactyl

Five Illusions - for Orchestra
1.	Maze
2.	Lake
3.	Towers
4.	Nocturne
5.	Puzzle
This recording has been made using synthetic/sample sounds which have been expertly created by Christos Andreou (www.christosandreou.com).  As such it should be heard as a 'working document'.

Programme Note:
The birth of this score has taken about thirty years.  The first four pieces in this set are a reworking of a set of pieces for piano duo that I completed in the early 1980s.  However, I always wanted to create orchestral versions of these pieces, feeling their range of colours ideally suited to such large forces.   The reworking became a new compositional journey too as the music went through much serious and substantial change, and a final movement was created, making an arch shape design which felt right.  I knew that this work should begin high and relentlessly tumble to the depths, yet remain optimistic and firmly driven.  The creation of this piece happened so easily and became a total pleasure.  The titles of the five movements are suggestions only, aimed at focusing thoughts, just as Debussy’s titles for his piano preludes do.  However, the overall title ‘Illusions’ was easy to reach.  These are illusions in every sense – surreal and dreamlike images that I enjoy inhabiting.  The work is dedicated to my wife, Giuliana, who inspired me to create these orchestral pieces.  It then became the inspiration to a larger scale work, a one act opera based loosely on the story 'La Belle et la Bête'.	 © Paul Max Edlin 2014

Five Illusions - for Orchestra (2014)

Consolation Disappointment, for string quartet performed by Srdjan Sretenovic and the members of Gradilište/Construction at The Festival of Contemporary Music in Belgrade titled Re-Construction.

(Also possible as *la douleur exquise*- the heart-wrenching pain of wanting the affection of someone unattainable)

Consolation Disappointment, for string quartet

Seek (for Orchestra)

Orchestration by John Driscoll (https://soundcloud.com/driscollmusick) of original piece by Mariza Costa-Cabral. The choice of all instruments is John's, as well as all richness of musical details, and the midi and sound files.

I wrote this piece for my husband.

The accompanying image was found on the internet without attribution.

I trust you like a flying trapezist - by Mariza Costa-Cabral, orchestrated by John Driscoll

LOOSING HEAD @20 Minutes of Chørd Cäbal

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

Original artwork by StrepckNFT
https://www.deviantart.com/strepcknft
https://opensea.io/StrepckNFT

VU - Location Followed -117 Bpm

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

Arlington

Stephen Kowalsky

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