Three Spheres I is based on MC Escher's the woodcutting of the same name.  The form mirrors the visual form of Escher's piece, with three connected movements representing the transformation of the three spheres.  Performance by students at the Curtis Institute, fall 2011.

Three Spheres I

Christmas Eve is based on George Inness's 1866 painting.  Performance by the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, spring 2012.

Christmas Eve

Queensborough Bridge is based on Elsie Drigg's painting of the iconic New York bridge.  It exists in two versions, for percussion quartet and sextet (the sextet is presented here).  Performance by student percussionists from Montclair State University, spring 2010.

Queensborough Bridge

This setting of the traditional Latin text seeks to explore aspects of the Gloria text that are often overlooked in simpler settings that focus on the celebratory opening lines.  Performance by Montclair State University Singers, spring 2010.

Gloria

Toccata is a saxophone quartet in the style of a short overture or concert opener, composed for the PRISM saxophone quartet during their residency at Curtis.  Performance spring 2012.

Toccata

Monteverdi Sketches is loosely inspired by themes and ideas from Monteverdi's eighth book of Madrigals, commonly known as the Songs of Love and War.  The instrumentation of the piece is for Prokofiev Quintet, an ensemble consisting of oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and bass.  Monteverdi Sketches was written for ensemble39, a quintet of Curtis students and alumni named for Prokofiev's Op. 39 quintet, the piece that first made use of this particular instrumentation.

Monteverdi Sketches

Not With a Whimper was composed for the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, conducted in this recording by Kensho Watanabe.  The title of the piece is inspired  loosely by the final lines of T.S. Elliot's poem 'The Hollow Men'.  Elliot writes:

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

This piece does the opposite, and was written to celebrate the end of my time at the Curtis Institute.  As the title suggests, the inspiration for the piece was the idea that in one of my last concerts before graduating, I planned to go out with a bang - not with a whimper.

Many thanks to Kensho Watanabe and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra for the stellar performance presented in this recording.

Not With a Whimper

Weather Music was written for guitarist Gideon Whitehead in fall 2012, at the Curtis Institute of Music.  This performance took place in spring 2013, on the Student Recital Series.

Tom Oltarzewski

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