Part of a new concerto for Tuba, strings and percussion to be premiered June 2024.  Tuba solo: Mike Poyser;  Orchestral mock-up: John Webb

John Webb Concerto For Tuba And Strings - Slow Movement

Setting of the poem Noche Oscura by St. John of the Cross, written about 1578. This is a corrected version of my 1976 piece, completed in March 2024 and performed through NotePerformer software.

NOCHE OSCURA

Come Back Like the Sea sets words from Sara Teasdale's poem 'Ebb Tide', in which the author uses the metaphor of the ocean's tide to symbolize life's inevitable ups and downs. The music captures the text's sea imagery and strong sense of yearning with a captivating opening soundscape that includes improvised sea sounds from the Basses, melodic lines that ebb and flow like the tide, and an expressive piano accompaniment that weaves throughout the work.

More on the OUP site

Come Back Like the Sea - Katerina Gimon

Why can the same song seem sad or joyful to us? Like the clown, music has the ability to envelop us in mystery and contradictory emotions.

¿Por qué una misma canción puede parecernos triste o alegre? Al igual que el payaso, la música tiene la capacidad de envolvernos de misterio y de emociones contradictorias.

Photo by Eyasu Etsub on Unsplash

Pagliaccio

"Song of the Open Road" is a poem by Walt Whitman from his 1856 collection “Leaves of Grass”. It has 15 sections, each with 3-4 stanzas. For the lyrics of the song that I have composed, I have chosen the most famous of these sections, which is the first. At the end of this introduction I have attached the lyrics of this section.

The intention has been to compose a small song to continue delving into the use of the singing voice synthesis software, Vocaloid. Since this software only sings in the English language (which is not one of my usual languages) I thought that it might be interesting to use a poem by an author of that language as a text and I decided on this American poet.

On the other hand, the most important issue in the harmonic-melodic aspect has been that I have considered it as an exercise in Modal Harmony. I have used a different mode for each of the stanzas of the poem and in this order: Phrygian, Dorian, Mixolydian and Lydian. It is an order that fulfills the elementary principle of going from less to more musical "brightness." I have also dispensed with the Ionian and Aeolian modes to get away from the tonal environment and enhance the modal color. In the use of each of these modes I have introduced a "strange" note, that is, it does not belong to the scale of the mode. In all cases this note is the one that corresponds to a semitone lower than the base note of the scale of the mode; it is also located in the last position of the melody of each stanza, closing it and coincides with the first note of the following stanza, but in this case it is not strange, on the contrary, it coincides with the characteristic note of the new mode. This is the way the different modes are chained together.

I attach the lyrics of the poem to facilitate your understanding: 


Song of the Open Road

Afoot and light hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.

The earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,
I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go,
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,
I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)




Esta introducción en castellano:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OqX5rUbuEkHBFP8MlUnpJfH2LaJIynP9/view?usp=sharing

Aquesta introducció en català:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fKxXa2Ms5qZES9MdmYOnRT3894_cdC2r/view?usp=sharing

Song Of The Open Road

Realized using Notion and Studio One featuring LASS3 Strings, and Spitfire Studio Brass and Winds.

24-5 - Debussy - Children's Corner: 3. Serenade for the Doll

Moonlight Sonata

String Quartet. Conflict or conflicted? Combining and contrasting the diatonic and modal with chromatic elements. Conflict or conflicted?
Rhythmical contrasts of 4/4 with 7/8,9/8 and 3/4. The 7/8 and 9/8 rhythms were influenced by Bulgarian dance rhythms.
Music that reflects the increasingly polarised nature of the views, beliefs and attitudes in today's world. Polarization that is both caused by and results in conflict.  Unfortunately "opposite poles do NOT attract".

Conflict(ed)  for String Quartet (May 2024)

Work for philharmonic orchestra in three movements.

"The moon's my constant mistress,
And the lonely owl my marrow;
The flaming drake and the night crow make
Me music to my sorrow."

 - from an anonymous folk song called "Tom O'Bedlam"

Orchestral Suite 2024 No. 1

Orchestral Suite 2024 No. 1 mvt-1

Composed by Undine Smith Moore
Soprano - Carolyn Quick
Piano - Evan C. Paul

Persisting Sound: Women in Classical Music Showcase Concert
November 17th, 2019
The Old Church Concert Hall,
Portland, Oregon

I am in Doubt (1975)

Portland-based Persisting Sound aims to introduce contemporary classical music to new audiences and to encourage greater discussion and inclusivity within the local arts community.

I am in Doubt (1975)

Persisting Sound

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