This collection of songs is for saxophones (1 player), vibes, piano, and drums. I realized I had been writing love songs for a very long time, and wanted to highlight them. Admittedly, some are more satirical and jaded than others. A great set for an accomplished saxophonist with great range. Featuring Gabriel Pique and members of the Cleveland Chamber Collective.

LS 1 Overtures

This trio was composed in honor of Lou Harrison on the occasion of his Centennial. Scored for the same group as his Varied Trio, this is a perfect companion piece. The work has been performed multiple time by the Cleveland Chamber Collective.

Homage 1 Buena Vista

This work is a deeply emotional and evocative work. It is also quite tightly controlled, using a 12-tone row and Morse Code for determining rhythms. Another work for an accomplished Clarinet or Saxophone player, but satisfying for performers and audience alike.

Cast Thy Nighted Colour Off

This piece was composed in honor of my mother, Lorraine, on the first Mother's day following her death. Cast as a lower, richer piano trio, this work shows it's influences of jazz and Ravel and Bernstein. A tender piece, performed by members of the Cleveland Chamber Collective

Lorraine

This 5 movement work for Harp and Wind Ensemble was premiered by the Peabody Wind Ensemble, Michaela Trnkova, harp.

Unknown Album (11/17/2008 10:18:38 AM)

HC M2

HC M1

This work premiered by the Peabody Wind Ensemble, was my reaction to the post 9/11 world of intrusive government. It seemed to me that GW and his cohorts were taking the opportunity made from our fear, to bolster their secret surveillance and wars. Inspired in part by the poem The Waste Land and the book by Steven King.

Fear

Fear in a Handful of Dust

This work was conceived and composed during the lock down in 2020. I was inspired by the text from Hamlet: "I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself the king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams." This is a midi version, but it is a decent representation of my intention. Now I just need an orchestra!

Shelter in Place

The premiere of the fully staged ballet, Caliban Ascendant, in partnership with Cleveland Chamber Collective, Inlet Dance Theatre, and Cain Park. The show was recorded live, and mixed by Funkey Productions in Cleveland Heights.

CP Caliban 4a Prospero Exiled

CP Caliban 3 Caliban

CP Caliban 2 Ariel

CP Caliban 1c Epilogue

CP Caliban 1b Prospero on the Beach

CP Caliban 1a Prologue

This is the premiere recording performance of Pan Songs, a set of three movements for Steelpan, performed by Dylan Moffitt. The drum itself is unique, with two circles of 10, and on of 5 playing spots. The construct of the drum lead to a unique notation based on playing sides, creating alternating patterns, and circles.

Aria

Dance

Discoveries

2020. The year the pandemic began. The year George Floyd died and the BLM protests captured national attention. The year we trembled.

Shelter-in-Place was composed while locked down at the beginning of the pandemic. The work takes as its touchstone the following lines from Hamlet: “Oh God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself the king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.” The single-movement work begins quietly though soon morphs into a needling anxiety. The tightly wound textures rarely break free until finally coalescing into a timeless space, with small gestures and tintinnabulations. The audience is not left there for soon the machine of the ensemble begins to wind itself back up, leading to faster and faster sections. Following the work’s climax, it returns to the opening gestures, as if returning to some mental prison, left to wait.

Shelter In Place

Louisville Courier-Journal music critic Andrew Adler wrote of Ty Alan Emerson’s piano trio Dedications that it “possessed surprising emotional resonance and was quite expertly wrought.”  Cleveland radio personality and music critic Eric Kisch stated, “This is a young man with a great future ahead of him.  I look forward to many musical experiences from his pen.”  

Composer Ty Alan Emerson has been presenting music in Cleveland since 2000.  Following two terms as president of the Cleveland Composers’ Guild, he is currently Director for the Cleveland Chamber Collective. He has been commissioned by the Collective, No Exit, ASSEMB3LY, with other notable performances by Quorum, Gary Louie, and The Peabody Wind Ensemble. His work has been featured at music festivals from Bowling Green, OH to Huddersfield, England.  In addition to his work for the concert hall, Emerson has composed and arranged works for the stage including several shows with The Musical Theater Project in Cleveland, and a season with the Texas Shakespeare Festival. Notable awards include: MTNA/OMTA Composer of the Year, two Individual Excellence Awards from the Ohio Arts Council, and the ASCAP Morton Gould Award. Most recently his Prospero on the Beach was featured on a CD by ASSEMB3LY, available through Albany Records.

Ty Alan Emerson

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