All Works

This piece was composed in the Fall of 2021. The title refers to a word described in Baldassare Castiglione's, The Book of the Courtier, written in 1528. It translates to, “studied carelessness”, and was used to describe how courtiers were expected to behave when attending court. Essentially, it is a kind of act in which a person makes themselves appear as though they are fully comfortable in any role they inhabit. It allows the courtier to hide their true intentions, thoughts, and emotions, and give off an aura of confidence.
Representing this idea in the music, there are two melodies in the work, both of which imply each other, but only one that is ever played and heard by the audience (representing the façade of Sprezzatura). The opening is slow, cool, reserved, and calculating; giving way to a more bombastic character. The interaction between introversion and extraversion builds to a revelation of the hidden melody.

The performer you are hearing is: 
Katie Smith - Bb Clarinet

Sprezzatura

The Road Traveled was written in the Spring of 2022 in collaboration with harpist, Jessica Martin. The work explores the idea of attempting to recall a formative memory in life; a memory which profoundly impacted the choices and turns taken along the way. Whether it is painful or pleasant, remembering such an event along the road is often influenced by our present position upon it. As a result, we never quite remember things exactly as they occurred, the memory is altered as our perspectives grow and shift in life.
The piece expresses this idea by having a main theme represent this memory. Vague and difficult to place at first, it shifts and changes; serving a different purpose and offering different insights as the work progresses, until finally returning to the obscurity of another simple cobblestone along the road traveled.

The performer you are hearing is:
Jessica Martin - Harp

The Road Traveled

Quilt of Feathers was written in the spring of 2023. The work explores a tapestry of colors and characters. An initial blur of independent bird calls and murmurs coalesces as various instruments join in with their song. Traveling through a variety of environments, the call is passed on and shaped as it journeys. Having grown substantially inn number, united in their song, they finally take off and fly into the horizon.

This audio is a mix of the opening of the work recorded by the CIM Orchestra under the direction of Jake Taniguchi, and a MIDI mockup.

Quilt of Feathers

Commissioned by Audrey Potter and Grace Jang, Fuse was written in the summer of 2022. The piece flies rapidly from place to place, carrying the listener through a variety of environments, and revolves around the duality of the word "fuse". The frantic textures explored in the opening represent the fiery activity of a lit fuse, while the slower singing melodies evoke the use of the word as a verb, a way of combining two separate entities. The dual meaning of this word, and its two definitions as they interact, serves as the basis of the music.

The performers you are hearing are:
Daniel Gilbert - Violin
Maeve Brophy - Piano

Fuse

Scaffolding  was written in the fall of 2022. The piece approaches the writing of a piece in the same way as one might approach the construction of a building. The melodic and harmonic material explored throughout the work is heavily dependent on the contents of each successive movement, and can be heard returning on many occasions between the movements. Besides the musical material used, the percussionists physical location serves as a parameter as they slowly make their way across the stage, inhabiting the structure that is formed by the percussion setup. The first movement sees all three percussionists around a semicircle, representing the initial stages of construction. The music in this movement is strictly without pitch, and gradually becomes louder and more resonant. The second movement features all three percussionists around the vibraphone to explore a pitch-focused approach. Finally the last movement sees the three percussionists inhabit the entirety of the structure. With the musical material incorporating both pitched and unpitched elements and themes, the structure is finally complete.

The performers you're hearing are:

Charles Renneker - Percussion 1
Sebastião Sheldrick - Percussion 2
Kaden Smutz - Percussion 3

Thank you for listening!

Scaffolding - III. Third Floor

Scaffolding - II. Second Floor

Scaffolding - I. First Floor

Samhain (pronounced "sow-win") refers to the Celtic festival which preceded the Halloween we know and love today. This track was a little music I put together to help celebrate the season.

All instrument playing, recording, and mixing were done by myself. I hope you enjoy! Happy Halloween!

Samhain Winds - Halloween Music

A short tune I wrote for a series of video games being produced by the Northeast Ohio VA Hospital. The game had the goal of helping with the diagnosis and treatment of injuries related to patient's ability to focus their vision. This particular game tasked the player with catching falling fruit in a small basket, requiring them to gage the distance of the fruit in relation to the basket they needed to catch them in. 

I created a series of looping layers that together made up the soundtrack. The addition and subtraction of the layers related to how well the player was doing in their task. This arrangement demonstrates how all the layers would sound together.

Thank you for listening!

Fruit Catcher

Commissioned by Katherine Wynn, Out of the ash was written in the summer of 2022. It is inspired by the poem, “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath. The work mainly focuses around the ideas presented in the final stanza of the poem. I found the allusion to a phoenix at the end to be powerful, and decided to explore this idea musically. Opening with a dreary scene of falling ash, a character emerges slowly in a daze. As the piece progresses, we are introduced to the phoenix, which is represented musically through the use of natural harmonics on the cello. The harmonics and the traditional sonorities of the cello are heard calling to one another, with the harmonic phoenix presenting a way out of the daze. Despite a world of challenges against them, the two interact and blend until they finally emerge, out of the ash, as one.

The performer you hear in this recording is myself.

Out of the ash

Music from the film by Chris D'Addario, "Oceans Past". This scene follows the two main protagonists as they meet for the first time and go on a date in a simulated beach environment.

Thank you for listening!

Simulated Beach

Music from the film by Chris D'Addario, "Oceans Past". This scene presents the reading of a poem followed by a discussion between the two characters about their taste in music. The score initially remains reserved, but develops into an interaction between non-diegetic and diegetic music as one of the characters begins to play guitar.

Thank you for listening!

Poem

Music from the film by Chris D'Addario, "Oceans Past". This scene sees the two main characters having a discussion about past relationships and their respective views on love, exposing the main point of contention which will emerge later in the film.

Thank you for listening!

Oceans Past

Music from the film by Chris D'Addario, "Oceans Past". This music scores the final scene of the film which sees the somber conclusion to the main character's stories.

Thank you for listening!

The End

I cavalieri was written in the summer of 2021 for the Italian cello quartet, Quartetto Zuena. The music features a rhythmic ricochet technique that mimics the sound of a horse galloping–creating the imagery of a group of fearless riders traveling from one adventure to the next. The title translates to, “the riders” or “the knights”.

The performer you are hearing in this recording is:
me (Sean Penzo)

Thank you for listening!

I cavalieri

A Golden Keep was written in the Summer of 2023 through collaboration with the incredible bassoonist, Lauren Henning. Together, we created the concept for a work which would present a set of miniatures–each one following a different character that could be found in the keep of a castle. This first miniature introduces “The Monarchs”, boisterously kicking off an evening of festivities, and becoming progressively drunk on wine or power, or maybe both.

The performer you're hearing is:
Lauren Henning - Bassoon

Thank you for listening!

A Golden Keep - I. The Monarchs

A Golden Keep was written in the Summer of 2023 through collaboration with the incredible bassoonist, Lauren Henning. Together, we created the concept for a work which would present a set of miniatures–each one following a different character that could be found in the keep of a castle. This second miniature introduces “The Jester”, providing a comical satire of the chaotic situation, wowing a captive audience with daring acrobatics. 

The performer you're hearing is:
Lauren Henning - Bassoon

Thank you for listening!

A Golden Keep - II. The Jester

A Golden Keep was written in the Summer of 2023 through collaboration with the incredible bassoonist, Lauren Henning. Together, we created the concept for a work which would present a set of miniatures–each one following a different character that could be found in the keep of a castle. This third miniature introduces "The Sorcerer", a more devious character, casting spells of illusion to entice outsiders with prestige, bathing the keep in a wash of glittering gold. Much of the thematic material for this section is derived from Paul Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

The performer you're hearing is:
Lauren Henning - Bassoon

Thank you for listening!

A Golden Keep - III. The Sorcerer

A Golden Keep was written in the Summer of 2023 through collaboration with the incredible bassoonist, Lauren Henning. Together, we created the concept for a work which would present a set of miniatures–each one following a different character that could be found in the keep of a castle. This fourth miniature introduces, “The Princess”, a character who feels rather trapped by the happenings of the keep, singing a song of longing and ambition. The music presents a lyrical melody which breaks into emotional vocalizations.

The performer you're hearing is:
Lauren Henning - Bassoon

Thank you for listening!

A Golden Keep - IV. The Princess

A Golden Keep was written in the Summer of 2023 through collaboration with the incredible bassoonist, Lauren Henning. Together, we created the concept for a work which would present a set of miniatures–each one following a different character that could be found in the keep of a castle. This fifth and final miniature introduces, “The Fairy Godmother”, who steps in to help out the princess of the previous movement--helping transform longing wishes into reality.

The performer you're hearing is:
Lauren Henning - Bassoon

Thank you for listening!

A Golden Keep - V. The Fairy Godmother

Composer, Cellist, and Writer—Want to collaborate or commission a piece? Message me!

All Works

Sean Lorenzo Penzo