a polyphonic rondeau plus a hymn, reflecting on the politics of naming and the mythology of the American West

performed by Barbara Byers, Celeste Oram, & Alex Taylor
text & music by Celeste Oram

Onomastic Gymnastics (2019)

from Through and Through, performed by Alarm Will Sound, cond. Alan Pierson, Missouri Theater, Columbia, Missouri, July 29, 2023

Interludes II

Sinfonieorchester Basel, conducted by Tianyi Lu

from the dance-theater work 'Marie', with Bobbi Jene Smith
commissioned by Theater Basel

text by Hadewijch of Antwerp (13thC Middle Dutch)

Ic hebbe der hoghere minnen al Opghegheven dat ic ben. 
Verliesic ocht winne, si al
Hare scout noch meer no min.
     Wat es nu ghesciet?
     Ic ben mine niet:
Si hevet verswolghen al minen sin.
     Hare wesen fijn
     Doet seker sijn
Dat pine van minnen es al ghewen. 

Ic bekens die minne wel wert:
Verliesic, winnic, dies al een.
Dat hebbic meest begheert,
Sint minne mijn herte ierst ghereen:
     Te sine hare ghenoech 
     Na hare ghevoech
Als ie wel sceen. 
     Want ic verdroech 
     Wat si mi sloech:
Dore hare waest mi dat rijcste leen.

To sublime Love
I have given away all that I am.
Whether I lose or win, let all
That is owed her be hers without diminution. 
     What has happened now?
     I am not mine:
She has engulfed the substance of my spirit.
     Her fine being
     Gives me the assurance
That the pain of Love is all profit.

I realise that Love deserved it:
If I lose, if I win, it is all one to me.
What I have most desired,
Since Love first touched my heart,
    Was to content her
    According to her wish,
As was always apparent:
    For I endured
    All she slung at me:
For her sake it was my richest estate.

IV. Marie: 'Hehre Minne' [excerpt] (Hadewijch, 13thC)

Written for the 2024 Black House Collective New Music Workshop. Performance by Charles-Eric Fontaine and the Black House Collective Workshop Ensemble.

Text:
Ovid’s Metamorphoses (15:176-185)
'Et quoniam magno feror aequore plenaque ventis vela dedi: nihil est toto, quod perstet, in orbe. cuncta fluunt, omnisque vagans formatur imago; ipsa quoque adsiduo labuntur tempora motu,
non secus ac flumen; neque enim consistere flumen nec levis hora potest: sed ut unda inpellitur unda urgeturque prior veniente urgetque priorem, tempora sic fugiunt pariter pariterque sequuntur
et nova sunt semper; nam quod fuit ante, relictum est, fitque, quod haut fuerat, momentaque cuncta novantur.

Translation by Frank Justus Miller:
And since I am embarked on the boundless sea and have spread my full sails to the winds, there is nothing in all the world that keeps its form. All things are in a state of flux, and everything is brought into being with a changing nature. Time itself flows on in constant motion, just like a river. For neither the river nor the swift hour can stop its course; but, as wave is pushed on by wave, and as each wave as it comes is both pressed on and itself presses the wave in front, so time both flees and follows and is ever new. For that which once existed is no more, and that which was not has come to be; and so the whole round of motion is gone through again.


Ensemble:
Conductor: Charles-Eric Fontaine
Flute: Elva Tang
Oboes: Victoria Lee, Anne Pinkerton
Bb Clarinet: Emily Mehigh
Harp: Melissa Achten Klausner
Piano: Andrew Anderson
Percussion: Albert Lau, Matt LeVeque
Horns: Caleb Durant, Patrick Williams
Trumpet: Kimmie Sabio
Bass Trombone: Mason Moy
Tuba: Neha Kudva
Violins - Myra Henrichs, Emelyn Bashour, Elicia Neo
Violas: Celka Ojakangas, Emma Antonides
Contrabass - Sam Zagnit

Choir:
Hannah Rice
Andrea Church
Lydia Brown
Ann Chen
Yan Cui
Alondra Santos
Kaitlyn Son
Maura Tuffy



https://www.carlosbandera.com/

as wave impels wave (2024) for 8 voices and 19 instruments

Justine Cormack, violin
James Bush, cello
Simon Martyn-Ellis, theorbo

Recorded by RNZ Concert at St Andrew's on The Terrace

on what grounds, for violin, cello, and theorbo

August 2024, St. Boniface Episcopal Church
Jeremy Keinbaum, viola
Baron Fenwick, piano

Recorded by Reed Tucker
Filmed by Eric Black

This piece was written for the 2024 Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program.

Program Note:
For as long as I can remember, I've been a homebody and an introvert. I enjoy quiet spaces, delicate and far away sounds, and peace. On the other hand, the rest of my friends and family are very outgoing and talkative people which created a strong conflict in many social situations. Many people struggled with my unwillingness to talk or be around them and enjoy invading onto my piece to either get that attention or discover why I choose to abstain from them. "introvert language" discusses this desire for peace, quiet, and protection. While the viola strives to enjoy sustain and soloistic moments, they are often intruded on by the piano, leading to many confrontations between the two.

introvert language (2024) for viola and piano

For six flutes and two electric guitars (one bowed, one strummed)
Recorded by Unassisted Fold 2021, edited 2023

Submergence

Shadow Figures (2021/24) for piano and synthesizer (one player)

Performed by Shaoai Ashley Zhang

I. Meditation (after Charles Ives)
II. Machine
III. Night (after Alban Berg)

Shadow Figures

"Baroque Concerto" by Keir GoGwilt
Recorded at the Peabody Essex Museum on May 10, 2025 by Charles Mueller

on what grounds, for violin, cello, and theorbo

Alex Taylor, Composer

Related tracks