Orchestral Music

Not a whole lot of orchestral music finished at this stage, but always something in development. You know, just for future generations.

Completed Orchestral Works

Andante for Strings (1998)

Written in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of my parents' wedding.

Serenade for Strings

A Viennese style sonata for string orchestra.

The Xmas Files (1999-2001)

An orchestral study in plagiarism similar to "Salute to the Capital Gifts Campaign" (see Handbell Music). Well-known classical tunes are intertwined with well-known Christmas carols.

Symphony No. 1 in G Major: The Viennese (1982-2004)

A symphony in the style of Mozart and Haydn.

Orchestral Works in Progress

Orchestral Suite (2001)

An extremely ambitious suite of orchestral dances.

Scrapped Orchestral Works

Interestingly enough, the less experience I had a composer, the more ambitious my projects were. Thus, there are quite a few monster compositions that never made it off the back burner.

The Blackrock Symphony (1979)

This was actually a Broadway-type musical. I started with the overture, in full score. Unfortunately, the only music paper I had was a little four-stave practice booklet. I tore out a number of pages and glued them together to make a massive orchestral score, which I kept rolled up in my closet when I wasn't composing. I had no idea what I was doing.
Click on the icon to the left for a MIDI sample.
Note: This MIDI file is more a reflection of the way I heard it in my head than the way I had it written down. The rest of the samples below are straight from the manuscript.

The Choral Symphony (1979)

This is one of those that never really progressed beyond the "nebulous concept" stage. I thought I was being very original with the name, until I heard Beethoven's Ninth referred to as the "Choral Symphony". The idea for my symphony was to blend the orchestra and choir in all four movements, starting with medieval-style music and working my way through Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century styles. It would have been simply awful.
You may want to cover your ears before listening to the MIDI sample...

1979 Overture (1980, ironically enough)

1979 was the International Year of the Child, and this overture was intended to commemorate this fact. When I showed my sketches to a schoolmate who played the piano, she scolded me for my poor manuscript and then proceeded to play some of her compositions. A quite discouraging moment.

I Want to Sing! (1980)

Another musical, this one rehashing some ideas from "Blackrock Symphony" and adding some new ones. The overture used material from the 1979 Overture. I stayed pretty serious about this one for a number of years. Lots of sketches, but nothing ever completed.

Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (1982)

This was inspired both by Mozart's flute concertos and by a female flute player I had a crush on. I abandoned work on it when I realized the main theme was too similar to a Tchaikovsky melody.

Symphony No. 2 in D Major: The French (1983)

So named because it was to be dedicated to a girl I had a crush on who was part French (see a pattern starting to develop here?). Like my relationship with her, this symphony went nowhere.
Excerpts are from the first and fourth movement.

Challenger Symphony/Overture (1986)

Dedicated to the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded three days after our wedding in 1986. I never could make up my mind whether this was going to be a symphony or an overture, but I finally chucked the whole idea because it sounded too much like Brahm's second piano concerto.

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page

	Andante for Strings (1998) Written in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of my parents' wedding.
	Serenade for Strings A Viennese style sonata for string orchestra.
	The Xmas Files (1999-2001) An orchestral study in plagiarism similar to "Salute to the Capital Gifts Campaign" (see Handbell Music). Well-known classical tunes are intertwined with well-known Christmas carols.
	Symphony No. 1 in G Major: The Viennese (1982-2004) A symphony in the style of Mozart and Haydn.

	The Blackrock Symphony (1979) This was actually a Broadway-type musical. I started with the overture, in full score. Unfortunately, the only music paper I had was a little four-stave practice booklet. I tore out a number of pages and glued them together to make a massive orchestral score, which I kept rolled up in my closet when I wasn't composing. I had no idea what I was doing. Click on the icon to the left for a MIDI sample. Note: This MIDI file is more a reflection of the way I heard it in my head than the way I had it written down. The rest of the samples below are straight from the manuscript.
	The Choral Symphony (1979) This is one of those that never really progressed beyond the "nebulous concept" stage. I thought I was being very original with the name, until I heard Beethoven's Ninth referred to as the "Choral Symphony". The idea for my symphony was to blend the orchestra and choir in all four movements, starting with medieval-style music and working my way through Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century styles. It would have been simply awful. You may want to cover your ears before listening to the MIDI sample...
	1979 Overture (1980, ironically enough) 1979 was the International Year of the Child, and this overture was intended to commemorate this fact. When I showed my sketches to a schoolmate who played the piano, she scolded me for my poor manuscript and then proceeded to play some of her compositions. A quite discouraging moment.
	I Want to Sing! (1980) Another musical, this one rehashing some ideas from "Blackrock Symphony" and adding some new ones. The overture used material from the 1979 Overture. I stayed pretty serious about this one for a number of years. Lots of sketches, but nothing ever completed.
	Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (1982) This was inspired both by Mozart's flute concertos and by a female flute player I had a crush on. I abandoned work on it when I realized the main theme was too similar to a Tchaikovsky melody.
	Symphony No. 2 in D Major: The French (1983) So named because it was to be dedicated to a girl I had a crush on who was part French (see a pattern starting to develop here?). Like my relationship with her, this symphony went nowhere. Excerpts are from the first and fourth movement.
	Challenger Symphony/Overture (1986) Dedicated to the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded three days after our wedding in 1986. I never could make up my mind whether this was going to be a symphony or an overture, but I finally chucked the whole idea because it sounded too much like Brahm's second piano concerto.