Woodwind - Contemporary - Shipped (printed) - Oboe

Compass Kaleidoscope was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Quintet (Penn State Faculty members) in celebration of their 30 Year Anniversary. It is based on a theme related to Pennsylvania: Amish quilts. Pennsylvania is noted for its longtime quilt making arts, a tradition started in the early 1800's by Amish and Mennonite women in Lancaster county. Each of the five movements of the quintet is inspired by a different traditional quilt pattern chosen by a member of the quintet. The musical materials were derived from the geometric shapes, color palette, arrangement of blocks, the name of the design and traditional folk melodies. Some of the compositional ideas were informed by the composer's synesthesia where particular pitches are associated with colors.

Composed for the Vientos Trio, this is a perfect piece for a college recital.  It is both fun for the players and audience pleasing.

For Oboe and Piano, "Bombur's Dream" is a three movement work that is a wonderful recital piece.

Program notes from the composer: 

For those who may need to brush up on their dwarf-lore, Bombur was one of thirteen dwarves featured in J. R. R. Tolkien’s book, The Hobbit. Along with the title character, Bilbo Baggins, and Gandalf the wizard, Bombur and the other dwarves set out on a long and dangerous quest to recover a vast treasure which had been stolen by the dragon Smaug. Along the way, Bombur stumbled into an enchanted river and promptly fell into a deep sleep from which he could not be awakened for several days. This meant that his friends had to carry him along with all their gear. (It should be noted that Bombur had what we might call a keen appreciation for fine cuisine; because of his resulting avoirdupois he was not an easy burden to bear.)

Eventually Bombur awoke but, according to Tolkien, when he learned that there was nothing to eat, he sat down on the ground and wept. “Why did I ever wake up?” he cried. “I was having the most beautiful dreams!”

The first movement of this piece has to do with Bombur’s lovely dreams and the second with his sorrow upon awakening. The third movement, “King Under the Mountain” is a cortège for the dwarves’ officious leader, Thorin Oakenshield. Bombur’s Dream is dedicated to the composer’s wife, the oboist Susan Joyce.

Oboe, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet and Bassoon

Drift was written for the TIMBER Reed Quintet at the Ohio State University. Upon attending rehearsals and listening to the dynamic of the group, I was fascinated with the way the five instruments blended their sound together and the vast array of timbres that could emerge from the various combinations. This sparked my vision to create a piece that would highlight these abilities. Drift makes use of rhythmic ambiguity and uses a Jazz influence to create a musical idea of drifting along. 

For 2 Oboes and English Horn, "Five Elfin Dances" is a fun piece that works best in a recital setting.  The movements include:

I. The Busy Village

II. Cautious Explorers

III. Dance in the Glen

IV. The Princess's Song

V. Bound for Home

Program notes from the composer:

These miniatures began as musical doodling, written for fun during breaks from work on larger pieces.  I have no idea why, but the first three pieces feature fleeting quotes from J. S. Bach.

These pieces were played several times soon after they were completed, including one performance for a class of 5th-graders at a local elementary school. In the days following that performance, the three musicians received several cards from the students.  One girl wrote, "Thanks for coming.  I was going to play the oboe but now I have decided not to."  It's a wonderful thing to be able to influence a young life with one's music.

Micah Ahern lived 7 courageous, hard-fought years with Neuroblastoma, a deadly form of cancer that attacks children. I had the privilege of knowing sweet little Micah where he was a student at Ditto Elementary School in Arlington Texas, where I am the school librarian.

He lost his battle July 28, 2016; he spent every day living his life to the fullest and was especially fond of baseball. Micah become an honorary member of the Texas Christian University (TCU) baseball team the last 3 years of his life, and even attended one of their playoff games in the College World Series shortly before he died. Micah's zest for life had a tremendous positive effect on everyone that he knew. He is loved and missed by many.

Donations can be made to the "Superhero Micah Foundation" here:

https://superheromicah.wordpress.com

This trio for Oboe, Alto Saxophone, and Piano was commissioned by Dr. Debra McKim, Professor of Music at Hastings College in Nebraska.  Each movement of this piece is based on a different synthetic scale. 

The first movement is based on a five-note scale that includes the notes of a half-diminished chord plus the major second.  Harmonic motion is created by transposing the scale up by minor thirds every measure, then every two beats, and finally every beat. 

The second movement is based on a symmetrical six-note scale that include three half-steps:  B, C, Eb, E, G, Ab.  The scale remains the same throughout the movement, without modulation.  Augmented harmonies are created by building chords from every other note of the scale. 

The third movement uses the same six-note scale throughout: Db, E, F, F#, A, C. Harmonic motion is very limited in this movement

This is an excellent for a college recital.