Here are two samples from my new ballet, The Metamorphosis.  Based on the novel by Franz Kafka, I believe the music to be my finest.  I have made available for listening MP3s of two movements.  In this movement (from the first act), Gregor Samsa (who has transformed overnight into a "monstrous vermin") struggles to get out of bed.  On the other side of his bedroom door, his family worries for his health, and for his job if he is late (they do not know of his new state, only that he is late for work).  In this movement (from late in the second act), Gregor has been forcibly confined to his room by his family after they discover his new form.  He breaks free, however, forcing his mother and sister to flee from him, before he finally collapses from exhaustion.

There is no performance lined up for this piece, and the music has great promise for a dance performance.  If you or anyone you know is a choreographer, please refer them to this website for more information.  Do it now, before you forget.  I would greatly like to see this piece performed.

The recording isn't of the highest quality, but you can certainly hear all the music here.  The music has some flaws, but I'm happy overall with how it came out.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it out for the first performance, which I hear was well-received, but there will be another performance in February of 2007, which I should be able to attend.  Click here to download.  (4.50 MB)

I am quite disappointed with how the recording came out; the concert sounded exceptionally good, but the event was recorded in mono, and the orchestra was too quiet, while the narration was too loud.  I cleaned it up a little bit, but unfortunately, the MP3 does not sound nearly as good as the concert did.  Click here to download. (24.2 MB)

This MP3 is completely synthesized; my keyboard on the piano part and a synthetic vocal part.  I normally wouldn't include such a 'working demo' on my samples page, but I like these songs so much, and am still trying to find a real performance for them.  The complete work (35.1 MB) is available, or you can download each of the twelve songs individually.  In either case, you might want to download the score in order to read along, as the synthesized voice isn't always legible.

02 - Journey to Iceland (4.4 MB)
The most abstract of the pieces, written with atonal influence.  A bit rough to listen to on its own, but it fits in well with the work as a whole.

03 - A Florid Music (0.6 MB)
Short and sweet, a praise of physical beauty.

04 - Strike for the Heart (1.2 MB)
Also a short one, one of my favorites.

06 - If I Could Tell You (4.6 MB)
The central song (in placement and theme), a slow and static song of unrequited love.  Compare to 'the more loving one' from the cycle 'let it be me' (the second Auden cycle).

07 - Another Time (1.4 MB)
At this point in the work, the protagonist begins exploring what might have been, but wasn't.

08 - Lady Weeping at the Crossroads (3.0 MB)
'Stare the hot sun out of heaven, that the night may come.'  Ah, the melodrama of unrequited love.

10 - Since (4.2 MB)
Acceptance of what has become, an indication that the protagonist might have moved on.

11 - Iceland Revisited (2.1 MB)
A return, looking back on those events and emotions of the second song.

12 - An Unknown Citizen (3.5 MB)
In the conclusion, the inner workings that have been exposed in the previous eleven songs are given their proper place in the world.  That is, they are unnoticed by anyone, lost to everyone they did not affect, which is everyone but the protagonist.

I'm enormously proud of this work, and the performance given by the Ambrosia Quartet.  Notable is the fact that they interpreted the overall feel of the work in a different way than I intended, but I liked the result.

The first movement is light and lively, with an emphasis on clarity of the individual parts.  The linking harmonic idea is introduced.

The second movement was my biggest gamble; consistently slow, without a real melodic hook.  Still, the quartet gave a marvelous delivery, making this movement serene and beautiful.

I reworked some of the material for an unperformed violin solo into this third movement.  There's quite a bit of flash to it, but it also gives a solid ending to the quartet.

A very short piece for string orchestra.  This was actually written very long ago, but the Jonathan Edwards Chamber players gave a nice performance of it in 2003.  Very nice, if somewhat unfinished in sound and short.

This piece for string orchestra and prerecorded drums, guitar, and bass, was actually first performed back in 2001, and was the first piece of mine to be performed out of high school.  This recording, however, was made in 2002, making The Earth the only piece of mine to be performed more than once.

I have some issues with this piece overall, and this performance specifically, but there's still some worthwhile things to hear in this four-movement piece for string orchestra and two pianos.

2 - Rainfall (Indoors) (5.5 MB)
Everyone's favorite.  Sweeping melodies, dramatic minor key, etc.  But hey, I like it too.

3 - (3,4)=1 (3.3 MB)
Twelve beats divided differently by different members of the orchestra.  I like this one, but some people find the minimalist-inspired idea behind it a little repetitive.

4 - Synthesis and Artifice (5.5 MB)
Themes from previous movements somewhat artificially (but somewhat naturally) combined to play in sequence or on top of one another.