clean blue sky (2022)
grade 3
duration; 3:00
Piccolo, Flute 1 & 2, Oboe, Bb Clarinets 1, 2, & 3, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Alto Saxes 1 & 2, Tenor Sax, & Bari Sax
Bb Trumpets 1, 2, & 3, Horns in F 1 &2, Trombones 1,&2 Baritone, & Tuba
Timpani, Chimes, Bells, Crash Cymbals
Clean Blue Sky is a three minute work for concert band. I wanted to write a piece for students that would musically represent the build up and removal of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. I settled on using additive chord tones (7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths) to create tension and to build up the thicker textures needed to represent the build up of atmospheric pollutants. The piece begins with a standard 3-pitch major chord in Bb Major and ends with the open, clean interval of a Perfect 5th (Bb/F). Another pedagogical goal of the piece was to develop rhythmic understanding of the dotted-quarter note. It is used in multiple ways throughout the piece by every instrument. Ranges are all within beginner to intermediate levels with doublings throughout.
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Extra Print Parts: $3.00 ea. + $8.00 s&h
a river not yet tamed (2019)
grade 3
duration; 4:47
Flutes 1 & 2, Oboe, Bassoon, Bb Clarinets 1, 2 & 3, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxes 1 & 2, Tenor Sax, & Baritone Sax
Bb Trumpets 1, 2 & 3, Horns in F 1 & 2, Trombones 1 & 2, Euphonium, & Tuba
Timpani, Bells, Vibraphone, Wooden Steam Whistle, Bass Drum
All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full: unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
—ECCLESIASTES, 1:7
Nancy Cato uses this biblical verse as the epigraph for her most famous novel, All The Rivers Run. This work for concert band takes its title from the first section of Cato’s novel. It is intended for use by a varsity level middle school or non-varsity high school band.
The music is representative of the first few steps taken along a life’s journey from innocent beginnings through first encounters with love, heartbreak, and loss, culminating with the realization that through all of its twists and turns, the river remains a constant source of perpetual renewal.
Nancy Fotheringham Cato AM (11 March 1917 – 3 July 2000) was an Australian writer who published more than twenty historical novels, biographies, and volumes of poetry. Frequently associated with the Jindyworobak Movement, Cato was also known for her work campaigning on environmental and conservation issues.
PDF: $40.00
*Print: $75.00 + $8.00 s&h
PDF+Print: $95.00 + $8.00 s&h
Extra Print Score: $20.00 + $8.00 s&h
Extra Print Parts: $3.00 ea. + $8.00 s&h
blue remembered earth (2018)
grade 5+
duration; 24:00
I) Tantor (9:45)
II) Poseidon’s Children (7:30)
III) The Remembering (6:30)
Piccolo, Flutes 1 & 2, Oboes 1 & 2, Bassoons 1 & 2, Bb Clarinets 1, 2 & 3, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxes 1 & 2, Tenor Sax, & Baritone Sax
Bb Trumpets 1, 2 & 3, Horns in F 1, 2 ,3 & 4, Trombones 1 & 2, Bass Trombone, Euphonium, & Tuba
Timpani, Chimes, Bells, Vibraphone, Xylophone, & Marimba
Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Sus. Cymbal, Gong, Tamtam, Triangle, Ratchet, Woodblock, & Police Whistle
Shekere, Udu, & Bata Drum
Blue Remembered Earth is based on the Poseidon’s Children series of novels (Blue Remembered Earth, On The Steel Breeze, & Poseidon’s Wake) by Alastair Reynolds. The books tell a multi-generational story of humanity and its intelligent creation's first expansion into another solar system. While the piece is programmatic in its outlining of characters and plot, the overall structure is that of a musical portrait of life on land (Tantor), in the sea (Poseidon’s Children), and finally, journeying into space (The Remembering).
antique sketches (2017)
grade 3+
duration; 4:30
I) Sarabande (2:38)
II) Fugue (1:53)
Flutes 1 & 2, Oboe, Bassoon, Bb Clarinets 1, 2 & 3, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxes 1 & 2, Tenor Sax, & Baritone Sax
Bb Trumpets 1, 2 & 3, Horns in F 1 & 2, Trombones 1 & 2, Euphonium, & Tuba
Timpani, Bells, Vibraphone
Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Crash Cymbal
Antique Sketches was composed with the intention of creating an accessible work for young band using counterpoint. Some of my favorite memories as a student in public school band include performing various arrangements of J.S. Bach. I loved sitting in the trumpet section listening across the ensemble to how the various melodic lines would rapidly fizz around from instrument to instrument.
This short, two movement work is designed to foster this listening experience in your students. The first movement consists of a simple, binary form, with woodwinds and brass trading off a slow melodic line. The ensemble then combines to allow for the exploration of top to bottom, back to front balance and blend without having to worry about too much technique. There are also moments of modernity in the harmonic structure designed to help anchor the movement to the present.
The second movement is a fugue with a long melodic subject and two countersubjects, the point of which is to apply the listening lessons from the first movement to the more technical aspects of the second. Fugue subjects are announced with percussion entrances to focus the listening experience across the ensemble and the audience.
PDF: $40.00
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PDF+Print: $95.00 + $8.00 s&h
Extra Print Score: $20.00 + $8.00 s&h
Extra Print Parts: $3.00 ea. + $8.00 s&h
spirits of big bend (2016)
grade 5
duration; 10:05
I) Into the Chisos (3:15)
II) Terlingua Nights (4:38)
III) Red Ancho (2:12)
Piccolo, Flutes 1 & 2, Oboes 1 & 2, Bassoons 1 & 2, Bb Clarinets 1, 2 & 3, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxes 1 & 2, Tenor Sax, & Baritone Sax
Bb Trumpets 1, 2 & 3, Horns in F 1, 2 ,3 & 4, Trombones 1 & 2, Bass Trombone, Euphonium, & Tuba
Timpani, Chimes, Bells, Vibraphone, Xylophone, & Marimba
Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Sus. Cymbal, Triangle, Vibraslap, (3)Tenor Drums
Spirits. According to the Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Chisos may be a Native American word meaning “ghost” or “spirit”. The Chizo Indians were a nomadic group that used to inhabit Northern Mexico and the Big Bend area of Texas. The Chisos Mountains are the only mountain range contained entirely within the boundaries of a national park.
Spirits. The Terlingua Ghost Town was once the home of thousands of Mexican mercury miners. It is said that the spirits of those miners return to the Terlingua Cemetery annually during Dia de los Muertos to enjoy an evening of celebration and remembrance with their loved ones.
Spirits. Red Ancho. A bowl of red. Each fall, hundreds of spirited culinary adventurers travel to the Big Bend area to extract magic and good times from dried, ruby-red chili pods.
Big Bend National Park and the surrounding area is like no other place on Earth. The people who call this part of Texas home are also like no other. This piece is dedicated to all of them, past and present, and to the land they cherish.
PDF: $100.00
*Print: $135.00 + $8.00 s&h
PDF+Print: $185.00 + $8.00 s&h
Extra Print Score: $40.00 + $8.00 s&h
Extra Print Parts: $6.00 ea. + $8.00 s&h
*All print editions are printed on demand. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. If you need the music sooner, we recommend purchasing the PDF+Print option. You will receive the PDFs immediately after payment processing. Works for band and my chamber symphony include a spiral bound 11X17 score and 8.5X11 parts. Choral works are standard 6.5X10.5 octavos with 8.5X11 instrumental parts. All other works include 8.5X11 scores and parts.