Excellence in Music and Worship
Original Musical Compositions and Thoughts on Worship
This is a contemporary classical composition inspired by Ysaye's works for unaccompanied violin. Each section is based upon a verse from the Biblical chapter Psalm 67. The work has been premiered and performed by the composer in New York City, Czechoslovakia and Vienna.
Of the work, Hans Neidhardt, music director of the Volksbildungskreis in Vienna, Austria wrote:
“…his encore (Psalm 67), a composition of his own earned much applause by the audience.”
This work was written for and premiered by the Lindsayan String Quartet in 2001. The work consists of five short movements, thematically united. Since the movements were shorter and concise, I sub-titled the work ‘Vignettes.’
Hope you enjoy!
A Bit ‘O Jazz (for Chamber Ensemble)
This was my first attempt at ‘serious’ composition. I wrote it when I was around 13 years old for my Junior High School Orchestra. I wasn’t asked to write it, I just thought that if I had enough initiative to write for the group, the director would elect to perform it, or at least read it.
My naivete brought me some initial disappointment from the director of the ensemble. He had other plans for how he wanted to budget the rehearsal time for the group.
However, since I played in the Midland-Odessa Symphony at the time, the resident String Quartet and a couple other musicians told me they would be glad to read it for me after one of our rehearsals, which is the recording posted here.
This was my first journey into the world of composing and the rewarding feeling that comes from getting a group to play one’s work, along with the thrill of capturing the recording.
Hope you enjoy it!
I recently had the privilege of having this piece premiered at Texas Tech by cellist Jeffrey Lastrapes. I began writing the work back in 2001, as Lastrapes, a member of the Lindsayan String Quartet, had recently performed my "Vignettes for String Quartet", and suggested the possibility of my writing a recital piece around 7-10 minutes in length.
I immediately began working on it, but after a computer glitch in the Finale file rendered a portion of the work inaccessible, together with Jeffrey moving to NYC and my usual busy schedule, I shelved the project.
Several years later, when I heard that Jeffrey had moved back to Lubbock, I thought I would try one more time to open the file, now with a later version of Finale, and to my amazement, the file was retrievable, so I finished the work within a few weeks in 2005.
After 10 years from its origin the work was premiered. Not only was I elated to hear it played, but also was glad to put a 'check-mark' next to a completed project.
I love Jeffrey's playing, which I endeavored to highlight in the compositional process. He's a great musician and a great friend.
To purchase sheet-music for Antiphony, click here
Here's a unique composition I wrote for my very talented wife who took up the lever harp little more than a year ago just for fun. The interesting thing about a lever (or 'folk' harp) is that each note can be adjusted to sharp, flat, or natural. I thought it would be interesting to write a piece that every note below Middle C was tuned to C Major, and every note above Middle C tuned to Ab Major.
Here's what came out.
Vignette (for lever harp):
(performed by Katherine Hohstadt)
