Daniel Powers

Archive for the ‘chamber music’ Category

Cloudscapes for flute choir (six flutes, alto flute, and bass flute) was commissioned by the Indiana State University Flute Ensemble, directed by Dr. Joyce Wilson; it was completed in mid-March, 2009, and received several performances in October and November.

I often find inspiration in nature, and the idea of doing a piece based on could formations has been in the back of my mind for a long time. In the case of Cloudscapes, inspiration was retroactive; it wasn’t until the first movement was well under way that I recognized an affinity between the music I was writing and cirrus clouds, both wispy and delicate. Once I realized this, it seemed that the affinity had been there all along, just waiting to be noticed.

Cloudscapes is in two movements, both titled after cloud formations. Cirrus clouds are quite common, seen all over the world. Nacreous clouds, however are rare. You aren’t likely to see one unless you travel to polar latitudes during winter. They form in the stratosphere, as haigh as 40 miles above the earth’s surface. In appearance, they resemble polished mother-of-pearl, hence the name. Because of their extremely hile altitude, they can reflect sunlight from below the horizon before dawn or after dusk, and appear to glow brightly in the dark sky. I’ve never seen one, but I imagine it must be an impressive sight.

In commissioning Cloudscapes, the ISU Flute Ensemble requested a piece that would be challenging for all performers, and would especially contain interesting parts for the alto and bass flutes. I was happy to oblige, and wrote a piece that attempted to treat all eight players as equal partners.

The ISU Flute Ensemble performed Cloudscapes several times during the Fall months of 2009. The performance presented here is from a performance on November 8, 2009, on the Senior Recital of Amy Chandler, who played the alto flute.

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In Praise of Folly was commissioned by a pair of students at Indiana State University; AJ Miller (euphonium) and Brian Loomis (bass trombone). They premiered it in April 2008 with Martha Krasnican on piano.

The title (like many of my titles) has little to do with the piece, but owes only to chance. Originally, I wanted to call it Euphoria, but found out that the title had already been used by Derek Bourgois. By merest chance, I happened across a reference to the satirical mock-oration In Praise of Folly by the Dutch scholar Dediderius Erasmus (1466-1536), and decided to borrow the title because I liked the sound of it.

The recording is from a concert performance by AJ Miller (euphonium), Brian Loomis (bass trombone), and Martha Krasnican (piano) at ISU’s Contemporary Music Festival in October 2008.

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The Nomine Saxophone Quartet, a student group at ISU, is in Bangkok this week attending the World Saxophone Congress, where they will be presenting the Asian premiere of my quartet Between Spring and Summer. Kurt Baer, the soprano saxophonist, is keeping a blog of the trip.

Impulse, for woodwind quintet, was commissioned by the Indiana State University Faculty Wind Quintet with support from the Indiana State University Arts Endowment. It was composed between July 23 and August 30, 2000.

im·pulse n … 1 a : the act of driving onward with sudden force … 3 a : a sudden spontaneous inclination or incitement to some usu. unpremeditated action (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1977 edition)

My use of the word “Impulse” as the title for this woodwind quintet reflects both meanings cited above. On the one hand, I wanted to write a piece driven by rhythm, partly in an attempt to avoid the standard “woodwind quintet sound,” what Lukas Foss has described as “the obligatory pastorale.” The piece begins with an irregular pulsation on a cluster chord, gradually expanding in range, volume, and complexity. Lyricism is also present, and the middle section is about as pastoral in character as they come. But the predominant characteristic is jagged, asymmetrical rhythm, the tension heightened at times with harsh dissonance.

I received the commission for Impulse in mid-July 2000, with the unusual proviso that it be completed as quickly as possible so it could be included on planned concerts and an upcoming recording session for a new CD release. Given just over a month to complete a 10-minute work, I decided that I would have to alter my usual working procedure. I wrote in a way I tend to advise my students against, simply beginning at the beginning and writing without premeditation or planning, making the piece up as I went along. Writing impulsively, in other words. 

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Impluse was recorded by the Indiana State University Faculty Wind Quintet on the CD Collage for Winds.

Between Spring and Summer was commissioned by Cory Barnfield, soprano saxophonist with the Louisville Saxophone Quartet. It was composed, for the most part, in May 2005 (no longer really spring, but not quite summer either). The quartet is in three short movements, totalling about 10 minutes in duration.

The recordings below are taken from my Faculty Composition recital at Indiana State University, January 30, 2009.

Between Spring And Summer

Kurt Baer, soprano saxophone
Codey Spear, alto saxophone
Ashley Spear, tenor saxophone
Nolt Nahrwold, baritone saxophone

1. Lilting

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2. Moderately slow, peaceful and flowing

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3. Fast

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Links II was written in 2006. The original version, for clarinet and cello, was commissioned by William Conable and Jane Ellsworth, who premiered it in Nanking, China. The transcription for alto saxophone and cello was done in 2008 at the request of Paul Bro and Kurt Fowler.

The work is a continuation, in a way, of the original Links, written in 2004. This work was one of a series of works, by myself and three other composers (Dorothy Chang, Sue Dellinger, and John Roscingo) commissioned by hornist Brian Kilp. All of us were commissioned to write a suite of four short movements for clarinet, horn, cello, and piano, with the idea being that a performance could consist of randomly selected movements from each suite, and would change from one performance to the next.

Links, my contribution to the project, included a fifth movement as a sort of bonus track, a duet for clarinet and cello called The Opposite of Orange. At a performance that took place at Ohio State University, the clarinettist and cellist were Jane Ellsworth and William Conable, faculty members there at the time. Later they would perform my little duet as a stand-alone work, and soon asked me to include it in a suite of short pieces for them.

The resulting piece, naturally, was Links II, which shares a movement in common with Links. It can also be used as a continuation of the same idea, with movements from both pieces being mixed, as well as any future works in the Links series, or even movements from the other three works involved in the original project (assuming it’s all right with the other composers, of course).

Recordings below are from my composition recital of January 30, 2009, performed by Paul Bro, alto saxophone, and Kurt Fowler, cello.

1. Keep Going!

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2. Cloudy This Morning

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3. The Opposite Of Orange

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4. Rain This Afternoon (tango)

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5. Flight of Fancy

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