instrumental — solo / small ensemble
EQUINOX – viola, piano, 1983.
HOLOHEDRAM – cello, 1980.
JUST PIANO – piano, 16:00, 1984.
Premiered in New York, CAMI Hall, 1988, Erik Skjoldan, piano.
LURE – flute, 12:00, 1985.
Premiered in New York, Columbia University, 1988, American Festival of Microtonal Music, Andrew Bolotowsky, flute.
NOCTURNE – piano, 1982.
PEAL – violin, cello, 1986.
STATIONARY POINT – trumpet/flugelhorn, clarinet, bassoon, vibraphone, 10:00, 1981.
Premiered in Buffalo, 1982, David Kuehn, principal trumpet Buffalo Philharmonic, the composer conducting.
TANGIBLE MIDNIGHT – piano, 01:02:00, 1995.
Tribute to Morton Feldman.
THROUGH THE DOOR OF THE HEART – violin, piano, 14:00, 1986.
Premiered in New York, 1988, as Nierika, Laura Seaton, violin, Erik Skjoldan, piano.
WINDSPOOR – flute, clarinet, 2 violins, cello, 1984.
orchestra / chamber orchestra
CONVERGENCE – chamber orchestra – flute, trumpet, horn, tuba, percussion, 6 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, 1980.
ILLUMINATION – overture for chamber orchestra – piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, Eb clarinet, 2 Bb clarinets, 2 bassoons, horn, trumpet, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 1984.
NEW SKY – 4 movements for symphony orchestra, 1985.
Premiered in New York, Merkin Hall, 1987, as Way of the Hopi, American Festival of Microtonal Music Orchestra, the composer conducting.
NEW SKY – 2 movements for chamber orchestra – flute/alto flute, oboe, Bb clarinet/bass clarinet, bassoon, F horn, C trumpet, trombone, percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 20:00, 1989.
Premiered in Pittsburgh, 1990, as Way of the Hopi, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, David Stock conducting.
NIGHTHAWK – symphony in 2 movements for large wind ensemble, 1983, 20:00.
PALONGAWHOYA – chamber orchestra – piano, 2 flutes, bassoon, 2 horns, trombone, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 1981, 20:00.
Premiered in Copenhagen, Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, 1981, Erik Skjoldan, piano, the composer conducting.
vocal with accompaniment
CLOSE YOUR SLEEPY EYES – 3-part round for mixed voices, flute, alto flute, double bass, 1985.
COLORADO – tenor, ashiko, 4:00, 1993.
Premiered in Madison, NJ, 1994, Paul Gallagher, tenor, percussion.
FALL LIGHTLY – flute, clarinet, 2 violins, cello, mezzo soprano, 8:00, 1984.
KINGDOM OF MESCAL – tenor, tape in 4 parts, 20:00, 1991.
Musical and visual dreamscape of a quest for self-knowledge.
Premiered in New York, Christ and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 1992, Paul Gallagher, tenor.
LABYRINTH – flute, oboe, clarinet, viola, cello, double bass, soprano, alto, tenor; 5:00; text: Pablo Neruda, 1982.
NOTHING DOING – version for violin, piano, mezzo soprano, tenor, 15:30, 1987.
"I am consumed – Yet all remains."
Premiered in New York, CAMI Hall, 1988, Laura Seaton, violin, Erik Skjoldan, piano, Barbara Hess, mezzo soprano, Paul Gallagher, tenor.
SONG OF SURVIVAL – mixed voices, flute, alto flute, double bass, 12:00, 1983.
Premiered in New York, Symphony Space, 1990, Melodious Accord, Alice Parker conducting.
VOIR – soprano, piano, 1980.
Premiered in Buffalo, 1980, Christine Marstrand, soprano, Erik Skjoldan, piano.
vocal a cappella
ALREADY GONE – SATB, 6:00, 1997.
Already Gone pairs its delicate text with rich harmonics. Combined, they suggest the paradox that lies at the heart of the work's theme of transformation through the experience of attachment and detachment, self and oneness, will and acceptance. Sung in the chamber opera Six Blind Men and the Moon in the style of a Greek chorus, Already Gone as a singular piece attests to the capacity of music to express the human condition at its most vulnerable and transcendent.
Premiered in New York, Kraine Theater, 1998, one of 6 a cappella quartet interludes in the chamber opera Six Blind Men and the Moon.
ASPENS – mezzo soprano, tenor, 14:00, 1985.
Premiered in New York, 1985, Composers Forum – New Music/New Composers.
BLOOD RED/EXQUISITE BLUE – SATB, 1997.
CANONS AND EXCHANGES: Not One, Not Two; To Hide in a Stone; The Seed Is Sown – mezzo soprano, tenor, 5:00, 1990.
Premiered in Newark, 1991, Newark Museum, Barbara Hess, mezzo soprano, Paul Gallagher, tenor.
CLEAR THE WAY – mixed voices, 8:00, 1987.
Premiered in New York, New York Open Center, 1988.
NOTHING DOING – version for mezzo soprano, tenor a cappella, 14:00, 1987.
SALTWATER – tenor, tape in 5 movements, 15:00, 1993.
Alternately seductive and torturous, a story of a man’s relationship to Being itself. Personified as a woman, the vast, powerful, entrancing sea immerses the protagonist in both terror and ecstasy en route to a thoroughly unsolicited transformation.
Premiered in Trenton, Planetarium of the State Museum, 1994, Paul Gallagher, tenor.
SEEN – 3-part canon, tenor, tape delay, 9:00, 1992.
"Beyond dreams, beyond myths, beyond anything necessary or conceivable."
Premiered in New York, 1994, Paul Gallagher, tenor.
SHINING SWEET WATER – 3-part canon, 1987.
SIX BLIND MEN AND THE MOON – song in 6 parts for mezzo soprano, tenor. (See also the chamber oratorio of the same name.)
Premiered in New York, Anita Shapolsky Gallery, 1991, American Festival of Microtonal Music, Barbara Hess, mezzo soprano, Paul Gallagher, tenor.
SONGS TO THE FOUR DIRECTIONS – SATB, 1991.
North: Water Finds Its Way – 5:00, 1991. – "Laugh, splintered into being, gone, completely here and gone."
Premiered as a version for mezzo soprano, tenor in Newark, 1991, Newark Museum, Barbara Hess, mezzo soprano, Paul Gallagher, tenor.
South: Cradle the Sky – "Can you, will you / Hold my love – so fragile – my life?"
East: Fly, Eagle – "Eagle be one with the light, fill my mind, my vision."
West: Stillness, Quiet – "Let me hear the voice within. / Let me know my song."
SONGS TO THE FOUR DIRECTIONS – SATB, c.1984.
North: Wisdom. South: Innocence. East: Illumination. West: Introspection.
Premiered in State College, PA, 1984, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.
ULMUS AMERICANA – five tenor/countertenor multi-tracked voices, 10:30, 1987.
A tribute to the iconic American elm that subtly transforms from a somber lament for the disappearing species to a healing chant for all of nature. Sung in the manner of the 13th century organum of Perotin, with each of seven broad sections sounding on a single syllable of the title in ornate polyphony.
Premiered in New York, 1988, Paul Gallagher, tenor/countertenor.
WALK IT OFF – SATB, 1998.
WONDER – SATB, 5:00, 1996.
chamber opera / oratorio
SIX BLIND MEN AND THE MOON – choreographed multimedia chamber oratorio, solo tenor with digital ensemble (Six Blind Men and the Moon song, Saltwater, Kingdom of Mescal), live a cappella quartet (Blood Red/Exquisite Blue; Water Finds Its Way; Walk It Off, Already Gone, Fly Eagle, Wonder), 100:00, 1998.
Premiered in New York, 1998, Kraine Theater, Paul Gallagher, tenor; quartet: Ovaline Whitner, soprano, Karen Goldfeder, mezzo soprano, Steven Raiford, tenor, Chad Karl, baritone.
releases
PROWLING THE INTERIOR – compact disc, download – tenor, countertenor, electronics – Kingdom of Mescal, Seen, Saltwater, Ulmus Americana, Colorado – words, music, vocals: Paul Gallagher, 1995.
ROUND THE GREAT CIRCLE – audiocassette – contemporary rounds and madrigals composed in a classical/folk style for mixed voices, flute, bass, percussion; words and music Paul Gallagher; performed by Paul Gallagher, tenor, Barbara Hess, mezzo soprano; the Heron Consort: Darah Clatworhy, Bruce Detrick, André Solomon-Glover, Dana Hanchard, Jay Taylor, Caryl-Beth Thomas; Rheva Kaplan, Rachael Rudich, flute; David Light, percussion; Brian Smith, double bass, 1987.
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