Projects
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Cello Concerto (2012)

for Olly Coates
Solo Cello & Orchestra, 18'

When the Barbican asked me to write a concerto for Olly Coates and the Britten Sinfonia, I immediately started making plans. I wanted to write something formally traditional (fast-slow-fast) but with steadily developing content. The first movement is angular, the second supple, and the third motoric; there is constant progression and no looking back. The [...]

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Honest Music (2002)

for Lisa Liu
Violin & pre-recorded CD

On the page, the violin part for Honest Music looks something like Terry Riley’s In C, insofar as it’s a collection of discrete, modular phrases to be recombined in “performance,” or in this case, by the electronic manipulation of the recording–but these aren’t Riley’s musical Lego blocks; most of these are long, expressive, idiomatic gestures, [...]

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It Goes Without Saying (2005)

clarinet & pre-recorded CD, 9'

For a piece with such a strong electronic component, It Goes Without Saying is surprisingly organic. While the electronics include chillier, metallic noises””samples ranging from a kitchen whisk to a unique set of tiny bells””most prominent are the warm, woody sounds of a harmonium and of clicking clarinet-keys, sounds that share a certain sonic DNA [...]

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It’s About Time (2004)

for Sam Solomon
Solo percussion

It’s About Time has two sets of attendant notes, one by Sam, for whom it was written, and one by me.

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Keep in Touch (2005)

for Nadia Sirota
Viola & pre-recorded CD, 12'

Keep in Touch is a lament, a sort of chaconne divided up into sections by more freely-composed cadenzas for the viola.

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O Antiphon Preludes (2010)

for James McVinnie
Organ

Each prelude is based on each of the Seven Great O Antiphons for Advent: O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae. O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem [...]

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Pillaging Music (2005)

for Valgeir
Percussion, piano, celeste, & pre-recorded CD

Muhly names Pierre Boulez as the inspiration for Pillaging Music, and it’s easy to hear the influence of pieces like Sur-incises and Répons on this metallic piano/percussion texture

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Radiant Music (2002)

for Alice K. Dade
Flute & pre-recorded CD, 8'

Radiant Music was written for Alice K. Dade at her request for a short recital piece. The tape part is made up of several episodes of shimmering music for electric flutes, dulcimers, organs, baroque strings, trumpet, and choir. This piece is focused on a simple progression of three chords; this progression appears in the sequence [...]

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Three Etudes for Viola

for Nadia Sirota
Viola & Tape, 19'

These three etudes may be performed in any order, all together, or singularly. The pre-recorded material for these e?tudes should be mixed in such a way that the viola rides in the middle of the texture. Etude 2, however, should favor the solo viola. While we have had successful performances with the tape coming from [...]

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