Winner of the 2018 Christopher Bill Composition Competition. Across Lots plays with many of the standard tropes of western films. Of these tropes, you’ll hear the classic fast, slow, fast structure, bountiful syncopation, quartal/quintal harmony, lot’s of rhythmic drive, and of course, classic "galloping" rhythms. As for the title, it comes from western slang and means "the fastest way possible, in the most expeditious manner". So like galloping horses, this piece carries a fast tempo.

Across Lots

Brahms’s Intermezzo in A Major from his Op. 118 is one of his most coveted works for piano. Written towards the end of his life, this work is much more introspective than many of his earlier works.

This arrangement features a trombone solo with two cellos and a string bass accompanying it.

Brahms Intermezzo in A Major – Trombone Solo

As a composer, musical ideas pop into my head every day. Most of them are entirely unrelated to any piece I am currently working on, and I manage to write some of them down for future reference. The theme of Morning Sunrise is one of those ideas. When I wrote it down, I had no idea that I was ever going to create a piece from it, so I just wrote it down for strings.

Several months later, however, I had decided that I wanted to write a piece to thank those who have made my high school music life great. I spent weeks developing 4 or 5 themes and even had half of a piece done at one point, but none of them worked. I then remembered this one from and realized that it was the perfect theme.

The result of taking so long to complete this piece is that it is a compelling piece where there are no extraneous notes, and no missing ones either. It is one where every detail matters.

Morning Sunrise

Holiday Spirit contains a conglomeration of many familiar holiday songs with their own unique twist. Selections include Joy to the World, Deck the Halls, Silent Night, and even a snippet of Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel. Stylistically, there is everything from traditional harmonies and a more classical style, to jazz, an improvisation section, and to modern classical. In general, Holiday Spirit is a new take on classic holiday songs.

Holiday Spirit

“The Swan” was originally a solo cello piece with two pianos accompanying it. This arrangement, for trombone, sticks as true as possible to the original but makes performance 10x easier. Both piano parts are artistically combined to a single piano, allowing an easier and more complete performance. Additionally, they key is now a 4th lower to better suite the trombone’s range.

“The Swan” is the second to last movement of Saint-Saëns famous piece, “The Carnival of the Animals”.

The "Swan" — Trombone Solo

It always gives me great pleasure to get the opportunity to rework a piece for a different ensemble. In this instance, it was taking a piece I wrote earlier this year for string nonet (4 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, and 1 bass) and expanded it for full orchestra. Perhaps the greatest difference, besides the difference in colors of the sound, is that the middle portion of the original is left out. While I feel like it was an essential part to the string version, I feel like that part was meant for strings and would have not translated to my satisfaction to orchestra.

But while I took out parts, there were several lines that were added to the original for intensity and interest during certain key portions of the score. These lines appear most notably in the woodwinds.

Overall, though, this version expands on the original and explores the coloristic possibilities that an orchestra provides over a string nonet which adds new dimensions to the original piece.

Journey Along the River Shore (full orchestra)

Movements:
1. Allegro 0:00
2. Adagietto 1:01
3. Scherzando 2:58
4. Largo 4:06
5. Spirited 7:10
6. Fugue 8:27

The woodwind family is an amazing group of instruments. Unlike brass and strings, each instrument has its own unique sound. Yes, a cello sounds different from a violin and a French horn is different than a tuba, but the sound colors are similar. That is a difficult assertion to make with a flute and oboe. All this means is that woodwinds are rich in coloristic opportunities.

When writing this piece, I tried to give each movement its own unique character. Other than simply changing the harmonic and rhythmic language of each movement, every line is crafted towards the instrument that plays it. For instance, listen to the expressive lines that the oboe has in the slow movements or the silly and playful lines that the oboe has in the faster movements.

In the last movement in particular, which is the Fugue, pay attention to how the main subject sounds and feels different as the different instruments enter and play it. While the subject itself doesn’t change, the emotional connection to the subject changes as the various instruments play it with a different color. That is a prime example on how rich the colors in the woodwind section are.

Woodwind Quartet No. 1

Picking a title for many pieces is often quite difficult for me because typically when I write music, I do not have any particular object or nonmusical idea in mind. Instead, I simply write music. And this piece, like many other pieces of mine, didn’t get a title until weeks after completing it.

But as you listen to the piece, notice how well the title Green Fields works. Harmonically, this piece combines many elements often associated with the countryside. Several sections, including the oboe solo about two thirds of the way through the piece are modal, which is reminiscent of many English folk songs and the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Furthermore, quartal and quintal harmony appears throughout which is often associated with the American countryside and made popular by Aaron Copland.

Green Fields

A couple months ago, I was rehearsing for one of my colleague’s composition recital. There was one orchestra piece he wrote was for a smaller orchestra and I was not playing, so I listened. It was Yosemite in Winter. It’s a calm piece with a hint of action that perfectly captures the spirit of winter. After listening to this, I immediately had an idea of what Yosemite in summer would sound like.

Yosemite is known for its mountains, rivers, forests, but most of all, its American grandeur. Yosemite in Summer aims to capture the vibrancy of Yosemite by taking on many musically cultural elements associated with the American landscape, such as that of Aaron Copland.

But most of all, a huge thanks to Tristan D. Perez for both giving me the inspiration to write this piece and the permission to build off the ideas for his own work.

Yosemite in Summer

I’ve always been fascinated with Vaughan Williams’ music; everything from his symphonies and his wind band pieces to Lark Ascending and Six Studies in English Folk Song have been some of my largest influences as a composer. So in an effort to learn more about these amazing pieces, I wrote Bucolic Songs to better understand the style of Vaughan Williams. While it is not a facsimile of Vaughan William’s style, I hope it captures some of the essence of his works.

The opening Bucolic Songs itself is inspired by Lark Ascending with the violin solo that floats atop a rich background in the other instruments. Later in the piece, a more march-like section approaches which itself is reminiscent of the march of English Folk Song Suite. The other portions of the piece are all based on melodies that could potentially be folk songs themselves to allude to Vaughan Williams’ prevalent use of folk tunes in his works.

The title “Bucolic Songs” refers to the landscape I kept thinking of while writing this piece: the countryside. Folk songs are generally associated with more pastoral and country settings which is why I believe the title fits the piece well. Overall, I had lots of fun writing this piece and I hope many will find it enjoyable to listen to.

Bucolic Songs

Carol of the Trombone Bells is my version of the popular holiday piece written for trombone octet. The initial idea for the style of the composition was developed several years ago when I was in high school, and this is a reworking of the old ideas into a more complete version. This was a very fun arrangement for me to do and I hope you find it quite enjoyable.

Carol of the Trombone Bells

Metamorphosis is a finalist in the 2017 Christopher Bill Composition Competition.

Metamorphosis is a piece where the themes constantly change and transform into something new. In its slow beginning, a lyrical melody is played against a drone until it’s joined by more trombones. This happens three times. Then, the entire choir is joined together to form the climax to the slow section before the transition to the faster section.

Almost instantly, the mood changes into a more playful sounding section. A new bouncier theme is introduced against muted eighth note chords in the background. In its second big statement, the presentation of the theme is broken up with different motives from both the beginning slow section and the fast playful theme. In its third statement, only the smaller motivic ideas are left as the volume and intensity grow.

Finally, both melodies get squished together. The initial lyrical melody is once again stated, but this time it’s over the background of the second playful melody.

Metamorphosis

Yosemite in Summer (Concert Band)

Features for Carillon and Brass is a two movement work to highlight carillons and brass instruments. Carillons, also known as bell towers, is a keyboard instrument housed in many church towers or towers in municipal buildings. The actual sound is created by hammers hitting several large bronze bells. These bells can weigh up to 100 tons. Additionally, their distinct shape gives them a distinct sound.

The first movement, Fanfare, combines many of the common associations of carillons and brass. The carillon opens on a repeated note, which is reminiscent of bell towers signaling the hour. And brass instruments are commonly associated with fanfares, especially with fast, repeated notes. The minimalist style of this movement perfectly suites these associations.

The second movement features a more lyrical side of both the carillon and brass. The entire movement is based on Dies Irae, a Gregorian Chant from the 1200s. While the entire chant is presented at various points, it is only done so in fragments. Of all the fragments, the opening four notes of Dies Irae are the most common fragment.

Features for Carillon and Brass

Trombone solo with piano accompaniment.

“Meditation” from Thais is originally from the opera Thais played on the violin. This arrangement stays as true to the original as possible while also showing the expressive and singing qualities of the trombone.

Nick Mazuk

Nick Mazuk

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