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Program notes

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De Profundis
for massed winds

I've respectfully borrowed the term massed winds from the 1932 masterwork Angels And Devils ("for massed flutes") by the great Henry Brant, but the title itself is from Psalm 130 (de profundis clamavi ad te Domine), a Penitential psalm sometimes incorporated into the Latin Requiem, and set to music by composers for hundreds of years. Commissioned by the Central Oklahoma Directors Association—for an ensemble of some 110 souls—the work is designed to use the largest (massed) ensemble possible to its greatest possible effect.

The medieval de profundis plainchant incipit, a gorgeous modal tune lamenting "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD" winds its way throughout the work, transforming from lyrical chanting to the core of angry chorales. For much of the work the percussion consists mostly of different kinds of drums (2 bass drums, 2 sets of detuned timpani, 4 tom-toms, and 3 roto-toms). The drums lead a sound-world of ritualism, which the ensemble often realizes from aleatoric notation: improvisatory gestures played at the discretion of the players. Like a classic chiaroscuro, these aleatoric textures shift us between the worlds of darkness and light.

—JN

1861, a hymn fantasia for concert band - view note
3 O’Clock Mix, for school ensemble - view note
Across the groaning continent, from Symphony No. 1, My Hands Are a City - view note
As the scent of spring rain..., for wind ensemble - view note
Avenue X, for wind band - view note
Blow It Up, Start Again, for orchestra - view note
Blow It Up, Start Again​, for wind ensemble - view note
Chunk, a funk for winds and percussion - view note
Climbing Parnassus, for wind ensemble - view note
Concertino, for flute solo, chamber winds, and piano - view note
Deep Sky Blue, for viola and piano - view note
Dohyci, miniature for violin and bass clarinet - view note
Lullaby for Munch in Hell, for saxophone quartet - view note
Metropolitan, for orchestra - view note
Milori Blue, for euphonium and piano - view note
Moon by Night, for band and optional chorus - view note
Moon by Night​, Anthem for SATB chorus - view note
My Hands Are a City, from Symphony No. 1, My Hands Are a City - view note
Nocturnes, for piano solo - view note
Ohanashi, for sinfonia - view note
OK Feel Good, for chamber group - view note
OK Feel Good​, for wind orchestra - view note
Practicing Joy, for percussion solo - view note
Prayers of Steel, for brass quintet - view note
Prelude on "Schmücke Dich", for organ solo - view note
Single, for wind band - view note
Sowing Useful Truths, for wind ensemble - view note
Stereo Action, for percussion ensemble - view note
Symphony No. 1, My Hands Are a City, for wind ensemble - view note
The Americans, from Symphony No. 1, My Hands Are a City - view note
The Rivers of Bowery, an overture for winds, brass, and percussion - view note
The Vinyl Six, for mixed chamber ensemble - view note
These Inflected Tentacles, for marimba, piano, violin, and cello - view note
Tree, for string orchestra - view note
Uncle Sid, fantasy on a folk tune - view note
Verses from Solomon, for soprano and organ - view note
Vivid Geography, for women's chorus and chamber orchestra - view note
Wapwallopen, string quartet no. 1 - view note