Welcome to my composition page. Below is a list of some of my compositions that are available for download. All are available with sheet music, and some with audio files as well. The last seven audio files are taken from my CD, “Chimaera,” preceded by more recent compositions. I will continue to add new compositions here in the future. Keep an eye on this page for future updates.
I hope you enjoy my music!
IMPORTANT NOTE: After paying through PayPal, your purchase can then be downloaded from this website, so don’t leave after paying!
Linear Singularity
Linear Singularity is about the growth of Artificial Intelligence, as represented by music. If you’re unfamiliar, the Singularity is the event–sometime in the future–when AI will become more intelligent than humans. This composition depicts the calculated growth of AI into something fast, complex, and possibly threatening.
Difficulty Level: Very Advanced
Watch guitarist Matt Palmer’s world premiere of Linear Singularity on Youtube
Anthemusa
In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus visited the sorceress Circe and learned about the sirens. In order to pass the island of Anthemusa safely, Odysseus ordered his sailors to tie him to his ship’s mast, and to then plug their ears with wax so they could resist the siren’s enchantment and ignore his pleas to sail to the deadly shores. As they sailed safely by, Odysseus was the only one able to listen to the beautiful music of the sirens. Perhaps you’ll hear it, too?
Difficulty Level: Advanced
Hear Valerie Hartzell’s performance of the first movement on NPR. Begins at 8:41. The second movement, “Choro ton Tyches” (Dance of the Fates) is also included in the sheet music.
Outbound Jaunt
This piece is written for guitar ensemble, with a minimum of 4 parts up to an entire guitar orchestra. An outbound jaunt is a short and fun journey intended to get away from things for a while.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Tribal Echoes
I grew up in Arizona, and it has a strong cultural heritage. Tribal Echoes is my musical homage to the many Native American tribes of Arizona and their beautiful artistic culture that echoes throughout the great deserts and canyons of the Southwest.
Difficulty Level: Advanced
Live Performance:
Caterpillar Shindig
Caterpillar Shindig involves a progressive layering of activity, as if many caterpillars were crawling around enjoying themselves while feasting on plants. The music becomes very pulsating at times, and is very happy and upbeat. Caterpillar Shindig can be played as a stand-alone piece or as part 3 of 3 from “The Insect Kingdom Suite.”
Difficulty Level: Advanced
Drift
Drift grew out of a melody I wrote a while back when I was asked to compose some music for a production of King Lear. One of my main efforts in this piece was to maintain a mysterious, haunting mood, and I’ve also tried to use rhythmic pauses to greater effect here than I have in other pieces.
Difficulty Level: Advanced
March of the Ants
March of the Ants depicts the highly structured and soldier-like existence of ants. You can hear the ants working tenaciously, even rallying against enemies in battle, eventually marching on, nothing standing in their way. March of the Ants can be played as a stand-alone piece or as part 1 of 3 from “The Insect Kingdom Suite.”
Difficulty Level: Advanced
The Butterfly Princess
The Butterfly Princess is the imagining of a single butterfly that eventually flies into a field of flowers and is joined by clouds of butterflies. The butterfly flies off on its own again and finally settles down on a flower. The Butterfly Princess can be played as a stand-alone piece or as part 2 of 3 from “The Insect Kingdom Suite.”
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Ash and Pixie Dust
Ash and Pixie Dust was written about contrast. I meant for the darker side of the piece (mostly carried in the bass line) to be represented in the title by the “Ash” while contrasted simultaneously by the lighter, more melodic line, the “Pixie Dust” (after Tinkerbell from Peter Pan–the dust that made everyone fly.)
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Pensatina
Pensatina is pensive, yearning, and even slightly lamenting. “Pensativa” is Spanish for “thoughts” or “thinker,” so I just changed the word slightly for aesthetics. This is my very first completed guitar composition, written before I was able to study composition. It can be characterized as “through-composed,” being very continuous as it moves from one idea to the next.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Rückschlag
Ruckschlag is German for “frustration.” I studied Bartok’s compositional style during my graduate studies at Peabody, and used several of his stylistic elements in the writing of this aggressive and dissonant music.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Noctum
Noctum is Latin for “Night.” I intentionally worked on this piece only at night, hoping that would help convey the sense of a nocturnal atmosphere. It was also an exercise for me, to see if I could keep the melodies simple and haunting, having no more than two simple lines weaving around each other at a time.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Scheeringa
Scheeringa is actually the last name of a friend of mine, and I used the name because it sounded Irish to me, and very sprightly. It turns out, the name is actually Dutch! I studied Scottish and Irish music during my time at Peabody and tried to capture some of that dance-like flavor in this composition.
Difficulty Level: Advanced