Daniel Steven Crafts
Encyclopedia
Daniel Steven Crafts is an American
composer
.
in a dialectic between form
and content.
Known for his strong sense of melody
, the composer has written a variety of styles including opera
s, orchestral works
, chamber music
, concerto
s, and satirical
pieces. Among Crafts' most well-known works is The Song & the Slogan
, a collaboration with legendary opera star Jerry Hadley
. Written for voice and orchestra, the piece is based on the poetry of Carl Sandburg
. The work was made into a TV program for the PBS network and was aired nationally in 2004 with host David Hartman
. The Song & the Slogan was awarded an Emmy Award in 2003 for Best Music by the Mid-America Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Crafts also created a comic-strip opera called Too Much Coffee Man
in collaboration with Shannon Wheeler
and Damian Wilcox. He described the opera Too Much Coffee Man as belonging to a sub-genre of classical opera called Gonzo Opera. While using the vocal techniques of traditional opera, gonzo opera uses wildly comical and satirical plots and situations, and is designed for small ensembles.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Composition Style
Daniel Steven Crafts has chosen to oppose what he considers unjustifiably dissonant formalism prevalent in late 20th century classical music. Instead, he emphasizes tonalityTonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
in a dialectic between form
Musical form
The term musical form refers to the overall structure or plan of a piece of music, and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections...
and content.
Known for his strong sense of melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, the composer has written a variety of styles including opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s, orchestral works
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
s, and satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
pieces. Among Crafts' most well-known works is The Song & the Slogan
The Song and The Slogan
The Song & the Slogan was composed by Daniel Steven Crafts in 1996, on commission from the late opera tenor Jerry Hadley. It sets to music sections of Carl Sandburg’s 1918 prose poem “Prairie” with excerpts from other Sandburg poems chosen by Mr. Hadley. The piece premiered in 2000 and was later...
, a collaboration with legendary opera star Jerry Hadley
Jerry Hadley
Jerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of Jenůfa , Susannah , and Candide...
. Written for voice and orchestra, the piece is based on the poetry of Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
. The work was made into a TV program for the PBS network and was aired nationally in 2004 with host David Hartman
David Hartman (TV personality)
David Downs Hartman is an American journalist and media host who began his media career as an actor. He currently anchors and hosts documentary programs on cable TV's History and on PBS. Hartman is best known as the first host of ABC's Good Morning America, from 1975 to 1987. As an actor, he...
. The Song & the Slogan was awarded an Emmy Award in 2003 for Best Music by the Mid-America Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Crafts also created a comic-strip opera called Too Much Coffee Man
Too Much Coffee Man
Too Much Coffee Man is an American satirical superhero created by cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, and which has appeared in comic strips, minicomics, webcomics, comic books, magazines, books, and operas....
in collaboration with Shannon Wheeler
Shannon Wheeler
Shannon Wheeler is an American cartoonist best known for creating the satirical superhero Too Much Coffee Man, and as a cartoonist for The New Yorker.-Career:...
and Damian Wilcox. He described the opera Too Much Coffee Man as belonging to a sub-genre of classical opera called Gonzo Opera. While using the vocal techniques of traditional opera, gonzo opera uses wildly comical and satirical plots and situations, and is designed for small ensembles.
Operas
- And the Winner Is…. A Gonzo Opera in one-act. Libretto by Thomas B. Woodward from his original prize-winning play. For mezzo, baritone, soprano, tenor, piano, bass, flute, clarinet and bassoon. Duration: 50 min.
- Sappho of Lesbos. An opera in three acts based on the novel Sappho, the Tenth Muse by Nancy Freedman. Libretto by Nancy and Benedict Freedman. Mezzo-soprano, baritone, tenor, alto, 7 sopranos, 1 high soprano, mixed chorus (including several short solo parts).
- La Llorona. An opera in three acts, based on the play by Rudolfo AnayaRudolfo AnayaRudolfo Anaya is an Mexican-American author. Best known for his 1972 novel Bless Me, Ultima, Anaya is considered one of the founders of the canon of contemporary Chicano literature.- Biography :...
. Libretto by the author. Soprano, boy soprano, tenor, mezzo-soprano, 2 baritones.
- Too Much Coffee Man. The first comic-strip opera, in two acts, based on the satirical cartoon character of Shannon WheelerShannon WheelerShannon Wheeler is an American cartoonist best known for creating the satirical superhero Too Much Coffee Man, and as a cartoonist for The New Yorker.-Career:...
. Libretto by Shannon Wheeler, Damian Willcox, Carolyn Main, and the composer. Mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone. Clarinet, bass, piano. Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
- GASP!. A comic eco-operetta for children about the science of air and atmosphere!! Original story & libretto by Rick Huff.
- Bartleby, The Scrivener. An opera in two acts, based on the short story by Herman MelvilleHerman MelvilleHerman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
. Libretto by Erik Bauersfeld. Baritone, tenor, baritone, bass and medium orchestra.
- Diary Of A Madman. One-act opera based on the story by Nikolai GogolNikolai GogolNikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
. Libretto by Erik Bauersfeld. Tenor, baritone, soprano, bass and medium orchestra.
- The Pig Opera. An opera in three acts. Original story and libretto by Lesly Fredman and Rhonda Reno. Black comedy about xenotransplantation of pig organs into humans.
- Goblin Market. One-act opera based on the poem by Christina RossettiChristina RossettiChristina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems...
for mixed chorus, soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone with bassoon and piano. Duration: 45 minutes.
- Under A Halogen Sun. An opera in three acts. Original story and libretto by D. S. Black. Soprano, mezzo-soprano, 2 tenors, 2 baritones, 3 basses, chorus (with short solo roles for chorus members), and medium orchestra.
- The Furnished Room. An opera in one long act, based on the short story by O. HenryO. HenryO. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter . O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.-Early life:...
. Libretto by Richard Kuss. Tenor, 2 sopranos, mezzo-soprano; 2 contraltos, boy soprano, baritone, bass and medium orchestra. Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
- The Pied Piper. An opera in one act based on the poem by Robert BrowningRobert BrowningRobert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
. Libretto by Adam CornfordAdam CornfordAdam Cornford is an American poet, librettist, and essayist.-Biography:Adam Francis Cornford is the son of Christopher Cornford and a lineal descendant of naturalist Charles Darwin...
. For mixed chorus, soprano, tenor, baritone, piano and flute. Duration: 1 hour.
For Solo Voice
- Bury My Name. A theater work in two acts for baritone/actor and piano. Presentation of the Shakespeare authorship question. Music:
- Introduction (Arrangement of "The Earl of Oxford’s Marche" by William ByrdWilliam ByrdWilliam Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
) - "Come, thou Monarch of the Vine" (Anthony & Cleopatra)
- Labour’s Reward (Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of OxfordEdward de Vere, 17th Earl of OxfordEdward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
) - "We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us" (Henry V)
- "Alas, poor Yorick" (Hamlet)
- Bylbis and Caune (Ovid—translation credited to Arthur GoldingArthur GoldingArthur Golding was an English translator of more than 30 works from Latin into English. While primarily remembered today for his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses because of its influence on Shakespeare's works, in his own time he was most famous for his translation of Caesar's Commentaries, and...
, but likely at least in part by Edward de Vere) - "While You Here Do Snoring Lie" (The Tempest)
- "Imagine that you see the wretched strangers" (The Boke of Sir Thomas More-Anon, but thought to be written by Shake-speare)
- "A Fool, a Fool, a Motley Fool" (As You Like It)
- Lord’s monologue (Taming of the Shrew)
- Good Friend for Jesus’ sake forbear (Shaksper’s Epitaph)
- Mad scenes (King Lear)
- Sonnet 72 (Shake-speare)
- Introduction (Arrangement of "The Earl of Oxford’s Marche" by William Byrd
- Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!. A setting of speeches from Shakespeare's King Lear, for baritone, tenor and orchestra (or piano reduction). (Can be done with just baritone.)
- Love’s Kaleidoscope. A love-song-cycle for Soprano and Tenor with string orchestra or piano reduction.
- To the Virgins / Upon Julia’s Clothes / Chop Cherry (Robert HerrickRobert HerrickRobert Herrick may refer to:* Robert Herrick , American novelist* Robert Herrick , English poet...
) (Tenor) - Matin Song (Thomas HeywoodThomas HeywoodThomas Heywood was a prominent English playwright, actor, and author whose peak period of activity falls between late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre.-Early years:...
) (Soprano) - The Passionate Shepherd to his Love (Christopher Marlow) (Tenor)
- Love is Enough (William MorrisWilliam MorrisWilliam Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
) (Duet) - Never Love Unless (Thomas CampionThomas CampionThomas Campion was an English composer, poet and physician. He wrote over a hundred lute songs; masques for dancing, and an authoritative technical treatise on music.-Life:...
) (Soprano) - Longing (Matthew ArnoldMatthew ArnoldMatthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator...
) (Tenor) - . Echo (Christina RossettiChristina RossettiChristina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems...
) (Soprano) - Return (John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of RochesterJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of RochesterJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester , styled Viscount Wilmot between 1652 and 1658, was an English Libertine poet, a friend of King Charles II, and the writer of much satirical and bawdy poetry. He was the toast of the Restoration court and a patron of the arts...
) (Tenor) - Farewell, Ungrateful Traitor (John DrydenJohn DrydenJohn Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
) (Soprano)
- To the Virgins / Upon Julia’s Clothes / Chop Cherry (Robert Herrick
- From a Distant Mesa. For tenor and orchestra (commissioned by Jerry HadleyJerry HadleyJerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of Jenůfa , Susannah , and Candide...
). (2222/433/per./strings) Duration: 45 minutes.- Spider Woman (Adam CornfordAdam CornfordAdam Cornford is an American poet, librettist, and essayist.-Biography:Adam Francis Cornford is the son of Christopher Cornford and a lineal descendant of naturalist Charles Darwin...
) - Cancion al Rio Grande (Rudolfo AnayaRudolfo AnayaRudolfo Anaya is an Mexican-American author. Best known for his 1972 novel Bless Me, Ultima, Anaya is considered one of the founders of the canon of contemporary Chicano literature.- Biography :...
) - Being the Waters (V. Barrett Price)
- Spider Woman (Adam Cornford
- Wordless Duets for soprano, tenor, and piano.
- Ever Lost in Precient Felicity
- Distance Over Long Introspection
- Dreams of Fears Irrelevant
- The Real Shake-speare. A cycle of 5 songs, settings of poems by Edward de Vere, whom many believe to be the writer of the Shakespeare plays and sonnets. For voice and piano. Duration: 15 minutes.
- I am Not as I Seem to Be
- Revenge of Wrong
- Were I a King
- Reason & Affection
- Labour and Its Rewards
- Cat Stories. A song-cycle of poems about cats for voice and piano. Duration: 12 minutes.
- Verses to a Cat (Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
) - The Owl & the Pussycat (Edward LearEdward LearEdward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.-Biography:...
) - On the Death of a Cat (Christina RossettiChristina RossettiChristina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems...
) - Cat Stretching
- Elegy to a Favourite Cat (Thomas Gray)
- Verses to a Cat (Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Six Wordless Arias. For voice and piano (written for Deborah Benedict).
- Kubla Khan. A setting of the poem by Samuel Coleridge for bass and orchestra.
- The Song and the Slogan. A setting of poetry by Carl SandburgCarl SandburgCarl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
. For orchestra with harmonica, solo cello. Version for flute, oboe, French horn, harmonica, banjo, cello, piano and tenor. (Commissioned by Jerry HadleyJerry HadleyJerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of Jenůfa , Susannah , and Candide...
for performance in 2000.) Duration: 35 minutes.
- Illinois Farmer. Setting of a poem by Carl SandburgCarl SandburgCarl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
for voice and piano. (Commissioned by Jerry HadleyJerry HadleyJerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of Jenůfa , Susannah , and Candide...
for performance in 1998.) Duration: 4 minutes.
- Who’s Who. A satirical song-cycle from a text by Denise Mordecai for voice and piano. Duration: 4 minutes.
- La belle dame sans merci. Setting of a poem by John KeatsJohn KeatsJohn Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
for tenor and orchestra.
- Music, when soft voices die... Setting of a poem by Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
for voice and piano.
- To His Coy Mistress. Setting of a poem by Andrew MarvellAndrew MarvellAndrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet, Parliamentarian, and the son of a Church of England clergyman . As a metaphysical poet, he is associated with John Donne and George Herbert...
for tenor and piano.
- Bittersweet Dreams. Three poems by Christina RossettiChristina RossettiChristina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems...
for soprano and piano. (Written for Deborah Benedict.)
- The Houses of Iszm. Setting of a poem by Adam CornfordAdam CornfordAdam Cornford is an American poet, librettist, and essayist.-Biography:Adam Francis Cornford is the son of Christopher Cornford and a lineal descendant of naturalist Charles Darwin...
for tenor and orchestra (or piano). (Written for Jerry HadleyJerry HadleyJerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of Jenůfa , Susannah , and Candide...
.)
- Ozymandias. Setting of a poem by Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
for male voice and piano.
- Jabberwocky. Setting of a poem by Lewis CarrollLewis CarrollCharles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
for male voice and piano.
- Lines to a Reviewer. Setting of a poem by Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
for voice and piano.
- Contemporaries for Voice and Piano. Setting of found texts for voice and piano.
- Personals
- Disabling a Computer with a Hammer or Other Heavy Blunt Instrument is Still Legal in Most States
- Language of the Bard
- You're Going to Need a Lawyer!
- Songs of Innocence & Experience. A complete setting of the poem cycles by William BlakeWilliam BlakeWilliam Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
for four voices and orchestra.
- Songs of Experience. Excerpt for tenor and orchestra "Little Girl Lost / Little Girl Found / The Tyger".
- Three Blake Songs for soprano and string orchestra. Version for soprano and piano; and for soprano and string quartet (arrangement made for Deborah Benedict).
- Annabel Lee. A setting of the poemAnnabel Lee"Annabel Lee" is the last complete poem composed by American author Edgar Allan Poe. Like many of Poe's poems, it explores the theme of the death of a beautiful woman. The narrator, who fell in love with Annabel Lee when they were young, has a love for her so strong that even angels are jealous. He...
by Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
for tenor and piano. (Written for Jerry HadleyJerry HadleyJerry Hadley was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of Jenůfa , Susannah , and Candide...
.)
- She Walks in Beauty. A setting of the poem by Byron for tenor and piano.
- Vocalise No. 3. Virtuoso work for soprano and piano, or mezzo-soprano and piano.
- In proud and glorious memory. Setting of anti-war poems by Siegfried SassoonSiegfried SassoonSiegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC was an English poet, author and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's...
for baritone and string orchestra with snare drum and tympani.
Choral Works
- There was a naughty boy.... Setting of a poem by John KeatsJohn KeatsJohn Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
for mixed chorus and piano.
- The Jumblies. Setting of a poem by Edward LearEdward LearEdward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.-Biography:...
for unaccompanied mixed chorus.
- Hyacinth Moon Reflections. Setting of 6 poems by Abbot Small, for unaccompanied mixed chorus.
- Song of the Shepherds. Christmas work—setting of a poem by William MorrisWilliam MorrisWilliam Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
. (Arrangements for solo singer and piano, and mixed chorus and piano). Duration: 3 minutes.
- To a Strange Land for children's chorus, based on poems written by elementary school children under the tutelage of Adam CornfordAdam CornfordAdam Cornford is an American poet, librettist, and essayist.-Biography:Adam Francis Cornford is the son of Christopher Cornford and a lineal descendant of naturalist Charles Darwin...
. Duration: 20 minutes.
- Vocalise No. 2 for male chorus. Duration: 8 minutes.
For Orchestra
- Now the Harsh Land Unfolds its Secret Beauty for string orchestra. Duration: 8 minutes.
- Fanfare Overture: Red or Green?. (Commissioned by the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra to celebrate its 75th anniversary.) (2222/433/tym.,xyl.,3perc./strings) Duration: 6 minutes.
- Symphony No. 7 (four movements). (2232/433/tym.,perc.,/strings)
- Symphony No. 6. (four movements). (2232/433/tym.,perc./strings)
- Entrance to the City of Proud Fancy. (Commissioned by the Northwest Symphony to celebrate its 50th anniversary.) (3222/434/tym.,2perc./strings) Duration: 8 minutes.
- Tale of the Otter. An original satire for narrator / comedian and orchestra, written with Adam CornfordAdam CornfordAdam Cornford is an American poet, librettist, and essayist.-Biography:Adam Francis Cornford is the son of Christopher Cornford and a lineal descendant of naturalist Charles Darwin...
(2222/433/tym.,perc./strings)
- Symphony No. 4 (four movements). (2232/433/tym.,perc./strings)
- Symphony No. 3 (four movements). (2222/433/perc.,piano/strings)
- Symphony No. 2 (one continuous movement). (2222/433/perc./strings)
- Symphony No. 1 (four movements). (2222/433/perc.,piano/strings)
- Contemporaries for Orchestra. A set of eight relatively short individual works with satirical titles. (3333/4331/tym.,3perc.,piano/strings) Total duration: 35 minutes.
- Sound Bites Ripping Through the Fabric of Time
- The Blue Sky Will Remain Grey Until it is Reinvented
- Opera Without Words—No Singing! Just the Music!
- Traces of Relationship Having Fallen Among Office Machines
- Still Looking for a Way Out of the Nightmare that is the 20th Century (A Re-Viewing of "The ScreamThe ScreamScream is the title of Expressionist paintings and prints in a series by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, showing an agonized figure against a blood red sky...
" by Edvard MunchEdvard MunchEdvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
) - Helpless Amusement at the Recurrence of One's Own Obsessions
- Advertising is the Worst Form of Graffiti
- Fallen Angels Sipping Diet Soda
- Orchestral Suite. (2222/423/tym.,2perc.,piano/strings) Duration: 25 minutes.
- Prelude
- Hip Hop
- Funky Chicken
- Country Waltz
- Slam Dance
- Truckin'
- Too Breezy for Funk
- Finale
- Theater Of Operations. (3332/433/tym.,xyl.,3perc.,piano/strings) Duration: 13 minutes.
- The Battle Hymn of Everyday Life
- Isn't this the promised future in which all drudgery would be done by machines leaving leisure time for all?
- Let's play with matches on company time
- Ode To The Furies. (3332/433/tym.,xyl.,3perc,piano/strings) Duration: 7 minutes.
- Alienation. A setting of a poem by Adam CornfordAdam CornfordAdam Cornford is an American poet, librettist, and essayist.-Biography:Adam Francis Cornford is the son of Christopher Cornford and a lineal descendant of naturalist Charles Darwin...
for speaker and orchestra. (2322/423/perc,harp/strings) Duration: 15 minutes.
- Songs of Experience. Instrumental excerpts from the larger vocal work. (2333/4331/tym.,perc./strings) Duration: 14 minutes.
- Southwest Sinfonia (four movements). (3333/4331/tym.,perc./strings) Duration: 30 minutes.
- Entrance from the East
- Eagles' Landing
- The Narrows
- The Great Arches
- My Mistress Suite (four movements). Based on music of Johannes OckeghemJohannes OckeghemJohannes Ockeghem was the most famous composer of the Franco-Flemish School in the last half of the 15th century, and is often considered the most...
. Flute, oboe, English horn (or clarinet), two horns, strings. (Commissioned by Kent NaganoKent Nagano__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
for the Berkeley Symphony.)
- The Persistence of Amnesia for big band ensemble. (Commissioned by Jaap Dercksen for De Volharding Orchestra of Amsterdam.)
Concertos
- Oboe Concerto (three movements). (2222/423/strings).
- An Iconoclast Savors the Effects of Too Much Coffee. (Concertino for Clarinet and String Orchestra). Also arranged for clarinet and piano. Duration: 10 minutes.
- Designing a Virtual Reality for a Landscape that Never Was for bassoon and orchestra. (2222/423/strings).
- Bassoon Concerto (three movements). (2232/423/tym.,perc./strings).
- Piano Concertino No. 2 (three movements). (2222/310/tym.,perc./strings) (written for student performer).
- Piano Concertino No. 1 (three movements). (2222/310/tym.,perc./strings) (written for student performer).
For Solo Piano
- Fantasia in no particular key. Duration: 5 minutes.
- Rhapsody on Russian-Jewish Folk-Themes. Duration: 10 minutes. (Written for Rozalina Gutman.)
- Contemporaries for Piano. Duration: 25 minutes.
- Man attempting to work with a computer whose program is faulty.
- Three Tel-Evangelists on wings.
- 'It's fantastic! The entire spinal cord is missing!'
- Child frustrated from watching too much TV.
- Clouds whose shadows form the shapes of inviting erotic objects.
- Woman deciding whether grocery coupons are worth cutting out of the newspaper.
- Waiting in line to correct a mistake that is not your own.
- The horror of shopping malls.
- Piano Suite. Duration: 25 minutes.
- Prelude
- Hip Hop
- Funky Chicken
- Country Waltz
- Slam Dance
- Truckin'
- Too Breezy for Funk
- Finale
Chamber music
- Contemporaries for Woodwind Quintet. (Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Clarinet, Bassoon)
-
- Digital Storage Capacity Conduit Blamed in CEO Sex Scandal
- Connecting the Dots to a Session of Aversion Therapy
- Games are Strictly Forbidden Within the Confines of the Labyrinth
- Repackaging the Past into Future Commodities
- Survey Says On-Line Matchmaking Sites Lead to Increased Language Skills
- A Carpet Shampoo Trainee Discovers He Has Used Bug Repellant on his Last Job
- Preserving the True Spirit of Black Friday
- Contemporaries for Cello and Piano.
- The True Value of a Commodity Is How Much You Can Get for it at a Garage Sale
- The Last Evening of Night Sky Before the Orange Street Lights Went In
- Inciting Endangered Species to Civil Disobedience
- Touring the Convenience Store "Hall of Fame"
- A Classic Movie with No Commercial Potential is at Long Last Released in DVD Format
- The Economy Is a Nightmare from Which Work Is Trying to Awake
- Prairie Mother Suite for cello and piano (written for Barbara Hedlund). Duration: 8 minutes.
- Info Babe Answers the E-Mail
- Prairie Mother in her studio late at night with a cup of decidedly NOT decaffeinated coffee
- Super Xerox Woman makes a Midnight Run
- Gig Mama Sets the Schedule
- In Memoriam for cello quartet or cello ensemble. Duration: 6 minutes.
- Contemporaries for Flute and Piano. Duration: 25 minutes.
- A Meter maid attempts to give a parking ticket to an aggressive alcoholic who has just arrived with three more dimes.
- Studies show people feel happy under blue light.
- On discovering the joys of designer latex.
- A game-show contestant talks about her deepest desires.
- Overhearing a real estate deal while talking on a cordless phone.
- Modular living offers something for everyone.
- Tropopause—that quiet feeling above all turbulence at 35,000 feet.
- On the fast track to a questionable destination.
- Contemporaries for Viola and Piano (for clarinet and piano). Duration: 20 minutes.
- Dance of the Spin Doctors.
- When the teleprompter fails, a newscaster is forced to improvise.
- Driving under the influence of a bad-hair day.
- A software engineer dreams of floating in a sea of decaffeinated coffee.
- After losing the fight to save an ancient tree from the teeth of a new housing development.
- Throwing a rock through the “window of opportunity”.
- When the “bottom line” hits rock bottom.
- Soap Opera Septet for flute, violin, cello, electric keyboard, bass, percussion and tape recorder. Based on actual TV soap opera broadcasts.
- Vocalise No. 1 for vocal soloist and computer controlled piano.
- Fantasia for violin and computer-controlled piano. Same work as Vocalise No. 1 rescored for violin instead of vocal soloist.
- Ghouls for French horn and tuba. Also arranged for cello and double bass, or 2 cellos. Duration: 4 minutes.
- Trio for flute, viola, guitar. Also arranged for violin, viola and cello.
- Fanfares for Vernal Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumnal Equinox, Winter Solstice for brass quintet. Duration: 3 minutes each.
- In Memorium—Christopher Cornford for string quartet or string orchestra. Duration: 5 minutes.
For Tape Recorder
- Snake Oil Symphony. (In the permanent archives of the Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges in the French National Library.)
- Soap Opera Suite
- Fundamentals. A theater/performance work written with Adam CornfordAdam CornfordAdam Cornford is an American poet, librettist, and essayist.-Biography:Adam Francis Cornford is the son of Christopher Cornford and a lineal descendant of naturalist Charles Darwin...
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- Ad Nauseam. A theater/performance work written with Adam CornfordAdam CornfordAdam Cornford is an American poet, librettist, and essayist.-Biography:Adam Francis Cornford is the son of Christopher Cornford and a lineal descendant of naturalist Charles Darwin...
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- Tape Composition No. 5 “The Society Of The Spectacle”
- Tape Composition No. 4 “Tortured By Demons”
- Tape Composition No. 3 “At the Movies”
- Tape Composition No. 2
- Tape Composition No. 1