Below are listed all my works to date that incorporate violin, viola, and/or cello, either as solo instruments or in ensemble (excluding orchestral works). I have endeavored to list them with information regarding the availability of scores and with audio files that hopefully are a bit more listenable than the earlier ones posted. These audios are, for the most part, mp3s of the original Sibelius playbacks and are not live performances. Titles are listed alphabetically below the table.
Les Adieux
• violin & piano
Composed for violinist Sarah Walker Clark as she leaves us for a time, this short work is in Romantic style.
Audio files (mp3s)
Les AdieuxScores
Please write for information about score availability.
Antebellum Suite
• violin & piano
This little suite of pieces is composed for violin in first position with piano accompaniment. Each movement is designed to present its own set of technical challenges for the young violinist, from double-stops, to left-hand pizzicato, to glissando, to trills, to various rhythmic patterns. The suite basically depicts various scenes from the Old South as might have been seen through a child’s eyes. The last two movements are played together without pause.
Audio files (mp3s)
1. Country Dance
2. Mockingbird’s Song
3. Filipe Dances the Canarios
4. Maggie’s Cat and the Music Lesson
5. Alabama Minuet
6 & 7. In the Cotton Fields (into) Hush-a-byeScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Assyrian Fantasy
• violin & orchestra
A fantasy for solo violin, string orchestra, and percussion. The work was composed for and dedicated to violinist Sinella Aghasi. Please Contact the composer for information regarding score availability (a piano rehearsal score also in available).
Audio (mp3)
Assyrian FantasyScores
Contact the composer regarding score availability.
Berceuse
• violin & piano
Composed for and dedicated to violinist Sinella Aghasi, the work is in the traditional 19th-century style of a berceuse or lullaby. The work was premiered by Ms. Aghasi in Turlock, California, 23 April 2013, with Kyle Wheaton, accompanist. The score is available from Wolfhead Music, and the Sibelius playback can be accessed below.
Audio (mp3)
BerceuseVideo
Premiere by Sinella Aghasi & Kyle WheatonScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Dance of the Fey Folk
• violin & piano
Composed for and dedicated to violinist Anastasiya Dudar, the work is inspired in part by the Richard Dadd painting The Fairy Feller’s Master Stroke. The Sibelius playback may be accessed below.
Audio (mp3)
Dance of the Fey FolkScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/fey.htm
Divertissements médiévaux (Medieval Entertainments)
• violin & piano
Like Antebellum Suite, this collection is also for violin in first position and is designed to introduce the young student to music from the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. The melody lines are essentially authentic tunes from the era with piano accompaniments that meld medieval and modern harmonies. The idea is to make the pieces more accessible and enjoyable to the student who approaches these works for the beauty of the melodic lines rather than for scholarly authenticity. Though not strictly so, the selections are generally progressive from very easy to moderate.
Audio (mp3)
1. Robins m’aime, Robins m’a
2. Edi Beo thu Hevene Quene
3. Song from “The Play of Daniel”
4. Ja nuns hons pris
5. Quant voi esté et le tens revenie
6. La chanson du Roi de Navarre
7. D’ou où vient cela?
8. Ce fu en mai
9. En mai quant li rossignolet
10. Kalenda maya
11. Biaus m’est esiez
12. Stella spendens
13. Nas mentes senpre teer
14. Miri it is while sumer ilast
15. Gabriel fram heven-king
16. Sumer is icumen inScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Five Apothegms
• violin, horn & trombone
These unusual little pieces are some of the shortest works I’ve written but have one of the longest histories. When I was a freshman undergrad I majored in violin, and two of my best friends were French horn and trombone majors. I had the idea of composing a series of short, humorous works for the three of us, and I wrote the first of these musical apothegms in 1972. For some reason (probably laziness) I didn’t compose any others until 2006, when I decided perhaps it was time I finished them. As far as I can tell these represent the only works in the repertoire for this unlikely trio, and because of the odd instrumentation I rather doubt they’ll ever be performed. Hence I offer the sheet music as free PDF downloads for anyone who has an interest in playing around with them. (If anyone out there actually decides to play them, I would appreciate your letting me know. Otherwise I think these will probably exist only as a bizarre musical oddity.) The Apothegms are dedicated to Colleen Bates Lance and Elaine Lear Brown ... with apologies.
Audio (mp3)
Apothegm 1
Apothegm 2
Apothegm 3
Apothegm 4
Apothegm 5Scores
Free PDF scores may be accessed on the website below.
Four Cornish Sketches
• violin & piano
These four pieces for violin and piano were inspired by places in the somewhat mystical landscape of Cornwall, England. The Mên Scryfa is a solitary standing stone that commemorates the death of medieval Prince Rialobrani and the battle where he gave his life defending his homeland against a foreign invader. “The Pixies of Bellever Tor” relates to an old Cornish legend in which poor Tom White was forced to dance with the pixie folk for a full night before finally escaping at dawn when the pixies vanished into the surrounding rocks near Bellever Tor. St. Madron’s Well is a very ancient holy well in Cornwall where many healings are said to have occured through the ages. And “The Padstow ’Obby ’Oss” simply reflects the frivolity of the famous May Day celebration that occurs each year in Padstow, Cornwall. This set of pieces was written for and dedicated to the accomplished British violinist Sue Aston whose own CD Sacred Lanscapes served as a model for these sketches.
Audio (mp3)
1. Mên Scryfa
2. The Pixies of Bellever Tor
3. St. Madron’s Well
4. The Padstow ’Obby ’OssScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/cornish.htm
Four Little Pastorales (In 1st Position)
• violin & piano
Four short pastorales in 1st position for violin and piano, composed for and dedicated to Polina Mullis. Published by Wolfhead Music.Audio (mp3)
1. Morning Daffodils
2. Ladybug
3. Twinkling Stars
4. Cricket Dance
Scores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Gorillas
• violin duet
Composed for Erin Cage, Gorillas is for two violins and represents a musical caricature of the animal. The work employs extensive use of half position as well as a number of other techniques expected of the advancing student.
Audio (mp3)
GorillasScores
A free PDF score may be accessed on the website below.
The Huluppu Tree
• violin & orchestra / violin & piano
“The Huluppu Tree” is a ballet sequence from the opera Inanna. After singing a touching aria to her huluppu tree, Inanna retires for the evening. During the night three sinister creatures (a serpent, an Anzu bird, and the Dark Lilith) take up residence in Inanna’s prized tree. The music for the ballet features a part for solo violin and orchestra. “The Huluppu Tree” was premiered in 2007 by Ljubomir Velickovic in the violin/piano version, and the ballet (solo violin with orchestra) was performed by members of the Central West Ballet, the orchestra of Townsend Opera Players, and violinist Chase Spruill on 23 August 2008 at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, California. The performance was part of the “Mesopotamian Night” concert sponsored by the Assyrian Aid Society. The featured dancers were Sarah Weaver, Joseph Adkins, and David Riskin, with choreography by René Daveluy.
Audio (mp3)
The Huluppu TreeScores
To request a PDF of the score, contact the composer.
In Memoriam: George Kirles
• violoncello & piano
Composed for the young cellist Irene Velicer, the work is in memory of the late George Kirles whose life was an inspiration to all who knew him.
Audio (mp3)
In Memoriam: George KirlesScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Mongolian Folk Songs
• viola & orchestra / viola & piano
Composed for German violist Jűrgen von Hagen, the work is comprised of six fantasias for solo viola and chamber orchestra based on traditional Mongolian folk songs. The viola was chosen as the solo instrument as it most closely approximates the range and timbre of the Mongolian morin-khuur. While stylistically Western, the music evokes the characteristic flavor of Mongolian folk songs of Central Asia. In “Uglee shaazgai,” the viola even mimics the famed khuumi technique of Mongolian throat-singing. A version with piano reduction also is available.
Audio (mp3)
1. Mandakh naran (Rising Sun)
2. Jiji hot (Jiji Town)
3. Banchen sum (Banchen Temple)
4. Temujin
5. Horgoi torgon deel (The Brocaded Silk Deel)
6. Uglee shaazgai (Garrulous Magpie)
Scores
Sheet music of the reduction for viola & piano is available from Wolfhead Music. For information about the orchestral score and parts, write to the composer.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/mongol.htm
L’Ombre de la tour d’horloge
• violoncello & piano
A short work of impressions of events that take place beneath a clock tower, with emphasis on the remorseless march of time. The piece is dedicated to French composer Michel Bosc.
Audio (mp3)
L’Ombre de la tour d’horlogeScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/ombre.htm
Petite Suite
• violin & piano
This suite was composed for then 10-year-old violinist Martina Langdon. Though offering a few technical challenges, the movements are all in first position and depict a day in the life of a young child.
Audio (mp3)
1. Aubade
2. Prière (Prayer)
3. Heure de jouer (Time to Play)
4. Valse poupée (Doll’s Waltz)
5. La blaguese (Jokester)Scores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Processional
• string quartet
Composed for the wedding of my son Jonathan to Annie Leonard, the work is a short wedding processional for string quartet and was premiered in Orlando, Florida, on 13 October 2013 by the Disney Quartet. The Sibelius playback can be accessed below.
Audio (mp3)
ProcessionalScores
Contact the composer regarding score availability.
Quatuor pour les jeunes
• string quartet
Composed for Megan Hamer and dedicated to Dutch violinist Anahi Oraison, this string quartet was written for and about young people. Almost entirely in 1st-3rd positions, it nevertheless offers various technical challenges for the players. Each of the three movements depicts aspects of youth: I. Allegro—Adante—Allegro (“Scènes de la jeune vie” / “Scenes of Young Life”); II. Adagio (“Un portrait de Jodelle Ferland” / “A Portrait of [child actress] Jodelle Ferland”); III. Allegro (Gigue) (“L’enfant espiègle” / “The Mischievous Child”).
Audio (mp3)
1. Allegro—Andante—Allegro
2. Adagio
3. Allegro (Gigue)Scores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/quatuor.htm
Ricordando Pi
• violin & piano
A short humoresque (subtitled “π in faccia”) for violin and piano that was inspired by the occasion when a violinist-friend was (humorously) hit in the face with a pie. The musical structure of the piece is based on the number pi to 50 decimal places, then concludes with “π in the face.” The work was composed for and dedicated to violinist Sinella Aghasi.
Audio (mp3)
Ricordano PiScores
A free PDF score may be accessed on the website below.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/pi.htm
Scherzo
violin & piano
Before listening to this work it will help to remember that “scherzo” is Italian for “joke.” A whimsical little piece (a real tour de farce), it tries to depict a little girl playing with her favorite doll and gives vent to all manner of childish flights of fancy. This piece was written for and dedicated to Lynne Ludeke, concertmaster of the Glendale Community College Orchestra in Los Angeles.
Audio (mp3)
ScherzoScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/scherzo.htm
Seven Pieces in 1st Position
violin & piano
This is a set of seven beginner-level pieces for violin and piano. Dedicated to Nina Gillquist and Khouria Marilyn Gillquist.
Audio files (mp3)
1. St. Melangell and the Hare
2. Little Spring Song
3. Ghost Story
4. St. Tryphon and the Falcon
5. Heartbrteak
6. Babbling Brook
7. Lullaby
Scores
Please write for information about score availability.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/7pieces.htm
Six Easy Pieces
viola and piano
Six very easy pieces for viola and piano, following the technical progressions of the Sassmannshaus method. Dedicated to Samantha Hackler.
Audio files (mp3)
1. Cuckoos on a Branch
2. Pastorale
3. A Game of Cards
4. Longing
5. Monkeyshines
6. Dreamland
Scores
Please write for information about score availability.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/viola.htm
Sonata for Solo Violin
• unaccompanied violin
A rather whimsical little sonata for solo violin composed for violinist Ljubomir Velickovic in appreciation for his premiere of “The Huluppu Tree” from the opera Inanna. The score is available from Wolfhead Music, and an mp3 of the Sibelius playback can be heard below.
Audio files (mp3)
1. Allegro non troppo
2. Larghetto
3. Allegretto giocosoScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Sonate “Trois petites filles”
• violin, clarinet & piano
Inspired by the three daughters of friends at my local parish, this sonata represents musical portraits of these delightful young ladies. Each movement is named for one of the girls who were 12, 8, and 6, respectively, at the time of writing. The subtitles of the movements are, for Rosemarie, “toujours active, jamais passive” (“always active, never passive” — in other words, she won’t be still); for Brigid, “elle marche pareille en beauté, à la nuit” (“she walks in beauty, like the night” — a quote from Byron); and for Martina, “quand elle rit, le monde s’embrase” (“when she laughs, the world is set ablaze”).
Audio (mp3)
1. Rosemarie (Allegretto)
2. Brigid (Andante—Nocturne)
3. Martina (Allegro)
Scores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/3filles.htm
Sonatina No. 1
• violin & piano
The first movement of this work was composed as a stand-alone piece in 1975; the final two movements were added in 1998, and the sonatina was dedicated to my wife on our twentieth wedding anniversary. The sonatina was originally written for saxophone and piano and was premiered in that format by Lester Turner (saxophone) and John Tabler (piano) at St. John’s Museum of Art in Wilmington, North Carolina, in February 2001. At the behest of violinist Lynne Ludeke, the sonatina was reworked for violin and piano in 2002 and has been published in this arrangement by Wolfhead Music.
Audio (mp3)
1. Andante—Allegro assai—Andante (“A Summer Sunday”)
2. Grave (Chaconne)
3. Allegro (“The Armadillo Races at Victoria, Texas”)
Scores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Sonatina No. 2 in A Major
• violin & piano
Written for a young teenage violinist, this sonatina was designed for the advancing student, presenting technical challenges for one progressing beyond the Accolay A minor concerto. The movements present vignettes from a teenage girl’s life — albeit a teen growing up in the 1920s — and represent an attempt to appeal to the classically minded youth of today. The first movement is subtitled “Stripling Dialogues” (Allegretto) and reflects stereotypical feminine chatter that often suddenly devolves into conflict and antagonism, and then just as suddenly resolves. The second movement is “Young Romance” (Andante) and is overly sentimental, as young affairs of the heart are wont to be. Here we witness a young lass in the throes of infatuation who envisions her love as the real thing. Hopelessness of the situation rears its head, but she nevertheless moons dreamily over her beloved while alone at night in her bed. The final movement is “Ragtime” (Allegro). In this movement our heroine and her coevals pretend at being en vogue women of the world. Their childhood training in ballet cannot be entirely subdued, however, and thus what otherwise would be a very earthy attempt at a rag is tamed by more delicate restraints with sometimes humorous results. The sonatina is written mostly in first through fifth positions, with brief excursions into sixth. It incorporates most techniques expected of the advancing student, including natural and artificial harmonics, right- and left-hand pizzicato, rhythmic challenges, and frequent double stops. The work may be played by omitting some of the more difficult double stops if necessary, focusing on the melody line instead. The sonatina was written for and dedicated to the young violinist Marina Stant.
Audio (mp3)
1. Allegretto (“Stripling Dialogues”)
2. Andante (“Young Romance”)
3. Allegro (“Ragtime”)
Scores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Sonatina No. 3 in G Major
• violin & mandolin
Composed for young violinist Sophia Kioulaphides, the violin part is rather easy and all in first position. The mandolin accompaniment is considerably more challenging.
Audio
1. Moderato
2. Adagio
3. Allegretto
Scores
Free PDF scores may be accessed on the website below.
Sonatina No. 4 (“Sonatina semplice”)
violin & piano
As the subtitle implies, this is a very simple little sonatina for a beginning-level violinist. All in 1st position and in G major, the sonatina consists of three short movements. The score is available from Wolfhead Music.
Audio (mp3)
1. Modearto
2. Andante
3. Vivace
Scores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Sonatina No. 5 in E Major
violin & piano
A three-movement sonatina composed for violinist Sinella Aghasi. The score is currently embargoed, but please write for more information.
Audio (mp3)
1. Molto moderato
2. Grave
3. Presto giocoso (Rondo)
Scores
Please write for information about score availability.
Sonatina No. 6 in G Minor (“Israeli Sonatina”)
violin & piano
A three-movement sonatina composed for violinist Lin He. The score is currently embargoed, but please write for more information.
Audio (mp3)
Audio files are not currently available for this work.Scores
Please write for information about score availability.
String Quartet
• string quartet
Inspired by the events of the opening months of the First World War (1914-1918), the quartet seeks to depict on an emotional level three of the countless episodes that set the stage for the four-year struggle that lay ahead.
I. “August 1914.” The summer of 1914 was one of the most pleasant experienced on the European continent in many years. Though rumors of war circulated, most citizens were not overly concerned as there had been no war in Europe in more than a generation. With the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the machine for conflict was set in motion, but even at that most people reacted to the coming war with a sense of jubilation, believing that it would be a short war that would settle many longstanding national grievances. Young men enlisted in droves with great enthusiasm, and f’tes often were arranged for many a send-off. But the realities of war soon became evident, and the young soldiers and their families came to see that the conflict would be a protracted one. They prepared themselves for a bitter winter with an outcome that remained yet unknown.
II. “The Church of St. Nicholas at Dixmude.” In the early weeks of the war, a great (but little-remembered) battle was fought in and around the Belgian town of Dixmude (modern-day Diksmuide). A small and tranquil settlement, the city’s pride was its Church of St. Nicholas — a beautiful parish situated in the center of town. During the German bombardment of 1914 the edifice was destroyed, but the spirit of the church, and of the Belgian people, lived on.
III. “The Angels of Mons.” With the sudden onslaught of the German advance, the Belgian, French, and British armies were driven back in a prolonged retreat so that the very gates of Paris were threatened. To all observing the progress of the war, it seemed certain that Paris soon would fall and the Germans would emerge victorious. But then what became known as the “Miracle on the Marne” transpired when the seemingly unstoppable German advance was abruptly halted as a result of a stiff defense orchestrated by General Joffre and his staff. During the battle a legend grew that British and Belgian soldiers witnessed angels descending from the sky wielding swords in the defense of Paris. Some said that it was St. George, others that it was St. Joan d’Arc, and still others that it was simply a host of angels. The legend has been determined to have been a fiction of a British writer at the time, but it has lived on in the annals of the history of the war. But even with the sudden end of the German advance, the soldiers by now realized this would be a long war, and the quartet concludes with the anticipation of still four more years of bitter struggle ahead.
The quartet is dedicated to the Messerkvartetten of Copenhagen.
Audio (mp3)
I. August 1914
II. The Church of St. Nicholas at Dixmude
III. The Angels of MonsScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/quartet.htm
Three Duettinos
• two violins
A collection of three 3-movement duettinos for two violins. No. 1 in A was composed for Crystal Lemin; No. 2 in D was composed for Lynne Ludeke; and No. 3 in B-flat was composed for Anastasiya Dudar.
Audio (mp3)
Audio files are accessible from the individual websites:
Duettino No. 1 in A
Duettino No. 2 in D
Duettino No. 3 in B-flatScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Tombeau for Richard Dohrmann
• violin & piano
I knew Richard Dohrmann when I was an undergrad living in Nashville, Tennessee. Richard was an announcer for NPR station WPLN in Nashville and also was an aspiring young composer. When I last spoke with him he was working on a piece for violin and piano that he wanted me to premiere, but to my knowledge he never finished it. In the fall of 2013 I decided to try and reconnect with Richard after many years, but to my dismay I learned that he had passed away not long after I relocated from Nashville. Richard was a devotee of the avant-garde method of composition, so when I was moved to compose a piece in his memory I wanted to write it in the style with which he was so enamored. Being myself much more of a strict tonalist, this was not an easy task; nevertheless, I did my best to compose something that I thought Richard himself might have enjoyed, utilizing the same instrumentation (violin & piano) he was working on when we last spoke. I still recall our last conversation when he told me about the piece he was composing. During that conversation he mentioned a few particular techniques he was intending to employ in the work, and since he never completed that composition I have included some of his own ideas in this little memorial. (Note that the Sibelius playback below does not entirely articulate all the varied techniques called for in the score.)
Audio (mp3)
Tombeau for Richard DohrmannScores
Contact the composer regarding score availability.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/tombeau.htm
Triosatz
• three violins
A simple movement for three violins, composed for two of my students; very easy.
Audio (mp3)
TriosatzScores
A free PDF score may be accessed on the website below.
Twelve Variations on “La Follia”
• violin & piano
A set of twelve variations on the well-known theme “La Follia,” in the tradition of Arcangelo Corelli and Antonio Salieri. Approximately 9 minutes in length for the advanced violinist, the work is dedicated to Dutch violinist Anahi Oraison.
Audio (mp3)
Twelve Variations on “La Follia”Scores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Twenty-six Variazioni sulla Follia di Spagna
• violin & piano
Salieri’s last work, the variations betray a rare talent that show he was in full command of orchestral compostion. Originally for full orchestra, this version is arranged for violin and piano.
Audio (mp3)
None availableScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.Webpage
www.craton.net/music/salieri.htm
Valse-Caprice
• violin & piano
For violin and piano. A short showpiece-style work composed “with a nod to Henryk Wieniawski.’ This piece was written for and dedicated to violinist Anastasiya Dudar.
Audio (mp3)
Valse-CapriceScores
Sheet music for this work is available from Wolfhead Music.
Variations on a Traditional Theme
• unaccompanied violin
The theme, variously known as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman,” is a childhood favorite that received wonderful treatment from Mozart’s hand. The current set of variations is my own contribution to this well-known melody, designed for solo violin. The work is dedicated to violinist Ljubomir Velickovic.
Audio (mp3)
Variations on a Traditional ThemeScores
Contact the composer regarding score availability.
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