Some New YouTube Videos and Further Anecdotes

Tonight I posted several new YouTube videos which I would like to share with you.

For Amanda
I recorded this little piano piece last November (2019). It was inspired by a musician I had met several days prior; a young lady who impressed me with her incredible talent and overwhelmed me with her incredible beauty.

Prelude & Fugue (for Synthesizer)

Prelude & Fugue (for Synthesizer) was composed in February 2017. The music was realized using Logic Pro X. This piece originated as a project for a graduate computer music class. The project required that the composition be scored for twenty analog synth patches, each of which was to be created by the students using Logic Pro X. Thus all the synth patches you hear in this track are of my design.

Among the stylistic templates we were given were those of Stockhausen's early computer works (such as Studie I)and Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach albums. Naturally, being an organist I chose the latter template.

The "fugue" of Prelude and Fugue is probably the best fugue I've yet composed. While clearly inspired by Bach's The Art of Fugue one can also detect the influence of...Orlando Gibbons, of all composers! Those who know me are aware that I love early music, so throwing in some Gibbons influence for good measure went without saying!

Some other time I may write an analysis of this fugue, but suffice it for now that, for those who enjoy fugues and who understand traditional/classic fugal process, this piece may be of particular interest.

Aria (for String Trio)
I composed Aria in May 2017. Aria is another composition that falls into the category of music inspired by women in my life.

Aria was one of my first graduate school compositions that I intended to have more of a popular music-like sound. Nonetheless the piece is challenging to play, as would only be appropriate for a work on a graduate composition recital program. The changing meters in this composition create a sense of being pulled in different directions - which is how I felt about the end of the friendship that inspired this piece. The closing measures of Aria are heartbreaking...and still quite difficult for me to listen to. Incidentally, after Aria's premiere several people who had been in the audience told me that they saw people crying when Aria was performed.

Organ Improvisation on a Pentatonic Scale
Last but certainly not least is Organ Improvisation on a Pentatonic Scale. This is an improvisation I recorded earlier this evening (Friday March 6th, 2020).

After each organ practice session at the church I record a couple improvisations. It is the nature of an improvisation to be "hit or miss." Upon listening to this recording tonight after I returned home I deemed the improvisation to be a "miss." There are several glaring wrong notes and other mistakes, so initially I decided to not post it. However, after listening to it again several times I decided that the improvisation had enough interesting ideas to warrant its being posted. Maybe someday I will notate this improvisation and re-record it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy listening to these new YouTube videos. If you enjoy them I hope you will likewise consider subscribing to my new YouTube channel!