Tomorrow (30 March 2008) is the day of my doctoral composition recital. As you might imagine, I’m simultaneously exhilarated, anxious, stressed, pumped, panicked, and elated about it. Here are the details:

Date: March 30, 2008

Time: 7:30 PM

Place: First Presbyterian Church, Lawrence, KS

• Link to map

I have quite a variety of music in store (7 pieces total). They range from flute/piano works to Men’s chorus to large chamber ensembles.

Here are links to the official program and program notes that I am using for the performance:

• Program
• Program notes

If you’re in the area, you are invited! Free admission. Reception following.

(Speaking of reception, we just baked dozens of chocolate chip cookies for the event. Yum!)

On Friday, February 29 the University of Kansas Men’s Glee Club will perform on the evening concert at KMEA in Wichita, KS (8:45 PM).

Directed by my friend and colleague Tod Fish, the group will perform a variety of works, including an arrangement of Enosh by fellow KU-composer Doug Helvering, and a new choral work by yours truly.

I also happen to be singing tenor with the group.

The piece of mine that we are performing is titled Tu Qui Consortem. The text (for which I hope I do justice) is a “war” poem composed by the ancient Latin poet Sextus Propertius. Both the text and my translation are below.

Original

Tu, qui consortem properas evadere casum,
miles ab Etruscis saucius aggeribus,
quid nostro gemitu turgentia lumina torques?
pars ego sum vestrae proxima militiae.
sic te servato ut possint gaudere parentes,
haec soror acta tuis sentiat e lacrimis:
Gallum per medios ereptum Caesaris enses
effugere ignotas non potuisse manus;
et quaecumque super dispersa invenerit ossa
montibus Etruscis, haec sciat esse mea.

Translation

You, who hurries to avoid our common fate,
wounded soldier from the Etruscan ramparts,
what makes you turn your wide eyes toward my moaning?
I am one of your closest armed comrades.
Thus, save yourself, so that your parents may rejoice,
but let my sister know of my fate through your tears:
that Gallus stole away through the midst of Caesar’s swords
but was unable to escape an unknown hand;
and whoever will come upon these scattered bones
on the Etruscan hillside, let him know that these bones are mine.

The story is told from the point of view of a mortally-wounded soldier (Gallus) addressing a fellow wounded (though not mortally) soldier who is recoiling in horror at seeing the severity of his comrade’s wounds.

“Get out of here! Save yourself!” he urges, and we have a vision of the soldier returning home safely to his family. The scene now takes an abrupt shift, and we can picture Gallus’ sister weeping as she hears how he almost broke free from enemy lines, but was slain by an unknown hand.

Finally, there is another shift to a later scene in which one comes upon some scattered bones on a hillside. “… Know that these bones are… MINE.”

I find the poem incredibly moving, and when I first read and translated it, I thought “this would make for a great Men’s Chorus work!” As far as I know, I’m the only person who has ever set it to music. If I am wrong, someone please correct me.

No, it isn’t exactly typical “Glee Club”material, but it certainly provides variety on the program. I’m looking forward to the KMEA performance, and hope it will be performed many more times to come.

Speaking of which, I’m currently pursuing publication of the work, but if you would like to get your hands on it in the meantime, please contact me.

Recently I finished a piece for Men’s Chorus titled Tu Qui Consortem. As you may have guessed from the title, it’s on a Latin text by the Roman poet Propertius (c. 60 – 15 BCE).

The text is quite touching – it’s a war poem in which a mortally wounded soldier (Gallus) addresses another soldier from his company, urging him to save himself, “so that your parents may rejoice, but let my sister know of my fate through your tears. And whoever comes upon my scattered bones on the Etruscan hillside, let him know that these bones are MINE!”

There’s a lot of substance in that poem, and I strove to capture the essence of it. I got to know the poem intimately before I wrote a note (I translated it from the Latin), and I let it simmer for a few months before committing anything to paper.

Now, it’s finished, and I’m pleased to announce that it went into rehearsal about three days after completion! The KU Men’s Chorus is rehearsing it now for performances later in the semester. Better yet, they have been selected to perform the premier concert at KMEA (Kansas Music Educator’s Association) next year, and guess who’s piece will be on the program?

The KMEA concert will be in February 2008 in Wichita, KS. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

Last Wednesday I had a realization: I was about to walk into my last day of regular, academic classes as a student… ever.

Classes ended this week at KU, which means I just finished my last semester of academic coursework. Of course, I still have finals to take, but it’s a great feeling to have completed this step. I started the “student” process when I was four or five, and now, over twenty years later, I’ve finished doctoral classes. Yay!

Here is what’s on the horizon:

• Comprehensive exams in July
• Oral exams and recital in the fall
• Work like crazy to finish the dissertation by end of spring

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Today I received notice that I won the 2006-7 Anthony B. Cius Award, given to the outstanding student composer at KU for the year. It’s a nice honor, and I’m deeply grateful. My good friend Dan Forrest won it last year, so I’m definitely in good company. Plus, I get to have my name engraved on a plaque inside Murphy Hall, which is nice.

As an added bonus, I found out that I won the award today, which is my birthday. How appropriate!

Kat surprised me with a great birthday present: a large, framed poster of J. S. Bach! (click the thumbnail for a full-size view)

Now whenever I look up from my monitor, Herr Bach will look down upon me and inspire me to keep working on my dissertation (or at least write a little counterpoint).

The end of my final semester of coursework is fast approaching, and I have much work to finish. Tonight, however, we are going to celebrate with a filling, out-of-this-world dinner at our favorite restuarant, India Palace. Yum!

Wow, I feel like I need to brush the dust off of this site. Sorry for not posting in a while. This semester is busy beyond belief for me, but thankfully it is my last semester of classes!

Composition update: I finished the commission from the KU Helianthus I Ensemble. The resulting piece is titled “Div,” and is written for flute and piano (four-hands). I call for some wacky inside-the-piano stuff for the secondo player, so it should be interesting. The first performance will be at the end of March in St. Louis. There will also be at least one performance here in Lawrence in the near future. More information coming.

My composition for 10-piece chamber ensemble titled “Feridoun” will be premiered in Atlanta on April 1st, 2007. The piece was commissioned by Daniel Swilley (who is also conducting).

In the almost-immediate future I will write music for the beginning and end of a play Katrina is directing here, titled “Keely and Du.” I also have a commission from the KU Men’s Glee Club on which I am working.

My plans for the rest of my career at KU include: taking comprehensive exams this July, orals in the early fall, recital in the later fall, and then invest myself into a dissertation. Do I know what I’m going to do for a dissertation? Yes! Am I going to write about it now? Not yet! Once everything is finalized, I will post about it.

Thanks for reading! I’ll try to do a better job about updates.