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Oceanrise

Oceanrise, for string orchestra, follows a single trajectory, evolving slowly from a patient, serene beginning to a frenzied finale full of alarm. Along the way, the piece paints pictures of the ocean in various forms. The gradual transformation, meanwhile, is one...

Mi Yimalel

“Mi Yimalel” (“Who can retell?”) is a fairly popular Hanukkah song, with words adapted from scripture. The origin of the melody is unknown. This particular arrangement borrows heavily from other Jewish musical traditions (such as the klezmer dance): the tune, normally...

Ma’oz Tzur

“Ma’oz Tzur” (arranged here for SATB chorus) is a traditional Jewish song with a long history. The tune dates back at least 500 years, and is still familiar to most modern Jews. The words, written in the 13th century, tell the history of the Jewish people, and...

Christmas Football U.S.A.

Christmas Football U.S.A., for symphonic band, originated as a joke—a fake title I gave to a nonexistent piece of music, having been asked (in a college course titled “Career in Composition”) to caption the info for a work I might enclose in a (hypothetical)...

Minute Mass

Minute Mass is an (admittedly ridiculous) homage on two counts: first, to the Missae breves of Haydn and his contemporaries, whose Glorias and Credos often employed overlapping text (that is, different, simultaneous text in each voice of the choir) in order to get...