Program Notes
What’s in a name? According to Shakespeare, not much. Composition No. 0136 is as esoteric and distancing a title as “Statue of Reinforced Oxidized Copper” would be for the Statue of Liberty. As the 1830 edition of the Encyclopedia Americana puts it, music “is that art alone which strives to affect the soul by tones.” It goes against what I believe to dictate anything more than this through a title or narrative. I did not compose with any such idea, just with the construction materials to which I alluded and a healthy dose of irony, so why should I pretend otherwise?
To some, this title may bring up certain emotions, it may place the piece in a time, place and tradition; to those who make that association, I ask you: is the piece really in that time and place, or is it the result of fifty years of filtering and critique?
To others, the title is a series of numbers that make no sense at all; to those who are curious about the title’s meaning, I ask you: do you need to understand the title to feel joy, horror, delight, frenzy, tranquility, sobriety, humor? After all, what’s in a name?
Instrumentation
- Piccolo
- 2 Flutes
- 2 Oboes
- English Horn
- 2 Clarinets in Bb
- Bass Clarinet
- 2 Bassoons
- Contrabassoon
- 4 Horns (mutes)
- 2 Trumpets (straight mute, harmon mute)
- 2 Trombones (straight mute, harmonic mute)
- Bass Trombone (straight mute)
- Tuba
- Percussion 1 (Xylophone, Vibraphone)
- Percussion 2 (Suspended Cymbal, 2 Woodblocks, Snare Drum, 4 Tom-Toms, Tam-Tam)
- Percussion 3 (Triangle, China Cymbal, Bass Drum)
- Piano
- Strings
Notes
Composition No. 0136 was awarded and subsequently completed with a 2025 ARTZenter Emerging Composer Completion Grant. It was then expanded into a version for full orchestra and premiered on Friday, February 27th, 2026 at Bovard Auditorium at the University of Southern California by the Donald Crockett and the USC Thornton Symphony.