Works for Chamber Ensemble

I consider most of the works I have written for chamber ensemble to be among my best works. This is undoubtedly due to the excellent ensembles that commissioned them. The instrumention for these works is relatively varied. This has given me a great opportunity to experiment with sonorities and instrumental groupings.

13. Kluskap: a Micmac Legend for Children, Op. 56 (1997) Kluskap was written for the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival and was premiered brilliantly there with soprano Wendy Neilsen. It is scored for Soprano, Violin, Violoncello, Clarinet, Percussion and Piano. While it is designed for children, it is a fairly complex and sophisticated work that creates some enjoyable challenges for all the performers.

12. Orgia, Op. 50 (1994) Orgia is the Greek word for "religious ceremony or ritual" and is scored for two actors/speakers and 3 percussion. It is in two parts. The first part (Attis) is a setting of poem 63 by the classical Roman poet Catullus. It deals with the ritual castration of the hero Attis as he rushes off to worship the Phrygian goddess Cybele. The second part is a setting of John Steffler's poem "Looking Back on a Conference Trip with Sister Williamina" in which the sister and the poet have a life-altering encounter with a young man whose face has been terribly burned. Only part I has been completed at the moment.

11c. The Maiden's Lament, Op. 42c (1993) A few years after the premiere of The Maiden's Lament, Lawrence Cherney asked me to rework the piece, substituting a Harp for the Piano and separating the five songs. The result was a very successful version of the original piece. The harp certainly adds a more definitive folk element to the work.

11b. The Maiden's Lament, Op. 42b (incomplete) This version of The Maiden's Lament has not been completed yet. This version will be a continuous song cycle for Soprano, Oboe (Clarinet/Violin) and Harp.

11a. The Maiden's Lament, Op. 42a (incomplete) This version of The Maiden's Lament has not been completed yet. This version will be an individual song cycle for Soprano, Oboe (Clarinet/Violin) and Piano.

11. The Maiden's Lament, Op. 42 (1991) Oboist Lawrence Cherney asked me to write this work for Soprano, Oboe and Piano incorporating Newfoundland folksongs. I chose five songs which, together, form a song-cycle in which a young girl meets and falls in love with a sailor-boy then loses him to the ravages of the sea. In place of the oboe, a clarinet or violin can be used. The version for clarinet, soprano and piano has been recorded on the CD LYRE: Chamber Music for Clarinet (available at the Canadian Music Centre). Following the premiere, Lawrence Cherney asked me to rework the piece separating the songs and replacing the piano with a harp (see The Maiden's Lament, Op. 42c). This has prompted me to create four chamber versions of this work: a continuous and individual song-cycle using the piano, and a continuous and individual song-cycle using the harp. Not all of these versions have been realized yet. See the various entries above. Finally there is also a version for chamber orchestra (see The Maiden's Lament, Op. 42d).

10a. The Grey Islands, Op. 33a (1987) Following the premiere of The Grey Islands, I arranged a shorter version of the work for Soprano and Piano.

10. The Grey Islands, Op. 33 (1986) This work is a setting of excerpts from John Steffler's book The Grey Islands. It tells the story of a man who spends the summer on these isolated islands off the northern coast of Newfoundland. It is scored for Soprano, Clarinet and Guitar and is a rather dark and difficult work. It requires a pre-recorded tape of John Steffler reading from his work. In place of the tape, a narrator can be used.

9. Ode, Op. 31 (1984) This is a short (2 minute) setting of the fourth verse of the Ode to Newfoundland for Soprano, Flute, Horn, Viola and Violoncello.

8. Bacchae, Op. 30 (1983) In 1983 I was asked to write the music for a production of Euripides' Bacchae. Incidental music along with music for the six choruses in the play are scored for 3 Clarinets, Piano and Percussion.

7. Shanadithit, Op. 29 (1983) This work was commissioned by the Victoria International Festival in 1983, a year that celebrated the arrival of Sir Humphrey Gilbert to Newfoundland in 1583. Even though the work was to be premiered as far away from Newfoundland as possible and still be in Canada, I decided to focus on a Newfoundland theme and to create a work based on the tragic extinction of the Beothucks, the aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland. Shanadithit was the last of the Beothucks and the work describes and pays tribute to her life and death. It is scored for string trio, woodwind quintet, piano (harpsichord), and percussion. It has been performed many times and usually creates quite a stir!

6. Tessares, Op. 24 (1979) Tessares (Greek for "four") is scored for Clarinet, Violin, Contrabass and Percussion. It is a set of four variations and is quite challenging for the performers.

5. Blomidon, Op. 23 (1978) Blomidon takes its title from the Blomidon mountain range just outside Corner Brook, Newfoundland. It is a descriptive work scored for Flute, Trombone, Viola, Violoncello, Piano and Percussion.

4. Neachora, Op. 22 (1977) Neachora (Greek for "new land") was the first major composition written since my move to Corner Brook. It is a setting of five poems by the Newfoundland poet Al Pittman and is scored for Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Violin, Violoncello, Contrabass, Piano, and Percussion. While still a youthful work, it does contain some interesting and effective moments.

3. Five Songs, Op. 15 (1974) These songs to an original text are scored for Soprano, Viola and Clarinet. They are very sparse in texture and very dark.

2. Olympians XIV, Op. 14 (1973) Olympians XIV is a setting of the 14th Olympian ode by the classical Greek poet Pindar. While it explores the complex rhythms of the original Greek text, it is also rooted in my version of traditional Greek folk music.

1. Remembrances, Op. 13 (1972) Remembrances is my first composition and is scored for Soprano, Viola, Cello and Percussion. It is clearly a juvenile work but does contant some of the early trends that I would explore and develop over the years.