Works for Soprano

Among my first compositions are those for Soprano and various instruments. They are all very juvenile works and I would not expect that they would or could be performed today without extensive revision on my part. However, as I look back on them now, they do contain some of those musical and stylistic elements that I was to develop over the course of my career. It was not until Five Newfoundland Folksongs that I felt I could truly write for voice with confidence and success.

9. 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.

8d. The Maiden's Lament, Op. 42d (1997) In 1997, I was asked to arrange The Maiden's Lament for chamber orchestra. The first performances were relatively successful but I feel I need to rework the orchestration and hope to do so in the near future. This version incorporates the continous song-cycle.

8c. The Maiden's Lament, Op. 42c (1991) 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.

8b. 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.

8a. 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.

8. 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).

7a. 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.

7. 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.

6. Five Newfoundland Folksongs, Op. 32 (1986) This is an intimate setting of the five songs for Soprano and Clarinet. This is the first work I wrote following the death of my father in 1985 and they are a little dark as a result, although songs 3 and 5 are quite humorous. They can be performed as a group (taking about 20 minutes to play) or each song can be performed individually. There is also a version for Mezzo-Soprano/Alto.

5. Ode, Op. 31 (1984) This is a short (2 minute) setting of the last verse of the Ode to Newfoundland,scored for Soprano, Flute, Horn, Viola and Cello. It is certainly not a traditional setting in any sense of the word, but reflects a rather wild and dark view of the words. I later scored it for woodwing quintet (see above, Ode for Winds, Op. 31a).

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, Guitar, 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.