Works for Violin

I began my musical training on the violin, so I have a particular affinity for this instrument. I believe those violinists who have performed my music feel the music is frequently challenging but ultimately very rewarding. Please see the appropriate pages for works for String Quartet, String Quintet, Piano Trio and Piano Quintet.

8. 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.

7. Six Lowly Variations on the Flying Dutchman (In Canada), Op. 54b (incomplete) This work is an arrangement for Violin and Viola of my work Six Lowly Variations on the Flying Dutchman (In Canada), Op. 54. It consists of a set of variations on Wagner's overture to The Flying Dutchman. The work has not been complete yet; I hope to do so in the near future.

6. In Memoriam, Op. 43 (1991) This is one of my best works. It is scored for Violin and Piano and was written as a test piece for the 1991 Canadian Music Competitions. I wanted to write piece that was difficult musically rather than technically for the Violin. It is also another in the series of pieces written following the deaths of my parents and grandmother between 1985 and 1988. It has been performed many times and is recorded on the CD Of Heart and Homeland by the group Duo Concertante. So successful was the piece, that I have since arranged it for Clarinet, English Horn, and Flute, with and without piano. The versions for Clarinet have been recorded on the CD LYRE: Chamber Music for Clarinet.

5d. The Maiden's Lament, Op. 42d (1997) In 1997, I was asked to arrange the original version of 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.

5c. 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.

5b. 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.

5a. 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.

5. 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).

4. 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!

3. Tessares, Op. 24 (1979) Tessares (Greek for "four") is scored for Violin, Clarinet, Contrabass and Percussion. It is a set of four variations in which each of the instruments has its own notational series and candenza. It is an early and fairly difficult work.

2. 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.

1. 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.