Works for Violoncello

I am very partial to the rich sound of the Violoncello. I tend to make challenging demands on the cellists but they tell me the hard work is worth it. Please see as well the appropriate pages for works for String Quartet, String Quintet, Piano Trio and Piano Quintet.

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.

8. Six Lowly Variations on the Flying Dutchman (In Canada), Op. 54a (incomplete) This work is an arrangement for Viola and Violoncello 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.

7. A LAMAISON, Op. 48a (1993) This work is an arrangement for solo Violoncello of my work A LAMAISON, Op. 48. I still feel it needs some work and so is not yet ready for performance.

6. Prelude and Fugue After Bach, Op. 44b (1991) This is an arrangment for Violoncello and Piano of my work Prelude and Fugue After Bach. The piece utilizes the first prelude and fugue from Bach's Well-tempered Klavier.

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 tradition 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 (Ode for Winds, Op. 31a).

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. Blomidon, Op. 23 (1978) Blomidon, scored for Flute, Trombone, Viola, Violoncello, Piano and Percussion, takes its title from the Blomidon mountain range just outside Corner Brook, Newfoundland. It is quite a descriptive work. A television broadcast of the piece was matched with actual photos of the mountains and it all worked very well.

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. 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.