UCLA Music Library

Written in 2017, this piece is for SATB choir and piano, inspired by the movement and images of a shoal of shimmering fish.

Composed in 2017, Deep Blue refers to the ocean depths. For tuba solo, extended techniques are used in this freely-composed piece.

Composed in 2017, Brass Quintet has four movements which may be performed as stand-alone pieces: March; Waltz; Soliloquy, Finale. Parts are available from the composer.

The first movement, March, opens with a quirky introduction in 5/8. The march tune then enters in the trumpets with a traditional 2/4 rhythm. This section is followed by a contrasting 5/8, featuring mutes, foot stomps and glissandi. The march again returns, and then once again the 5/8 material, with both motives joining together in a rousing climax.

Waltz is Satie-like in nature, with the opening melody played by the first trumpet. In ABA form, the middle section is faster and features the horn, then the trombone, leading the melody. In the last section, the opening material returns in a gentle, quietly beautiful, finish.

Soliloquy is freely written, with the horn first presenting the whole-tone melody. The material is developed between the instruments, with the second tune being an inversion of the first. Soliloquy is a finely-balanced movement, with all instruments equally taking part in telling the story.

Finale opens with a 16th-note motive which then becomes the accompanying pattern to the jaunty 12/8 melody. It is contrasted with a syncopated section loosely influenced by the 5/8 material of the March. Mutes and foot stomps feature in this syncopated section in which each instrument takes the lead, and then they all pile in on top of one another in layers of exuberant sound

‘Was bin ich?’ opens Nell Walden’s poem, Frage. This phrase permeates this piece, written in 2023 for voice and piano, each time with a different word emphasised, as the voice returns to this age-old question time and time again.

In questioning human identity and existence, Walden uses images from the natural world, of moonlight, stars twinkling, the sun glowing. Whole-tone patterns and augmented and diminished chords are interspersed with a tone row which is used to create an other-worldly sound scape.

Vocal slides and sprechstimme are utilised within a wide vocal range, demanding colour and dramatic control from the performer. Patterns from the tone row are transposed in creating a silvery moonlit backdrop for the vocal line in the final section. The piece ends as it begins, with the timeless question, ‘Was bin ich?’, accompanied by bell-like chordal structures in the piano.

Composed in 2016 for SATB and organ, a SATB with piano version is available from the composer. Text is by Louisa May Alcott (1832 – 1888), using the poem in the short story A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True.

Composed in 2020, this string quartet is fun and playful, for both the performers and audience to enjoy. Romp! is meant to get people's feet tapping and be a happy distraction. 

In rondo form, Romp! opens with a jaunty melody in the first violin. This rondo theme is interspersed with a wistful waltz, and then later with a hoe-down, and American-West inspired dance. String effects include glissandi and the cello being strummed as a guitar.

The melodies are all original, and are supported by various harmonic structures to give the piece edge and vitality. Romp! builds in momentum to a rousing finish.

Composed in 2022 on text by Jonathan Herring, this piece is for soprano and piano.

Longing is a love song, based on a poem written by the composer’s husband to her before they married. Jonathan was living in England, the composer was in the States, and he wrote her letters daily, often including a poem. At the time the poem was written, the future was uncertain, hence the ending of the introduction, and later the piece, with a question, depicted with repeated notes.

Written in 2022, Airplay (+ Birdsong) is in ABA form, with the opening melody descending in chromatic patterns, accompanied by augmented harmonies in the piano. Motivic development through various tonalities ensues, with slides, pizzicato and tapping the bow stick on the body of the violin adding panache. The middle section is a rich waltz, with the melody first in the violin, then in the piano with violin obligato. The melody is broadened in full harmonies in the piano, with birdsong depicted through mordents, trills, quick broken chords and harmonics in the violin. A descending chromatic scale leads back into the return of the opening melody, with the material enhanced and divided between piano and violin.

Unaccompanied piece for SATB choir, based on Psalm 96, verses 1, 11-13.

What the Swallows Did is from the short story of the same name by Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888). The text is the man’s farewell to the swallows whom he had grown fond of after a summer spent together. 

The music paints the words, falling in couplets and imitating flight in rising patterns. The piece can be sung by three women’s voices, or with doubling up to 12 voices