MUSIC CATALOGUE

O N   T H E   S H O U L D E R S   O F   G I A N T S   [ 2 0 1 7 ]

Grade 3

Flute 1

Flute 2

Oboe

Bassoon

Bb Clarinet 1

Bb Clarinet 2

Bb Clarinet 3

Bb Bass Clarinet

Alto Saxophone 1

Alto Saxophone 2

Tenor Saxophone

Baritone Saxophone

Bb Trumpet 1

Bb Trumpet 2

Bb Trumpet 3

F Horn 1

F Horn 2

Trombone 1

Trombone 2

Euphonium

Tuba

String Bass

Timpani

Glockenspiel

Vibraphone (opt. Marimba 1)

Marimba (opt. Marimba 2)

Tambourine

Snare Drum

Tam Tam

Bass Drum

Cymbals

Piano

We all are where we are now more or less because of the people who came before us, who taught us, who motivated us to be greater out of passion, inspiration, or perhaps even spite. On the Shoulders of Giants strives to capture the journey one has of finding their bliss, their path in life, based off of those they surrounded themselves with. In a way, this piece is illustrating my own personal journey as I looked to others who helped trail blaze my path, whether they knew they were or not. Acknowledging that we are living the way we do because of other people coming before us does not cheapen our own journeys—rather, we can use the achievements of the past to springboard ourselves to achieve even more and carve the way for those ahead of us. This is the beauty of advancement, of innovation, and of humankind.

I wanted to write a piece that did justice to this idea that we are all standing on the shoulders of giants. The beginning is delicate with a hint of caution, showing the start of the protagonist’s journey. The protagonist is soon overwhelmed and humbled as they reflect on all the progress humankind has made before them. These heavy feeling sensations are soon turned positive as the protagonist chooses to be inspired by their predecessors to create something new, yet somewhat familiar. This pushing of new concepts and ideas builds to a fantastic climactic fanfare, showing the success of the protagonist after all of their hard work and study. The piece begins to die down at the end, going back to a more serene tone similar to the beginning. The final chord sounds unresolved, hinting that there is still work to be done by the next generation.

On the Shoulders of Giants was commissioned by the Cheyenne Mountain Junior High Symphonic Band in Colorado Springs, Colorado, directed by Dan Bell and Brian Margrave, for their 2018 Colorado Music Education Association (CMEA) conference performance.

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Written in Summer 2017 in Colorado Springs, Colorado

M O N A R C H S   [ 2 0 1 0 ]

Grade 4

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Piccolo

Flute 1

Flute 2

Oboe

Bassoon

Bb Clarinet 1

Bb Clarinet 2

Bb Clarinet 3

Bb Bass Clarinet

Alto Saxophone

Tenor Saxophone

Baritone Saxophone

Bb Trumpet 1

Bb Trumpet 2

Bb Trumpet 3

F Horn 1

F Horn 2

F Horn 3

F Horn 4

Trombone 1

Trombone 2

Bass Trombone

Euphonium

Tuba

Timpani

Glockenspiel

Xylophone

Marimba

Piano

Chimes

Snare Drum

Tenor Drum

Bass Drum

Cymbals

In the backyard of my childhood home in Remuera, New Zealand, there was a wall of milkweed stalks where I used to play. Every year, hundreds of monarch butter­flies flocked to the milkweed stalks to eat, lay eggs, and protect their young. From the eggs hatched caterpillars, and although they blended in with the milkweed so well I always enjoyed trying to find them all. Eventually the caterpillars would wrap themselves in cocoons and in a week or two they would emerge as beautiful butterflies. I was always so fascinated by the butterfly life cycle, and I looked forward to butterfly season each year. 

Monarchs was written for the memories I have of the butterflies fluttering about my backyard. It is a light piece that makes use of the woodwind and mallet percussion colours as well as the percussive sounds of accented brass. There are three sections for the piece: the main monarch theme, the caterpillar and chrysalis themes, and a reprise of the monarch theme as the new butterflies come out of their cocoons. 

This piece is important to me not only because of the memory it is based off of but because it is my first concert band composition. As such, Monarchs set the stage for my future concert band works and is a special part of my catalogue.

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Written in January 2010 in Colorado Springs, Colorado

M U S I N G S   O F   A N   I D E A L I S T   [ 2 0 1 5 ]

"A [Not] Folk Song Suite"

Grade 4

3 Movements

Piccolo

Flute 1

Flute 2

Alto Flute

Oboe

English Horn

Bb Clarinet 1

Bb Clarinet 2

Bb Clarinet 3

Bb Bass Clarinet

Bassoon Whip

Bb Contrabass

Contrabassoon

Soprano Saxophone

Alto Saxophone

Tenor Saxophone

Baritone Saxophone

Bb Trumpet 1

Bb Trumpet 2

Bb Trumpet 3

F Horn 1

F Horn 2

F Horn 3

F Horn 4

Trombone 1

Trombone 2

Bass Trombone

Euphonium

Tuba

Double Bass

Harp

Piano

Marimba

Vibraphone

Glockenspiel

Snare Drum

Bass Drum

Tambourine

Finger Cymbals

Whip

Anvil

Sleigh Bells

Even before I became involved in music, I was always drawing pictures, creating worlds, and writing stories. As many young people do, I had a terrible habit of finishing what I started until, thankfully, I finally created something that I decided, “Yes, this is the one that will get published!” The story in question was a novella I wrote back in 2003 which consisted of a lost princess trying to return home. I created characters, languages, and a country. I originally wanted the story to take place in China, but I didn’t want to go through all the research to make it historically accurate. Funny enough, I ended up doing even more work creating all of the original lore. Go figure. Creating is more fun than researching, anyways.

I held onto the ideas for the story long enough to create multiple drafts, turning the short 10 chapter novella into a full-length novel. I was never satisfied with it, so I took it to a friend to get his input. He told me exactly what I needed to hear: “Your writing sucks.” I was traumatized, thinking that I had wasted years upon years developing this story. But then he continued, saying that the story itself had a lot of potential. “Maybe you should make it into a comic. You tell such great stories with your pictures.” I started drawing right away and in 2014 I published the first graphic novel out of four in my series, Year of the Marachi. But I didn’t just stick to drawing to tell my story.

I decided to write several folk songs as part of the lore development. These folk songs were some of my very first compositions, some of them having been written as early as 2006. Many of them have been unused for years, so I have been looking for ways to utilize them in an effective but subtle way. Many of these folk songs were inserted into “Musings of an Idealist,” so named after a character from the story who is a composer. I was always inspired by band suites, particularly the two suites Gustav Holst wrote for military band, so I wanted to try to write a suite that paid tribute to the band suite tradition while bringing something new to the formula.

Musings of an Idealist: A (not) Folk Song Suite was premiered on October 4th, 2015 as part of my senior composition recital at Colorado State University. It was performed by a group of friends and colleagues I had assembled specifically for the event, and the piece made for a fantastic finale.

Movement One: Dance is a beautiful and energetic movement with a scale-based motif being tossed around in different tones and styles. The overall melody and style of this movement was based off of east Asian folk music, particularly a mix of Indian and Japanese Taiko.

Movement Two: Waltz is heavily influenced by Romantic-era music with a Nationalist dash. The “chorus” after the oboe/soprano sax solo was the first section of the suite that I orchestrated, and it was a great chance to write some great chorale moments as well as more intimate moments.

Movement Three: March was a great opportunity to write something that was bonkers—totally cheesy, totally schmaltzy, and totally fun. It’s not often that I let my humour shine through my music, so this movement holds a bit of a special place for me. This march was inspired by many different symphonic marches, particularly Russian, British, and French marches.

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Written in Spring 2015 in Fort Collins, Colorado

S Y M P H O N Y   N O .   1   [ 2 0 1 4 ]

"Of Purple Mountain Majesties"

Grade 5

4 Movements

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Piccolo

Flute 1

Flute 2

Alto Flute

Oboe

English Horn

Bassoon

Contrabassoon

Eb Clarinet

Bb Clarinet 1

Bb Clarinet 2

Bb Clarinet 3

Bb Bass Clarinet

Bb Contrabass Clarinet

Soprano Saxophone

Alto Saxophone

Tenor Saxophone

Baritone Saxophone

Bb Trumpet 1

Bb Trumpet 2

Bb Trumpet 3

Bb Trumpet 4

F Horn 1

F Horn 2

F Horn 3

F Horn 4

Trombone 1

Trombone 2

Bass Trombone

Euphonium

Tuba

Double Bass

Snare/Tenor Drums

Bass Drum

Tam Tam

Bongos

Whip

Chimes

Glockenspiel

Crotales

Xylophone

Vibraphone

Marimba

Piano

Harp

Pitched Glass

Over a decade prior to the completion of my first symphony, my family moved across the Pacific Ocean from New Zealand to the American state of Colora­do. As the years passed, I found myself entranced by the beauty and spirit of my new home. In the summer of 2012, Colorado underwent a difficult chapter when dozens of wildfires, including the record-breaking High Park and Waldo Canyon fires, spread throughout the land. Not long afterwards was the devastating Aurora theatre shooting in which 12 people were killed and dozens more were injured. In the aftermath of these tragedies, I was overcome by how strong and spirited Colorado's citizens and community had grown, which led to me writing what would become the fourth movement of Symphony no. 1, "And the Mountains Still Stand," based off of a poem I wrote in response to that summer. 

"And the Mountains Still Stand" was originally going to be a stand-alone piece for concert band, but as I continued working on it I was overcome with ideas with Colorado being the common theme. Late in the writing process, I decided to turn the piece into a movement of my first symphony, adding the movements "Wild and Free," "Rock Giants," and "Snowfall." "And the Mountains Still Stand" was modified to be an appropriate finale for the symphony. 

Movement One: Wild and Free is a loose homage to the days of the old west, when cowboys patrolled the open range, native tribes traded and traveled along ancient routes, and settlers dropped everything to try their luck in the gold rush with the words "Pikes Peak or Bust'' painted on their wagons. I utilized some musical tropes from Western movie soundtracks as well as throwing in more unusual musical ideas and instruments, such as the use of bongos as a hint of the Spanish explorers who passed through long ago. 

Movement Two: Rock Giants is about the mountains that makes Colorado so famous. Colorado has the highest average elevation in the United States excluding Alaska and boasts having 53 mountains called "Fourteeners" that are above 14,000 ft (4267.2 meters) elevation above sea level. While in the States, I was particularly fond of a local peak, Pikes Peak, which towers above Colorado Springs like a rocky guardian. Rock Giants was difficult to write because I wanted to capture the power and majesty as well as sheer beauty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains as accurately as I could. I utilized the brass section as well as the percussion section to convey this power while having the woodwinds add a sparkle over the thick brass texture to convey beauty. 

Movement Three: Snowfall is a two-sided piece dealing with both the literal sensation of snowfall and the metaphorical implication of dealing with tragedy and difficult times. There is a strange and reverent beauty in hardship that I find very sobering, much like the feeling I have when watching snow fall in chilling air. If the fourth movement, And the Mountains Still Stand, stands for the response to difficult times, Snowfall takes place directly after or even during the difficult times and demonstrates the complex emotions associated with such events in a delicate and almost intimate instrumentation and melodic themes. This movement heavily features the woodwinds playing a lament as well as some mallet percussion representing the snow. 

Movement Four: And the Mountains Still Stand was the first movement composed out of the four but yet took the longest to complete. I admittedly chose a challenging concept for this movement to write about-the spirit of the Colorado community as well as nature-and I wanted to be sure I captured that spirit as accurately as possible. The movement starts with a single note played by a clarinet that hangs over from the previous movement and continues to figuratively pick itself up as the movement continues, adding more voices and growing more joyous. The movement eventually builds up to a cacophony of beautiful dance-like sounds as a celebration begins, and the momentum continues up to the grand finale. 

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Written in Fall 2014 in Fort Collins, Colorado