PROJECT : ENCORE™: 4

 
In this piece, I combined two musical contexts, which are Thai language and style and western harmony. It is very obvious that the texts are not in English, but it is written by using English characters to make it easier to read for non-native speakers. Furthermore, most of the melodic direction, scale, and rhythmic pattern are not in western style. On the other hand, in term of harmony, it is obvious that this piece is harmonize in western style by using chords and some counterpoints, which Thai music does not have these two elements.

Although Valley of Silence is a lengthy one movement work, there are various tempi, colors, and moods in the piece as they follow Rev. Ryan's post Civil War poem. This particular poem  is from Ryan's later writings and is sweeter yet more powerful compared to the earlier bitterness of his post war poems. The poem's message of blocking out the “noise” and busyness of our world applies even more today than the times after the Civil War.

The AHS Bel Canto Chorale Men were invited to perform a concert as a featured chorus for the TMEA Convention in 2008.  They commissioned me to write this piece to not only showcase their talent but also to pay respects to a local family who lost their son in the military.
 

The poem "To a Locomotive in Winter" by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892) was first published in "Two Rivulets" in 1876, and subsequently published in "Leaves of Grass" in 1900. The music by Greg Bartholomew was completed in January 2001.  The choral work received a reading by the Gregg Smith Singers at the 2001 Adirondack Festival of American Music. The Oregon Repertory Singers presented the premiere performance at the Oregon Bach Festival on Saturday, July 6, 2002.

On a Mountain Path was composed in the fall and winter of 2008-2009 for Voci Chamber Chorus. The inspiration for the piece came from the theme of the concert it was composed for: mountains and rivers with an East-meets-West subtheme. As I contemplated how I might realize this theme, I was immediately drawn to the idea of setting haiku. I have always been attracted to the simplicity and austerity of the form, and the wonderful invention it has inspired. I settled on five texts by Basho that all feature mountains. “Natsu kodachi” centers around a pun on th