Premiered by the Eugene Contemporary Chamber Ensemble.
Seth Stewart, director
Brandon Rumsey, conductor

Score Samples:

Originally conceived as an extended, single-movement piece for large chamber ensemble, “Tides Inside” is my premier work for chamber orchestra. This summer, I heard the Ying Quartet perform Bartók’s fifth string quartet at Bowdoin International Music Festival. Full of energy, color, gesture, rhythmic contrast, and harmonic motion the piece struck me as a shining example of a complete work in the way that it encompassed a full spectrum of creativity. Inspired and moved by the completeness of this masterwork, I set out to innovate my personal process by first sketching a formal/dramatic structure and then creating a harmonic strategy which I derived from combining a beautifully consonant scale adapted from the Pelog gamelan scale and the dissonant octatonic scale.

The piece begins with three huge chords using intervals from my synthetic 10-note scale that I call pillar chords. Tones from the Pelog scale are suspended throughout the orchestra while improvisatory kaleidoscopic textures send the harmony spiraling into the next pillar chord. A rhythmic, dance-like passage sends the piece into motion as the primary motives are revealed. Eventually, a conflict is forged between jagged harmonic dissonance and the dream-like consonant gamelan harmonies. Juxtaposed, these pillar harmonies return three times in the form of resolute sections, which act as three formal delineations spanning the larger structure of the piece. Following the climax, the texture is scaled down to nothing but pizzicato in the celli and single harp pitches, which quickly build to a rolling conclusion.

“Tides Inside” represents a radical shift in my compositional work. Encompassing all that I find inspiring about the creative process, this work musically depicts a personal compositional breakthrough. Ultimately, it is a personal narrative about the power contained within the human spirit: I believe that no matter how difficult the situation, one may find healing and renewal through the discovery of their own self-empowerment.

This piece was composed for bassoonist Aaron Pergram and is part of a collection of études for winds, which includes flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, alto saxophone, and French horn. Everything from the harmonies, dynamic and articulative variety, and rhythmic fluidity are derived from exploring sets of garden chimes–each with its own collection of pitches and character. In this particular étude, the bassoonist is given the freedom to interact with the music in a couple of ways. First, pulse is only regulated by the tempo markings in a few sections. The performer is given the freedom to simply “feel” the time in a very expressive manner. Chimes are not depicted explicitly in the piece, with the exception of a few bars where the performer is left to decide the dynamics, color, and density of the bell-tones. Challenges lie within virtuosic flourishes of harmonic motion and quick shifts in dynamic contrast, which emphasize the flexibility and character of this marvelous instrument.

Score Samples:

I grew up in Las Vegas, and have lived in large cities for most of my life. I am deeply inspired by the many facets of living in a large city, and have created a portrait of a city at night in this new take on the nocturne for soprano saxophone and piano. From afar, the city is quiet and omnipotent. Lights sparkle and skyscrapers jut into the sky, creating a jagged landscape of steel grandeur. As we approach the city, we see and hear it come to life as cars rush down city streets and people seek their Friday night hot-spot.

Premiered by Lauren Wagner, Nightlife is a musical depiction of these two scenes, the first utilizing pandiatonic harmonies and planing Major 7th chords to create a captivating and trance-like harmonic palette, with rhapsodic passages that are characteristic of the nocturne genre. An ostinato in the piano drives the motion forward as the saxophone soars above creating a musical phrase that seems to float from one bar to the next. The second section is inspired by house music, incorporating driving beat patterns that are characteristic to this genre. The piano and saxophone begin a rhythmic hocket, building the primary ostinato, finally unleashing the primary melody in its most majestic form.

Last winter/spring, I had an exciting opportunity to perform with the Pacific Rim Gamelan at the University of Oregon. This eclectic ensemble, established 20 years ago by director Robert Kyr, has a very exciting legacy of both traditional and non-traditional gamelan music composed by members of the ensemble. When it was announced that we were given the opportunity to compose for a combination of instruments and gamelan, I considered a few possibilities – saxophone quartet perhaps… or string quartet. I decided to opt for an instrument that I have loved since childhood, the didjeridu. Todd Johnson, a didjeridu virtuoso based in Eugene, was thrilled at the opportunity to collaborate with a gamelan ensemble that he had previously written for and performed with. His album, “Dronedance” is a compilation of original compositions – some meditative, some groovy, all beautiful – for this instrument, said to be the voice of the earth in its purest form.

In “When one world ends…”, I wanted to capture Todd’s vibrant sound, passion for improvisation, and stunning virtuosity while allowing the sound of the gamelan to emerge from the drone of the didjeridu in many facets such as call and response, improvisation, and motivic development.

Recording [excerpt]:

“When one world ends…”
Brandon Rumsey, composer
Todd Johnson, didjeridu

Premiered on May 21, 2011 by the UO Pacific Rim Gamelan under the direction of Robert Kyr.

Instrumentation: 4 kantilan, 4 pemadé, 2 jublag, 2 jegogan, ugal, reong, kajar, cengceng, 4 angklung, gongs (gedé, kempur, kemong), didjeridu in C-sharp

University of Oregon 2011 Pacific Rim Gamelan:
Tom Peters, S. Jonathan Dinsfriend, Kyle Linneman, Damien Bradley, Wesley Price, Forest Marchini, Nicole Portley, Marty Kovach, Noah Jenkins, Brandon Rumsey, Alyssa Aska, James Bean, Hau-Wei Chang, Seth Stewart, Diana Rosenblum, Thomas Walker, Charlie Gurke, Jamal Robert, Ethan Gans-Morse, Sarah Viens, Nobuyuki Tomiuga

Directed by Wade Hicks for The Very Little Theatre
Original Music by Brandon Rumsey

Incidental music performed by:
Cassie Lear – flute, alto flute
Lauren Wagner – clarinet
Eric Johnson – guitar
Joseph Howe, Wan-Ting Huang – cello

Poster (left) by Max Maltz

[score samples coming soon]

The opportunity to compose original music for Sarah Ruhl’s richly comedic and darkly perfect play came about following my former collaboration with the Very Little Theatre in Eugene. Director Wade Hicks starred in “Humble Boy,” and was interested in collaborating on this new work following a successful run. “The Clean House” was a very challenging script to score, and my process was vastly different than my previous collaboration. I composed much of the music in attendance of rehearsals, bringing in samples and excerpts of music quite early on. Transparent, but complex, this script didn’t allow for much underscoring or extended passages of continual music, and instrumental combinations had to be chosen very strategically. The music is infused with harmonies that are reminiscent of Brazilian music and motivic transformation mirrors character development in this new score for Sarah Ruhl’s “The Clean House.”

Lane, a doctor who can’t stand to clean her own house, tries to make her tidy, logical life entirely spotless, while her Brazilian housekeeper Matilde, an aspiring comedienne, dreams of one day creating the perfect joke. Lane’s sister Virginia enters the picture with her own designs for a perfectly clean living room. And Lane’s world gets even messier when her husband Charles leaves her for an older, life-embracing woman.

Photos by John Bauguess
“The Clean House” Production Page | Reviews

Directed by Leslie A. Murray for The Very Little Theatre
Original Music by Brandon Rumsey

Incidental music performed by:
Cassie Lear, Jenna Gagne, Tara Aprin – flute
Lauren Wagner – clarinet, alto saxophone
Josh Koller, Joseph Howe – cello

Poster (left) by Dan Pegoda

Overture:

Eureka [excerpt]:

[score samples coming soon]

Humble Boy marks my first collaboration in the Eugene theatre community – and the project that inspired my passion for composing for contemporary theatre. I was contacted by a brilliant director, Leslie A. Murray, to score a play for the Very Little Theatre. From our initial talk-through which took place months from pre-production, Leslie and I learned a lot from each other about working with artists from different disciplines. I’d had experience working indirectly with theatre directors, and she had only worked with musicians on musicals. Leslie’s clear vision for this work and her advocacy for an original score set the stage for a uniquely inspired and successful production.

The story is about emotionally damaged astrophysicist Felix Humble, who must deal with the sudden death of his beekeeper father, come to terms with his overbearing mother, and face reconciliation with his childhood love. Flora Humble is his fashionable but self-conscious mother; George Pye is the family friend who cannot wait to take his place in Flora’s life; Rosie Pye is Felix’s spurned love interest who is now a nurse and mother to a 7-year-old daughter; Mercy Lott is the dotty character who provides much of the play’s comic relief and some of its wisdom; and Jim, the gentle gardener who minds his business and sticks to plants.

Photos by John Bauguess
“Humble Boy” Production Page

Photo by John Bauguess

Photo by John Bauguess

Pandora’s Box (2009)
soprano and percussion

Slept (2010)
alto sax, vibraphone, and cello

Trio (2010)
flute, clarinet, and piano

Dialogue (2010)
euphonium and piano

Variations (2008)
saxophone quartet

2E (2010)
string quartet

Transprisma (2009)
flute, alto sax, tenor sax, bassoon, cello, and piano

September (2009)
clarinet, alto sax, bassoon, violin, viola, bass, and piano

Nightlife (2011)
trumpet and piano

Work in Progress! (2011) [possibly sound or video presentation]
for didjeridu and Balinese Gamelan

Work in Progress! (2011)
for horn, marimba, and strings

Nightlife for trumpet and piano was written for University of North Carolina School of the Arts master’s student, Alicia Eisenstadt.  There is no performance scheduled on the east coast quite yet, but it will be premiered right here in Eugene by Tony Tunzat and Svetlana Kotova on March 9th, 2011 at the University of Oregon, Beall Concert Hall as a part of the Oregon Composer’s Forum concert.  Below is an excerpt from the score!