Recordings & Program Notes
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Program Notes
In February 2024, I was learning the Haydn D major piano sonata, Hob XVI: 37 for a competition. I was playing around with the opening when an idea came to mind based on the opening of the first movement. From there, I started working on expanding it, eventually including contorted versions of the themes from the second and third movements. After a 9 month hiatus from the piece, I came back to it in late December 2024; with a fresh look at the piece, I was able to quickly finish it in early January. While the piece is a clear paraphrase of Haydn's sonata, it is a very 21st century take that interweaves my characteristic dense harmonies and textures with the light clarity of my favorite classical period composer.
Premiered by Matthew Hodge
27 April, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville VA
Program Notes
Begun originally as an exercise in July 2024, Nocturno was written to succinctly develop a simple motif; it did not take long, though, for me to realize the piece's potential and expanded what was only supposed to be approximately a minute and half of music into four and a half minutes. The piece was promptly premiered by Samuel Caudell, Penjun Xu, Sara Phelps, and Abigail Bontrager at the MasterWorks Festival. The ensemble, clarinet, viola, and two cellos, is notably unusual. I chose it in order to take advantage of the dark sound that can be created from so many lower instruments.
The music, as its title suggests, is meant to reflect the night, doing so by creating at the start a hushed and wandering atmosphere in the strings which is inflected by the Dorian mode. As the strings die away, the clarinet introduces itself with a similarly wandering cadenza. This transitions, after some small interjections in the strings, into the middle sections which, following some free, improvisatory lines passed between the clarinet and cello, begins to build; the music grows into a heated climax which, after prolonged tension, is abruptly cut off. Then the hushed opening returns, but twice as slow this time and inverted. The music subsequently gradually dies away.
Premiered by Samuel Caudell, Peijun Xu, Sara Phelps, and Abigail Bontrager
13 July, 2024, at Gheens Recital Hall, Campbellsville University School of Music
Program Notes
Scherzo Dynamique was written for the MasterWorks Festival's Composition Enrichment program between May and June of 2024. I came up with the unusual instrumentation—clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, violin, and viola—based on the instruments that were available to write for in the program. The piece is a conversational and sprightly scherzo in Rondo form (ABACABA), with the C section being a more relaxed trio.
Premiered by Samuel Caudell, Ryan Reynolds, Ethan Surles, Kerri Elizabeth Robinson, and Jeff Leigh
29 June, 2024, at Gheens Recital Hall, Campbellsville University School of Music
Program Notes
Written between January and March of 2024, Poem was written for and premiered by Julia Crum. Its genesis was only an accompanimental idea that organically grew into its final form. Atmospheric in style, Poem uses mysterious and ambiguous unstable harmonies to build tension. It eventually builds to a climax that quickly dissipates into the return of the opening melody, fading away to a quiet conclusion.
Premiered by Julia Crum and Matthew Hodge
28 April, 2024, in the Hunter J. Smith Auditorium, The Center at Belvedere
Program Notes
In July 2023, I decided I wanted to write a piece that I could use in a competition at the MasterWorks Festival which was in a little more than a week. Thus, 5 Miniatures for Piano was written in a week. Each movement was written to showcase a different emotion and technique, making for a diverse set of pieces.
The set immediately starts excitingly with the "Prelude" in b minor, calling back to the preludes of J. S. Bach. The movement builds to a climax and its final unexpected Picardy third. Short and sweet, the "Serenade," in E♭, has been a favorite of the set. With a singing melody the music pulls the listener through to a high near the middle, then gradually diminishes to a few guitar-like rolled chords to close. This movement is dedicated to Jo Pettitt, my first piano teacher. The "Taccata" is a concise movement in a minor, one of the furthest keys away from the previous movement, jolting the listener from the entrancement created in the Serenade with a quickly ascending figure. This movement is a series of almost continuous sixteenth notes, building to an exciting climax, then quickly diminishes as a figure climbs to the top of the keyboard. Slow and expressive, the "Nocturne," in F# minor, has been noted for its intriguing harmonies and rhapsodic melody. It was written in about an hour after the movement's dedicatee, Sandra Wright Shen, encouraged me to use more unexpected dissonance. Finally, "Ballad" mirrors a dramatic journey or quest on which a brave hero might go. Originally this movement was going to be a larger work, but that idea was quickly forgotten in favor of a miniature.
Premiered by Matthew Hodge
24 November, 2023, at the Rotunda, University of Virginia
Program Notes
2 Night Pieces is made up of two movements—Nocturne and Lullaby—that I originally wrote as entirely separate pieces. The Nocturne was written in a little more than an hour in late May, 2022, and was inspired in part by Lili Boulanger's Deux Morceaux pour Violin et Piano. This movement captures a restless night. It is slow and melancholic, characterized by a minor key and a deliberate avoidance of perfect cadences.
In stark contrast, the Lullaby, which I wrote first, is light and peaceful, beginning as a solo piano piece after I studied Chopin's Berceuse. Desiring to expand its melodic elements, I introduced the violin to carry the melody. I worked on it in the car on my way to my weekly viola/violin lessons. I finished it over the month of April and early May. The Lullaby, with its rocking motion and major key tonality is delicate and charming, alternating between the tension and resolution of V and I, in stark contrast to the Nocturne. It builds to a climax as if the baby has fallen asleep and is dreaming, then fades away to the end.
The juxtaposition of the two movements is striking. The Nocturne, slow and sad, stands in stark contrast to the Lullaby's faster, happier demeanor. The first movement's use of the lower register of the violin is contrasted with its higher register in the second movement. Yet, despite their differences, they form a cohesive narrative. Praised as having "harmonic inventiveness," the Nocturne explores the expressive possibilities of the violin, while the Lullaby has been described as a "lovely, delicate lullaby," emphasizing the tender interaction possible between the violin and piano.
2 Night Pieces made it to the finals in the 2022/23 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Junior Composition Competition. In May 2023, the version for English horn/oboe and piano of 2 Night Pieces was published by Hodge Products Inc., and in October 2024 it was performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Along with the violin version of this piece there is also a version for viola and piano. When listening, pay attention to the way the two movement interact and how they contrast from one another.
Premiered by Zander Chang and Matthew Hodge
10 March, 2024, at Hunter J. Smith Auditorium, The Center at Belvedere