In my craft or sullen art
Dylan Thomas

In my craft or sullen art
Exercised in the still night
When only the moon rages
And lovers lie abed
With all their griefs in their arms,
I labor by singing light
Not for ambition or bread
Or the strut and the trade of charms
On the ivory stages
But for the common wages
Of their most secret heart.

Not for the proud man apart
From the raging moon I write
On these spindrift pages
Nor for the towering dead
With their nightingales and psalms
But for the lovers, their arms
Round the griefs of the ages,
Who pay no praise or wages
Nor heed my craft or art.

Copyright (C) 1971 by The Trustees for the Copyrights of Dylan Thomas

Flyer, for cello solo and string ensemble, was completed just in time for the centenary of powered flight in 2003. Some of the sketches were actually made at Kitty Hawk, NC, where the Wright Brothers first flew the plane they called Flyer, an astounding feat of vision and engineering. The piece sets out to simulate sensations of flying for the first time – weightlessness, wonder, danger, ecstasy…in other words, sensations of launching oneself into parts unknown – how suitable for the 21st century! The first powered flight is both a deeply American phenomenon and with deeply global consequences – without end in space and time. Many of the figures played by the ensemble may suggest the wind in all its unpredictability, with the cello solo piloting through it, countering it, reading it, riding it. In the score, an entire section of these figures appears as designs rather than as traditional notation. And as you hear, some passages leave behind the physical act of flying and enter into the pure, spiritual experience of flight. The composition is dedicated to the American cellist, Nina Flyer.

Avinu Malkeinu is sung on the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). It is chanted by the entire congregation at the end of the prayer service. The prayer translates to:

Our Father, our King
Have mercy on us, answer us
For we have no deeds.
Do with us
Justice and benevolence
And save us.

This plea is followed by the sounding of the Shofar—a traditional instrument usually made of ram's horn. This composition is based entirely on the prayer song and the Shofar calls. As a Jew, the melodies are very meaningful to me. As a composer I exercised a lot of restraint with this piece. I deliberately resisted adding more melodies, more harmony, and counterpoint. In this way, one might call this a minimalist composition, but it does not in any way sound like the "minimalist" aesthetic popular with contemporary composers. Rather, it is minimalist in the primitive and meditative sense of the word.

The origins of Parodies for Chamber Orchestra lie in an unfinished trio for clarinet, bassoon and piano, themes from which were reworked in an orchestral context. The single movement form is comprised of several distinct segments all framed by two rather stiff matching pillars. These serve as a gateway to the playful interior, where references to French wind music, contrapuntal textures, minimalist gestures, band elements of jazz and rock idioms appear in succession, in a carnival “fun-house” parody.

Suite ("Sol[ar]") for Orchestra by Mark Alburger