Select Compositions 1983-2007

PSALM EIGHT - mixed chorus (SATB), 5 minutes. King James text.

SONG WITHOUT FORGIVENESS - soprano and piano, 7'. Text by David St. John. Premiered July 24, 2005 by Amanda Gardner and Kyle Ritter, Asheville, NC.

WINTER FIRES - women's chorus (SAA), 4.5 minutes. Text by David St. John.

HYMN - women's chorus (SAA), 5'. Text by Jack Kerouac.

IN THE MIDDLE - mixed chorus (SATB), 5.5". Text by Paul Elwood

JOHN HARTFORD'S CADILLAC -solo banjo, clogging, metronome, and two-channel recording. 10 minutes.  Premiered 2/4/04 by Elwood, Brevard College, Brevard, NC.

THE INEVITABLE DESCENT OF HEAVEN - for solo glockenspiel and small, high, resonant metals,  8.5'. Premiered by Stuart Gerber  9/23/03 at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.

ALBRECHT DURER II: MELENCOLIA 1 - alto sax., guitar, percussion, 7.5'.  To be premiered July 12, 2003, at the World Saxophone Congress, Minneapolis, MN, by Jon Gudmundson, sax; Roger Cope, guitar; Paul Elwood, percussion.

2002    

ROAD OF DARKNESS, DISTANT MOON - contrabass, flute, percussion, five-string banjo, 10’. Premiered January 2003 at the University of California, San Diego with legendary bassist Bert Turetzky.

ALBRECHT DURER I: ST. JEROME IN HIS STUDY - two pianos, 8.5'.  To be premiered by Stephen Drury and Yukiko Takagi, June 25, 2003, at the Summer Institute for Contemporary Piano and Performance, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA.

2001

AMONG VANISHED AVIATORS - for two channel, MAX/MSP-generated electronic playback with solo banjo, 8.5’.  Premiered at the Cold Alternativa Festival of New American Music, Moscow, Russia, by the composer, 12/13/02. Revised version premiered at Electronic Music Midwest, 12/7/02, Lewis University, Romeoville, Il.  Further performances in recital at Brevard College, February 24, 2003; and  at the Southeastern Composers League conference, Athens, GA, March 7, 2003;

STANLEY KUBRICK’S MOUNTAIN HOME - soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, violin, cello, bluegrass band (fiddle, banjo, mandolin, etc.), 20’.  Premiered 10/21/01 at the KNOB Festival, Wichita, Kansas; performed December 2001 by the Seattle Chamber Players at the Cold Alternativa Festival, Moscow, Russia; 2/10/03 by the Callithumpian Consort of the New England Conservatory, Boston, MA.

CIRCO DE MONTES, TEATRO DE LAS NUBES - flute, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, double bass, 10.5’.  Commissioned by SIGNOS, a new music ensemble in Mexico City for CD release. Premiered 4/21/01, Mexico City; performed by Signos at the Foro International New Music Festival, Mexico City, 5/02.

2000

TEN ETUDES  - solo piano.  Etudes I-III premiered at Djerassi Artists Residence Program, Woodside, CA, in July 2000; Etudes VI and IX premiered at the Summer Institute for Contemporary Piano and Performance, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA, June  2001.

THE GOLDEN ROAD (TO UNLIMITED DEVOTION) - pipa, five-string banjo, piano, 11 mins.  Premiered at the New England Conservatory, 2/15/00, by Stephen Drury, piano, Min Xiao-Fen, pipa, and Paul Elwood, banjo; performed 2/24/03 at Brevard College with the same personnel.

JOHN HENRY VARIATIONS - saxophone quartet with five-string banjo, and interactive MAX/MSP, 12’.  Premiered by the Brevard College Saxophone Quartet at the World Saxophone Congress, Montreal, Quebec, July 2000.

1999

A VAST OCEAN OF PROMISE - solo bassoon with flute, clarinet, piano, two violins, viola, and five-string banjo, 18’.  Premiered at Summerfest! in Kansas City, MO, July 1999 with soloist Joshua Hood; performed October 15, 1999 with soloist Nancy Lutes at the Bowling Green New Music and Art Festival, Bowling Green, OH.

 MEADOWS OF FLAME - Max programmed MIDI keyboard and solo piano, 6’.  Premiered at Brevard College by Assistant Professor of Piano, Christopher Harding, October 1999.      

1998

ALTARS ALTERED - flute and piano, 6’. Premiered at the American Academy in Rome, Italy, November 1998.

TWO EXTREMITIES - soprano, piano, bowed five-string banjo, flute, violin, and  wine glasses, 7.5’.  Premiered at the American Academy in Rome, Italy, November 1998.

LE REPOS ECLAIRE - solo piano, 1.5’.  Premiered at the American Academy in Rome, Italy, November 1998.

AFTER THE DELUGE - two Bb clarinets, piano, and percussion, 8’.  Premiered at Brevard College by clarinetist/Assistant Professor of Music David Kirby; Assistant Professor Laura Franklin, percussion, and Paul Elwood, conductor.

VIGILS - solo piano, 8.5’.  Winner of the Sigma Alpha Iota Inter-American Music Awards and published by C.F. Peters.  Premiered at the SAI Convention, Dallas, TX, August 2000.

1997

CELESTIAL FORESTS - for two percussion, 11’.  Premiered in Mexico City, May 1997.

A LANDSCAPE OF DREAMS - for string quartet, 15’.   Premiered in Weimar, Germany, 1998.

1996

A BOWL OF LIGHT - four percussion, 9.5’. Premiered at Wichita State University, April 1996.

IN THE ZONE - solo banjo with string orchestra, percussion, and piano. Premiered by the Brevard Chamber Orchestra, Paul Elwood on banjo, November 1996.

SOUTHERN HARMONY - for Bb clarinet, percussion, and piano, 8’.   Premiered September 1998 at Brevard College.

AIR - for piano and percussion,  6’30”. Premiered at UC San Diego, May, 1996.

1995

L’ETUDE DES ASTRES - solo multiple percussion, 8’.  Premiered 12/95.

THE ETERNAL BIRTH OF VENUS - solo harp, 7’.

1994

THE VAULT OF HEAVEN, THE CRYSTAL SEA - solo cello with flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, and violin, 20’.  Premiered at the North American New Music Festival, Buffalo, NY,  2/95.

ALONG THE MYSTIC THRUWAY  - flute, piano, cello,  9'.  Premiered in Ottawa, Ontario, Museι des beaux-arts, in a performance on the CBC, 11/3/96. 

THE PERFUMED AND BLUE ABYSS  - solo marimba, 6’.  Premiered in Lexington, KY, 1/95.  

AEOLIAN SQUALLS (for Myles Crawford) - piano with Velcro tap-dance soloist, 5'.  Premiered by Paul Elwood as soloist at WBFO Radio, 2/94.

1993

OCEANO, 1936 - solo piano.  7'.  Premiered at June In Buffalo, 6/93.

FOUR/EIGHT - five-string banjo and 'cello, co-composed with jazz cellist Hank Roberts, 15'.  Premiered by the composers,  Ithaca, NY, 5/93.

IRISH WAKE FOR JOHN CAGE - Irish harp, five-string banjo, and miscellaneous Irish folk instruments with tapes of James Joyce reading from Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake, 15'.  Premiered at WBFO Radio, Allen Hall, Buffalo, NY, 3/15/93.

1992

GLASS HORIZON - solo harp with five percussion and piano, 16'00".  Premiered by he Wichita State University Percussion Ensemble under J. C. Combs in Wichita, Kansas, 11/93.

CANDLE OF THE SALE -  string quartet, 4'20".  Premiered by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra String Quartet on Hoy, Orkney, Scotland, 8/92.

DISBANDED HORIZONS - string quartet, 15'50".  Premiered at June In Buffalo, 6/92. 

1991

BIG SKY - Bb clarinet, piano, percussion, and violin, 7'30".  Premiered at June In Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 6/91. 

FOUR DIRECTIONS - flute soloist wearing velcro soled shoes, 6'.   Premiered in Los Angeles, CA, 10/91 .  

1990

RISING FROM UNSPEAKABLE PLAINS - solo piano, 9'.  Premiered at the State
University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 11/90.

RING OF FIRE - commissioned by the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission.   An
interdisciplinary work using four percussionists with 20 amateur musicians playing
instruments designed by Kansas artist Matt Kirby; installation created by Paul Elwood and
Matt Kirby.  Performed at the Smoky Hill River Festival, Salina, KS,
6/90.                                                                                                    

ENTRE IRSE Y QUEDARSE - flute, Bb clarinet, piano, violin and 'cello, 13'.  Performed at the Salina (KS) Arts Center by the Wichita New Music Ensemble, 5/90.

BLUE PRAIRIE - yodeler with flute, Bb clarinet, piano, violin, and  'cello, 15'.  Performed
with yodeler Randy Erwin at the Wichita Art Association, Wichita, KS, 1/90.

1989

SAINT JOAN - electronic tape and synthesizer, commissioned by the Wichita Art
Association as incidental music for a production of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan, 45'. 
Performed at the Wichita Art Association, Wichita, KS, 11/89.

LES FLEUVES DU PRINTEMPS - five percussion, keyboards and harp with amplified
shower stalls and audience chorus, 11'.  Commissioned and performed by the Wichita State
University Percussion Ensemble, 4/89.

THE VOID BENEATH THE COFFEE TABLE - solo banjo, flute, Bb clarinet,  piano, violin
and cello, 15'.  Re-scoring of a 1986 percussion ensemble composition with solo banjo. 
Performed at the Wichita Art Association by the Wichita New Music Ensemble with Paul
Elwood as banjo soloist, 11/89.

1988

FUNERAL MUSIC ( on the Death of a Chinese President ) - five-string banjo and  tape,
8'30".  Performed by Paul Elwood with dancers from the Wichita State University School of
Performing Arts/Dance at the Wichita Art Association, 10/88.

USHER - flute, Bb clarinet, percussion, piano, violin and 'cello with the 1929 silent film "The
Fall of the House of Usher," 40'.  Performed by the Wichita New Music Ensemble at the
Wichita Art Association, 5/20/88.

JACK PIE JOHNSON MEETS THE TOOTHPASTE MONSTER - orchestra with narrator,
6'.  Commissioned by the Wichita Symphony Orchestra with the Wichita Public Schools
USD 259,  1/88.

1987

THE  AIR-CONDITIONED NIGHTMARE - marching band drum line with supportive
percussion, 5'.  Commissioned and premiered by the Wichita State University Marching
Band Drum Line, 10/87.

PILOT JACK KNIGHT: AVIATOR - flute, bass clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, and
'cello, 4'30".  Performed during the Paul Elwood Composer Residency tour of the Wichita Public Schools by the Wichita New Music Ensemble, 2/87.

PASSING THINGS (Doppler Shifts) - solo 'cello, 5'.  Performed by Susan Mayo during
composer residency tour of the Wichita Public Schools, 2/87.

QUADRALOGUE - string quartet, 3'.  Performed by the WSU Graduate String Quartet
during their tour of the Wichita Public Schools, spring '87.

1986

THE VOID BENEATH THE COFFEE TABLE - five-string solo banjo, percussion ensemble,
keyboards and harp, 23'.  Performed by the WSU Percussion Ensemble

THE VOID BENEATH THE COFFEE TABLE - five-string solo banjo, percussion ensemble,
keyboards and harp, 23'.  Performed by the WSU Percussion Ensemble, 11/86.

ECHOES - solo Bb bass clarinet, 4'.  Performed during Paul Elwood  Composer Residency
tour in the Wichita Public Schools, 2/86.

DISTANCES - orchestra, 4'50".  Commissioned by the Wichita Public Schools
USD 259 and by the Wichita Symphony Orchestra.  Performed on the Wichita Symphony
Young People's Concerts, 3/86.

ECHOES - solo Bb bass clarinet, 4'.  Performed during Paul Elwood Composer Residency
tour in the Wichita Public Schools, 2/86.

DISTANCES - orchestra, 4'50".  Commissioned by the Wichita Public Schools USD 259 and
by the Wichita Symphony Orchestra.  Performed on the Wichita Symphony Young People's
Concerts, 3/86.

1985

UNDER THE EVENING MOON - five percussionists, string quartet, keyboards and folk
clog-dancing soloist, 20'.  Performed by WSU Percussion Ensemble, 11/84.

ON THE EXISTENCE OF ANGELS - electronic tape, 7'.  Musique Concrete manipulations
of sounds from the five-string banjo.

SNOW FALLS CEASELESSLY - flute, 'cello, percussion, piano, and audience players, 15'. Performed by the Southern Methodist University Perspectives New Music Ensemble with
Japanese movement and hand signers, 2/84.

1983

RETURN TO THE CIRCLING WINDS - orchestra, 15'.  Masters thesis at  Southern
Methodist University, 5/84.

EDGARD VARESE IN THE GOBI DESERT - percussion ensemble, harp and Velcro tap
dancing soloist, 17'.  Performed 4/83 by the Southern Methodist University Percussion
Ensemble in Dallas, TX.

BIRDS OF APPETITE - string quartet, 15'.  Performed by the Wichita New Music Ensemble
in Wichita, KS, 12/84 .

For more information on pursuing a degree in Music please email music@brevard.edu or admissions@brevard.edu,  You may also fill out our on-line response card.  Call us at (800) 527-9090 or  (828) 883-8292.


Last update: Tuesday, February 13,  2007
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