Concertino for Cello and String ensemble ‘Joy of living’

Oratorio ‘Requiem for the Fallen’ for soprano, choir & orchestra

Piano concerto for Percussive left hand & orchestra ‘The Torch of Peace’

Cantata ‘Tears of the Earth’ for soprano, tenor, choir, orchestra

Piano Concerto ‘Imagine New york’

Concerto for A. Saxophone & Strings ‘Springtime in Chicago’

Plays: ‘The Mozart Conversation’ & ‘The Aria of Nannerl Mozart’

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NOTA: These music compositions, writings and artwork have no connection to AI. My hope is to contribute to human creativity and to the expression of feelings.

The Concertino for cello and string ensemble “Joy of Living” is lively and uplifting, an antidote to the times that the world goes through today. I meant to compose a short three-movement work for about twenty players, that could bring solace in any setting.

The road leading to the Concertino started with the composition of sober works like the Oratorio “Requiem for the Fallen” and the avant-garde Piano Concerto “The Torch of Peace” for percussive and melodic Left Hand.

“Requiem for the Fallen”, composed on ‘In Flanders Fields’ the war time poem by the Canadian military doctor John McCrae, is a tribute to the victims of war. As thousands of young soldiers felled, their governments and business made the cannons that felled them.

The first version of “Requiem” was played in 2018 in a French town for the Centennial of WWI. Most players of the youth orchestra had a relative who fought in that war. . *** The revised “Requiem for the Fallen” premiered in 2019 in New York at Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall). The added parts focus on the children. Two performances followed before the Russian invasion of Ukraine: in 2020, the U.S. Embassy underwrote a concert in Moscow to commemorate the cooperation with USSR in WWII; and, in late 2021, a large public concert for peace took place at the Tsereteli Art Gallery, which we watched live from Washington.

After the concert, some in the audience walked to the laptop computer linked to ours and waved ‘heart’ and ‘I love you’ signs. A Bishop, pointed to the golden cross on his chest and said that the Oratorio was ‘Music for Peace’. I replied ‘Yes, music for peace.’ The Russian public was clearly opposed to a war. Still, ten weeks later, Ukraine was invaded, a war now in its fifth year costing close to two million casualties — dead, wounded or missing — according to the Center for International Strategic Studies.

The first piano concerto “Imagine New York” premiered at the 2021 concert for peace. As the organizers had asked for a second work I composed this Concerto evoking freedom: the view of the Statue of Liberty, the first time I landed in NYC. . *** To further reflect on the tragedy of wars, in 2026 I finished the second piano concerto for percussive left hand and orchestra, “The Torch of Peace”, a reflection on the state of the world. The left hand percussive technique is meant to expand the expressive range of the piano. The title evokes the sculpture erected in the village of Neuville-Saint-Vaast near Calais after the massacre of 1915.

The lyrics of the Cantata “Tears of the Earth” for soprano, tenor, choir and orchestra are based on texts by Native Americans and Europeans about respect, the children and nature.

The dramatic theater plays “The Mozart Conversation” and “The Aria of Nannerl Mozart”, explore the theme of sexism in the times of Mozart. Both are filed with the Western Michigan University Library. . *** .

Videos of the Oratorio “Requiem for the Fallen”, the Piano Concerto "Imagine New York” and other works are posted under VIDEOS. Since 2023, pandemic and wars have prevented additional events.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our places; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
in Flanders Fields.

by: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
MD (1872 – 1918)
Canadian Army