Portfolio of compositions with commentary

This portfolio consists of two programmatic compositions for orchestra. The first work applies to the theatre stage and the second to a young audience. Alices' Adventures in Wonderland is comprised of scenes from a ballet noir libretto I have composed. Lewis Carroll's original idea of a girl falling down a rabbit-hole and into a fantastical kingdom is adapted into a modern setting, involving a teenager's dangerous hallucinogenic trip and her participation in bizarre events based on the lives of real historical Alices and their circumstances. Every scene has been treated diversely. That is, every scene in which the fictional and drugged Alice is “transported” through time and embodies an historical Alice is composed in a different style, and Alice is characterized by a different instrument, or groups of instruments. For example, the scene exploring Adeline Virginia Woolf’s suicide is musically structured in modified sonata form, and includes a waltz. Conversely, Alice Bailey's episode is articulated through serial processes specifically researched and devised for this work around a postminimal frame. The scene is also informed by Indian music notions (symbolic of Bailey’s lifework). It is my intention to combine different modes of symbolism and expression, and convincingly thread them together by story and musical structure. The work calls for large orchestral forces with an exceptionally large percussion section. Three Scenes from an Imaginary Forest is a tripartite work for orchestra, addressing a young audience. It is thematically connected to the larger work, in that it depicts three allegorical scenes from the same forest within which Lewis Carroll’s Alice had her ‘Wonderland’ adventures. In this instance the music depicts three short scenes of natural and animal life in that enchanted environment. The works in this portfolio serve as a personal exploration into disparate compositional approaches through which drama is narrated musically.