OPERA AND DRAMATIC CONCERT WORKS
A Death in the Family
Opera based on the Pulitzer prize winning novel by James Agee and the play “All the Way Home” by Tad Mosel.
~ WillMayer Music
National Institute for Music Theater Award, Kennedy Center
Productions: Minnesota Opera, Manhattan School of Music and Opera Theatre of St. Louis; NPR broadcast with Dawn Upshaw
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Audio excerpts: Butterfly Aria and How Far We All Come Away from Ourselves (from the “Voices from Lost Realms” CD)
One Christmas Long Ago
One-act Christmas opera based on “Why the Chimes Rang.”
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Philadelphia Orchestra holiday series, Manhattan School of Music, Ball State Teachers College, National Music Theater Network
Learn more about this work Audio excerpt: Festive Alleluia
Brief Candle (Feist)
Micro-opera: three acts in six minutes. Mime, chorus and orchestra.
~ Theodore Presser
Productions: Center for Contemporary Opera with Brooklyn Philharmonic, Carnegie Mellon University, NY Singing Teachers Association, etc.
Audio excerpt
Sobbing Pillow of a Man
Dramatic aria of self-loathing.
Baritone and short supporting roles.
~ WillMayer Music
Premiere: Golden Fleece Opera Company
Dramatic Concert Works
Barbara, What Have You Done? (Otto)
Melodrama for two sopranos with piano.
~ Carl Fischer
Two News Items
Soprano with stage fright turns into hen.
Soprano and chamber ensemble.
~ Theodore Presser
Premiere: Contemporary Music Society at Guggenheim Museum
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The Eve of St. Agnes (Keats)
Dramatic oratorio (option with dancers).
~ Theodore Presser
(See under CHORAL MUSIC.)
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Good King Wenceslas (Milne)
A. A. Milne whimsical fantasy.
Narrator with orchestra or wind ensemble.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Robert Sherman with Bronx Arts Ensemble,
Westchester Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, etc.
Hello, World! (Otto)
For children’s concerts. A trip to seven countries.
Singing-narrator, two children, dancers (optional) and orchestra.
~ Boosey & Hawkes
Performances: The Philadelphia Orchestra (four seasons) and numerous others
Recording: Eleanor Roosevelt and John Langstaff with the Little Orchestra Society
The Greatest Sound Around (Otto)
For children’s concerts. An animal contest.
Singing-narrator and orchestra.
~ European American
Performances: The Little Orchestra Society, Downtown Music Productions.
Spring Came on Forever (“Song of Songs,” etc.)
A celebration of the renewal of love.
~ WillMayer Music
(See under CHORAL MUSIC.)
Letters Home
(Text comprised of letters written by American and North Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War.)
~ European American
(See under CHORAL MUSIC.)
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ORCHESTRA
Scenes from the Snow Queen
Orchestra or chamber orchestra.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: The Philadelphia Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, New York Youth and Vermont Symphonies, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, etc.
Of Rivers and Trains
Orchestra or chamber orchestra.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Albany Symphony and Cleveland Chamber Symphony
Inner and Outer Strings
String Orchestra (or string quartet with string orchestra).
~ Boelke-Bomart
Performances: American Composers Orchestra, String Revival, etc.
Recording: Gerard Schwarz and Music Today (Albany)
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Andante for Strings
String Orchestra.
~ European American
Performances: American String Congress, Morton Gould, LICA at
Queens College, Mandelbaum; NY Chamber Orchestra; Clark, etc.
Recording: Minnesota Orchestra, Skrowaczewski, conductor
Audio excerpt
Two Pastels for orchestra
Standard orchestra.
~ European American
Performances: Orchestra of America, Cincinnati Symphony, etc.
Recording: Minnesota Orchestra, Skrowaczewski
Audio excerpts
Octagon for piano and orchestra
Orchestra. Two piano version also available.
~ European American
Premiere: Leopold Stokowski and the American Symphony Orchestra, William Masselos, soloist. Masselos recording available on New World-CRI.
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Overture for an American
Orchestra.
~ Boosey & Hawkes
Recording: London Philharmonic, Russell Stanger, conductor
Good King Wenceslas (A. A. Milne)
Narrator and orchestra.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Robert Sherman and Westchester Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony, etc.
Concert Piece for Trumpet and Strings
Trumpet with string orchestra and percussion.
~ Boosey & Hawkes
Performances: The Little Orchestra Society, Robert Nagel, soloist; Denver Symphony; and Washington Square Music Festival
Hello, World! (Otto) and The Greatest Sound Around (Otto)
Narrated orchestral works for children’s concerts.
(See FAMILY/CHILDREN’S CONCERTS.)
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FAMILY/CHILDREN’S CONCERTS
Scenes from the Snow Queen
Full orchestra or chamber orchestra.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, Charleston and Vermont Symphonies, Oslo Philharmonic, etc.
One Christmas Long Ago
One act opera based on “Why the Chimes Rang.”
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Philadelphia Orchestra (partial staging), National Music Theater Network, Manhattan School of Music Prep Department, etc.
Audio excerpt
The Good King Wenceslas (whimsical fantasy of A. A. Milne)
Narrator and orchestra or wind and piano ensemble.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Robert Sherman and Westchester Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Bronx Arts Ensemble, etc.
Hello, World! (Susan Otto)
Orchestral trip to seven countries.
~ Boosey & Hawkes
Singing-narrator, 2 children, orchestra and optional dancers.
Performances: Philadelphia Orchestra (four seasons) and numerous others.
Recording: Eleanor Roosevelt, John Langstaff and the Little Orchestra Society
The Greatest Sound Around (Susan Otto)
Animal contest. Singing-narrator and orchestra.
~ European American
Performances: The Little Orchestra Society and Downtown Music Productions
Recording: John Lanstaff with the Little Orchestra Society (Scherman)
Essay for Brass and Winds
Brass and woodwind quintet with piano.
~ Boosey & Hawkes
Solos for all eleven players.
Performances: Houston Symphony, American Brass Ensemble, the Little Orchestra Society, New York Youth Symphony, etc.
Recording: New York Brass and Woodwind Ensemble
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BALLET
The Snow Queen
(based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale)
Orchestra or two pianos with flute and cello.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: The Merry-Go-Rounders, Sophie Maslow, choreography; Ballets des Jeunes with the Little Orchestra, Ursula Melita, choreography
Hello, World! (Otto)
Orchestra or piano.
~ Boosey & Hawkes
Performances: Ballet des Jeunes with the Little Orchestra Society and Philadelphia Orchestra
Brief Candle (Feist)
Mime, chorus and orchestra.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Carnegie Mellon University, Gregg Smith Singers, etc.
Audio excerpt
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CHORAL MUSIC
The Negro Speaks of Rivers (Langston Hughes)
SSATB and piano. Also for vocal quartet.
~ Boelke-Bomart
Performances: Gregg Smith Singers and New York Virtuoso Singers
Audio excerpt
The Eve of St. Agnes (Keats)
Soloists, SATB and orchestra.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: DeCormier Singers
Recording: Peabody Chorus and Orchestra, Gregg Smith, conductor
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Spring Came on Forever (“Song of Songs,” etc.)
A celebration of the renewal of love through the generations
Soloists, double chorus and orchestra.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: New York Choral Society, DeCormier, conductor;
North Texas State University, Frank McKinley, conductor
Festive Alleluia (based on “Why the Chimes Rang”)
SSATB with organ or piano accompaniment.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: choirs at Calvary Episcopal Church, Temple Emanuel and St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Audio excerpt
Kyrie
SATB a cappella.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: AmorArtis, Gregg Smith Singers, Calvary Church Choir, etc.
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Ae Fond Kiss (Robert Burns)
SSATB with flute, cello and piano.
~ Warner/Chappell
Performances: DeCormier and Gregg Smith Singers
Audio excerpt
La Belle Dame Sans Merci (Keats)
Solo tenor or high baritone, SAB and piano.
~ Warner/Chappell
Performances: DeCormier and Occasional Singers
Recording: Calliope Singers, James McKeel, tenor
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Four Madrigals (Elizabethan texts)
1) The Passionate Shepherd to his Love (Christopher Marlowe)
2) The Nymph’s Reply to the Passionate Shepherd (Sir Walter Raleigh)
3) Corinna’s Going a-Maying (Robert Herrick)
4) To Electra (Robert Herrick)
SATB a cappella.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Gregg Smith Singers, Mannes College, etc.
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Lines on Light (Coleridge, Dylan Thomas, Mayer)
SSAA and piano.
~ Carl Fischer
Performances: New York Treble Singers, Gregg Smith Singers, etc.
Brief Candle (Feist)
Micro-opera for chorus: three acts in six minutes.
~ Theodore Presser
SATB with orchestra or piano.
(See under OPERA.)
Audio excerpt
Letters Home (letters written by American and North Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War.)
Narrator, SATB and orchestra.
~ European American
Premiere: Schola Cantorum and members of the New York Philharmonic
A Death in the Family (choral selections from the opera)
SATB and orchestra or piano.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Occasional Singers and Gregg Smith Singers
Audio excerpts
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CHAMBER MUSIC
Six or more players:
Dream’s End
Oboe, clarinet, horn, piano, violin and cello.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: over a dozen groups including members of the
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
Recording: St. Paul Chamber Orchestra on New World-CRI
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Messages
Flute, violin, viola, cello and percussion (2).
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Dinosaur Annex, North/South Consonance, etc.
Recording: North/South Consonance, Lisa Hansen, flutist
Audio excerpts
Essay for Brass and Winds
Woodwind quintet, brass quintet, percussion.
Solos for each of the eleven players.
~ Boosey & Hawkes
Performances: New York Brass and Woodwind Ensemble, American
Brass Ensemble, Goldman Band, New York Youth Symphony, etc.
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Of Rivers and Trains
Chamber orchestra (22 players).
~ Theodore Presser
Premiere: Cleveland Chamber Symphony
(See under ORCHESTRA listing.)
Back Talk
Brief satire.
Animated page turner and mixed ensemble (15 players)
~ Theodore Presser
Two to five players:
Brass Quintet
Two trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: New York Brass Quintet, Manhattan Brass Quintet, etc.
Recording: Iowa Brass Quintet
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Unlikely Neighbors
Variations of “Turtle Dove” and “California Here I Come!”
Flute, oboe, clarinet, trombone and piano.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Downtown Music Productions, Bronx Arts Ensemble
Yankee Doodle Fanfare
Brass or woodwind quintet.
~ Ensemble Publications
Performances: Quintet of the Americas, etc.
Recording: Boehm Quintette
Audio excerpt
Country Fair
Two trumpets and trombone.
~ Theodore Presser
Performance and recording: Robert Nagel Brass Trio
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Concert Piece for Trumpet and Piano
~ Boosey & Hawkes
Soloists: Robert Nagel and Gerard Schwarz
(Also see ORCHESTRA listing for string orchestra version.)
Andante for Strings
String quartet (on which better known string orchestra version is based).
~ WillMayer Music
(See ORCHESTRA listing.)
Audio excerpt
Three for Three
Two percussionists and pianist.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Young Audiences Percussion Trio
Twists
Oboe and viola.
~ WillMayer Music
Wedding Romp
Violin and bassoon.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Bronx Arts Ensemble, etc.
Celebration Trio
A celebratory party getting increasingly out-of-hand.
(Early work.) Flute, clarinet and piano.
~ WillMayer Music
Largo for String Trio, Song for Oboe and Piano
and Song for English Horn and Piano
(Short early works)
~ WillMayer Music
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Chamber Music with Voice
6 or more players:
Eight Miniatures (Dorothy Parker, etc.)
Soprano, flute, trumpet, violin, cello, percussion and piano.
~ Theodore Presser
Premiere: Contemporary Music Society at Guggenheim Museum
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Two News Items (Mayer)
Soprano with stage fright turns into hen.
Soprano, flute, trumpet, violin, cello, percussion and piano.
~ Theodore Presser
Note: frequently programmed with Eight Miniatures.
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Good King Wenceslas (based on A. A. Milne fantasy)
Narrator, woodwind quintet, trumpet, trombone and piano.
~ Theodore Presser
Premiere: Robert Sherman and Bronx Arts Ensemble
Summer Glints
Countertenor (brief part, ossia mezzo-soprano), flute, oboe, string quartet and harpsichord (ossia piano).
~ WillMayer Music
Premiere: The Queen’s Chamber Band
Audio excerpts
2 to 5 players:
Enter Ariel (e.e. cummings, Hughes, Teasdale)
Soprano, clarinet and piano.
~ Theodore Presser
Recordings: 1) Elizabeth Poore with Charles Stier, clarinet, and Philip Hosford, piano; 2) Angelina Reaux with Charles Neidich, clarinet, and C. Oldfather, piano
Learn more about this work Audio excerpts: Hist Whist and Flotsam
Fern Hill (Dylan Thomas)
Soprano, flute and harp(or piano).
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Jubal Trio, Musical Elements, Aureole, etc.
Recording: Jane Bryden with Paul Lustig Dunkel, flute, and Stacey Shames, harp
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Passage (Millay, Sandburg, Shelley, Aleinikoff, etc.)
A song cycle for mezzo-soprano, flute and harp.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Jubal Trio and Musical Elements
Recording: Mary Feinsinger with Paul Lustig Dunkel, flute, and Stacey Shames, harp
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Zoom-bah (Mayer)
Soprano, flute, viola and harp.
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Heidi Grant Murphy and Ilana Davidson with Auréole
Recording: Heidi Grant Murphy with Auréole on Koch International
Audio excerpt
First Song (Galway Kinnell)
Tenor, clarinet, violin and piano.
~ WillMayer Music
Recording: Gregory Mercer with Richard Goldsmith, clarinet; Marshall Coid, violin; and Steven Mayer, piano
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Last Song (derived from opera A Death in the Family)
Soprano or mezzo-soprano, clarinet, violin and piano.
~ WillMayer Music
Premiere: Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center with Christine Brewer
Distant Playing Fields
Including variations on Vaughn Williams’ “Sine Nomine.”
Tenor with flute, clarinet, horn, cello and piano.
~ WillMayer Music
Recording: Christopher Pfund, tenor, St. Lukes Chamber Ensemble, Scott Wheeler, conductor, on Newport Classic
Always, Always Forever Again (Eugene O’Neill)
Text from Eugene O’neill’s “The Great God Brown.”
Soprano, flute and piano.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Eleanor Steber at Alice Tully Hall; Dorothy Renzi, etc.
Khartoum (Mayer)
Mezzo-soprano, piccolo, violin, cello and piano.
~ Theodore Presser
Premiere: Contemporary Music Society at Guggenheim Museum
Recording: Catherine Rowe with Weisberg Ensemble
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SONGS
(Also see CHAMBER MUSIC WITH VOICE.)
Paradox (Marjorie Marx)
Soprano.
~ Carl Fischer
Recording: Dorothy Renzi with David Garvey, piano
Five Miniatures (Dorothy Parker, etc.)
Soprano.
~ WillMayer Music
Audio excerpts
Khartoum (Mayer)
Soprano, tenor or high baritone.
~ Theodore Presser
Perfomances: Catherine Rowe and Dorothy Renzi, sopranos; Gregory Mercer, tenor; John Langstaff, baritone, etc.
(Also see CHAMBER MUSIC WITH VOICE.)
Audio excerpt
That Purple Bird (Mayer)
Soprano, mezzo soprano or tenor.
~ WillMayer Music
Recording: Dorothy Renzi, soprano, and David Garvey, piano
Lover’s Lament (Mayer)
Tenor or baritone.
~ WillMayer Music
Recording: Robert Guarino, tenor on Newport Classic
Dream Variations (Langston Hughes)
Baritone.
~ WillMayer Music
Premiere: Antony Turner, baritone, and Mimi Stern-Wolfe, piano
Distraught Soprano Undergoes Unfortunate Transformation (Mayer)
Singer with stage fright turns into hen.
Soprano.
~ WillMayer Music
Premiere: New York Singing Teachers Association
(Also see CHAMBER MUSIC WITH VOICE.)
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No One Knows (Otto)
Folk idiom. Mezzo soprano or lyric baritone.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Rosalind Rees, mezzo soprano, and Steven Mayer, piano
Audio excerpt
For a Young Man (Marjorie Marx)
Soprano or tenor.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Christopher Pfund, tenor, and Mara Waldman, piano
Always, Always Forever Again (Eugene O’Neill)
From Eugene O’Neill’s play “The Great God Brown.”
Duet for two sopranos.
~ WillMayer Music
Recording: Nan Nall and Lisa Messier
(Also see CHAMBER MUSIC WITH VOICE.)
Barbara, What Have You Done? (Otto)
Drama for two sopranos.
~ Carl Fischer
Performances: New York Singing Teachers Association, etc.
Kitchen Duet (from opera A Death in the Family)
Soprano and tenor or high baritone.
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Washington Opera Co., National Opera Assoc., American Opera Projects, Gregg Smith Singers, Rutgers Univ., etc.
The Negro Speaks of Rivers (Langston Hughes)
Vocal quartet : soprano, alto, tenor and bass.
~ Boelke-Bomart
Premiere: Downtown Music Productions
Audio excerpt
Advice (Langston Hughes)
Vocal quartet: soprano, alton, tenor and bass.
~ WillMayer Music
Premiere: Downtown Music Productions
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Children’s Songs
Zoom-bah (Mayer)
Lullaby for soprano, flute, viola and harp.
~ Theodore Presser
Heidi Grant Murphy and Auréole on Koch International
(See CHAMBER MUSIC WITH VOICE.)
Audio excerpt
Contact WillMayer Music for the following:
Bongo and his Baboon Drum (Susan Otto; Burl Ives recording on Decca)
Audio excerpt
Summer Lullaby (Susan Otto)
Frollicking-Rollicking Rocking Horse (Otto)
A Parakeet Is a Talking Bird (Susan Otto; Big Jon Arthur recording on Decca)
If I had a Lion (Susan Otto)
Hatchoo (Susan Otto)
The Elephant and the Mouse (Susan Otto)
Musical Theater Songs
(Contact WillMayer Music)
Here in New York (Harold Littledale)
Audio excerpt
What did I do? (Harold Littledale)
Audio excerpt
It’s a Perfect Day (Emily Jay)
Audio excerpt
I Need Your Magic (Emily Jay)
Audio excerpt
Look at Me (Harold Littledale)
Audio excerpt
Deep in the Hidden Heart (Elizabeth Aleinikoff)
Audio excerpt
Mary Ann (Elaine Sherwood)
I’m Nobody Now (Sherwood/Mayer)
How About It? (Elaine Sherwood)
Audio excerpt
Let’s Have a Party (Emily Jay)
Audio excerpt
Orango-Tango (Mayer)
Funny Face (Emily Jay)
Skinny Me (Elaine Sherwood)
Chez Vous (Sheldon Harnick)
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PIANO
Abandoned Bells
~ Theodore Presser
Premiere: David Brunell (Commissioned by the
Artistic Ambassador Series)
Recording: Steven Mayer on Albany Records
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Piano Sonata
(“Fantasia,” the first movement, may be done separately)
~ Theodore Presser
Premiere: Jack Chaitkin
Recording: William Masselos on New World-CRI
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Toccata
~ WillMayer Music
Performances: Steven Mayer and Judith Olson.
Subway in the Sunlight and Other Memories
Suite comprised of nine short movements
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Şahan Arzruni on New World-CRI (listed as Subway in the Sunshine and Other Memories)
Audio excerpts
A Most Important Train
Solo or two piano version.
~ Theodore Presser
Peformances: Judith Olson, Steven Mayer, Joseph Bloch, Jerome and Ronit Lowenthal
Octagon (two piano version)
~ European American
Performances: Steven Mayer, Judith Olson, Christopher Oldfather, etc.
(Also see ORCHESTRA listing.)
The Snow Queen (two piano version)
(See BALLET listing.)
Short early piano pieces:
Pepper and Salt
Forest at Dawn
Breakthrough (premiered by Ray Lev at Carnegie Hall)
~ WillMayer Music
Note: also see CHAMBER MUSIC and ORCHESTRA listings, where the piano often has a prominent part.
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INSTRUMENTAL SOLOS
Two Moods for Clarinet
~ Theodore Presser
Performances: Charles Stier, Jerome Bunke, etc.
Performances (alto flute version): Andrew Bolotowsky
Appalachian Echoes
Solo harp
~ Theodore Presser
Premiere: Susan Jolles
Recording: Pearl Chertok on Orion
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NARRATED WORKS
Good King Wenceslas (A. A. Milne)
Narrator with orchestra or chamber ensemble.
~ Theodore Presser
Orchestral premiere: Robert Sherman and Westchester Symphony
Chamber premiere: Robert Sherman and Bronx Arts Ensemble
Hello, World! (Susan Otto)
Singing-narrator with orchestra or piano.
~ Boosey & Hawkes
(See FAMILY/CHILDREN’S CONCERTS.)
The Greatest Sound Around (Susan Otto)
Singing-narrator with orchestra or piano.
~ European American
(See FAMILY/CHILDREN’S CONCERTS.)
Letters Home (text partly comprised of letters written by soldiers during Vietnam War)
Narrator with chorus and orchestra.
~ European American
(See CHORAL MUSIC.)
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