Michael Gandolfi

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Recent and Upcoming Performances Current Projects Teaching Positions

Selected Compositions, Scores and Audio Files

Please direct all inquiries to: mail@michaelgandolfi.com

Orchestra

Charles Jencks' Garden of Cosmic Speculation
photo: Michael Gandolfi

Q.E.D.: Engaging Richard Feynman (2010)
for SATB Chorus and Orchestra

Commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Premiere performance dates: June 3,5,6, 2010, Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia, Robert Spano, conductor; Norman Mackenzie, Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus

duration (25')
3(3rd dbl. Picc).3(3rd dbl. E.H.).3(3rd dbl. B.Cl.).3 (3rd dbl. Cbsn)/4.3.3.1/Timp./3 Perc./Hp./Pno./SATB Chorus/Strings/

I. On Waking
II. Song of the Universal

Anthem (2010)
for Clarinet and String Orchestra
duration (9')
Bb Clarinet, Strings

From the Institutes of Groove for bass trombone and orchestra

written for Angel Subero and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project

I. Too Jazz for Rock
II. Rising on the Wing (Pertpetuum Mobile)

Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra (2007)

Commissioned by Yoichi Udagawa and the Melrose Symphony Orchestra
duration (20')
2.2.2.2/2.2.0.0/timp./1 perc./strings/ Bassoon Solo

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation (2007)

This newly expanded version of 'Impressions from The Garden of Cosmic Speculation'
was commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Movements I, II, III and XI were commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center in 2004.

It is intended that any arrangement of movements, in any order, may be selected for a given performance.

11-movement combined duration: 70'

3.3.3.3/4.3.3.1/timp./3 perc./hp/pno/strings

Part 1: [**Movement timings are indicated in brackets]

The Zeroroom [3:20]    Streaming audio
      Soliton Waves [5:30]
      The Snail and the Poetics of Going Slow [3:30]
      Symmetry Break Terrace/Black Hole Terrace [6:30]
      The Willow Twist [5:00] (midi/sequenced)

      Part 2:

      The Universe Cascade [6:20]
      The Garden of the Senses Suite (in six movements): [ Total time for suite - 13:54]
               Allemande (Audition) [2:38] (midi/sequenced)
               Courante (Olfaction) [2:40] (midi/sequenced)
               Sarabande (Gustation) [3:06] (midi/sequenced)
               Passepied (Palpation) [1:23] (midi/sequenced)
               Gigue (Vision) / Chorale (The Sixth Sense: Intuition) [4:07] (midi/sequenced)

      Part 3:

      Fractal Terrace [3:40] (midi/sequenced)
      The Jumping Bridge [4:20] (midi/sequenced)
      The Quark Walk [7:10] (midi/sequenced)
      The Nonsense [9:30]

       ** All timings are based on actual peformance data, not midi-realization times.

Fantasia for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (2006)

funded by a grant from the Fromm Music Foundation

Impressions from 'The Garden of Cosmic Speculation' (2004)

commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center
duration (23')
3.3.3.3/4.3.3.1/timp./3 perc./hp/pno/strings

I. The Zeroroom    Streaming audio
      II. Soliton Waves
      III. The Snail and the Poetics of Going Slow
      IV. The Nonsense

View score (PDF)

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Notes from Childhood (2002)

commissioned by the Melrose Symphony Orchestra (Massachusetts)
duration (7')
2.2.2.2/2.1.1.0/timp. strings

Notes From Childhood Streaming audio

View score (PDF)

Pinocchio's Adventures in Funland (arr. 2001 from 1999 chamber version)
words by Dana Bonstrom

commissioned by the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center (NYC)
orchestration commissioned by the Concord Symphony Orchestra
duration (30')
2.2.2.2/2.1.1.0 pno perc strings narrator

to Score and Sound Clips

Greatest Hits (2000)

commissioned by the New England Philharmonic

Y2K Compliant (2000)
formerly 'Freshman Theory'

commissioned by the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra (Boston)

Transient Episodes (1996)

commissioned by the Riverside Symphony Orchestra (NYC)

Points of Departure (1988)

commissioned by the Orpheus, St. Paul and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestras
through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
duration (17')
2.2.2.2/2.0.0.0 strings

I. Spirale    Streaming audio
      II. Strati
      III. Visione
      IV. Ritorno

View program notes

Transfigurations (1987)

Paul Jacobs commission (the Tanglewood Music center)

Flute Concerto (1981)

Chorus

Q.E.D.: Engaging Richard Feynman (2010)
for SATB Chorus and Orchestra

Commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Premiere performance dates: June 3,5,6, 2010, Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia, Robert Spano, conductor; Norman Mackenzie, Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus

duration (25')
3(3rd dbl. Picc).3(3rd dbl. E.H.).3(3rd dbl. B.Cl.).3 (3rd dbl. Cbsn)/4.3.3.1/Timp./3 Perc./Hp./Pno./SATB Chorus/Strings/

I. On Waking
II. Song of the Universal

Wind Ensemble

Vientos y Tangos (2003)

Commissioned by the Frank L. Battisti 70th Birthday Commission Project
duration (11')
large concert wind ensemble
published by

Boosey and Hawkes.

Vientos y Tangos Streaming audio

View program notes

Chamber Ensemble/Solo

The Nonsense
Charles Jencks' Garden of Cosmic Speculation
photo: © Ean White, incendiaryarts.org, 2006.

Jigsaw Patterns (2010)

Commissioned by the Rivers School Conservatory

Line Drawings (2009)

Commissioned by the Concord Chamber Music Society

I. Canon, Cut and Paste
II. A Farewell to Old Friends
III. Hidden Variable
IV. Obbligato Aria
V. Chickens

history of the world in seven acts (2009)

Music to join with computer animation by Jonathan Bachrach

Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University

duration (14')
Flute, Bass Clarinet, Violin, Violoncello, Piano, Percussion

history of the world in seven acts (low-res movie file file)

Three Pieces for Flute Solo (2008)

Commissioned by the James Pappoutsakis Fund

duration (7')
Flute Solo

I. Basic Operations / II. Note Juggler / III. Heavy-Metal Chorale-Fantasy

Resin in Resonance (2008)

Commissioned by the New Gallery Series

Inspired by the collage art of

April Clay

I. Veiled Veneers

Time-lapse video of April Clay at work, accompanied by Quick Draw

Preludes (2008)

Vento Chiaro

I. Air Pentatonic
II. Shuffle Glasgow

abridged history of the world in seven acts (2008)

Music to join with computer animation by Jonathan Bachrach

Trivia (2005)

commissioned by the Weilerstein Trio

I. Multiverse    Streaming audio
      II. Time Traveler
      III. Coursing

View score (PDF)

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Plain Song, Fantastic Dances (2005)

commissioned by the St. Botolph Club for the Boston Symphony Chamber Players in celebration of the Club's 125th anniversary
duration (20')
cl,hn,bsn,vln,vla,vc,cb

View score (PDF)

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As Above (2005)
video by Ean White

commissioned by the Catherine and Paul Buttenwieser Foundation for Collage New Music

As Above Streaming audio

View score (PDF)

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Fantasia en Amarillo (2004)

funded by FleetBank Celebrity Series for Sergey Schepkin
duration (5')
pno

Fantasia en Amarillo Streaming audio

View score (PDF)

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Resonance Frames (2003)
Music to join with six films by Pamela Larson

funded by Harvard University 'First Nights'
duration (8')
cl,pno,perc,vln,vc

I. Photon Waves    Streaming audio
      II. Willow
      III. Zig Zag
      IV. U.F.O. / V. Spin / VI. Desert Dash

View score (PDF)

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Themes from a Midsummer Night (2001)

funded by the Shakespeare & Company
duration (18')
fl,ob,cl,hn,tpt,pno,hp,perc,2 vlns,vc,cb

I Air: Oberon in Flight    Streaming audio
      II. Theseus' Law
      III. Hermia's Helter Skelter Scherzo
      IV. Hermia and Lysander
      V. Bottom Brays
      VI. Sly Puck
      VII. Apotheosis...Morning
      VIII. Titannia's Fairies
      IX. Time Dream
      X. Postlude (the Most Gentle)

View score (PDF)

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Pinocchio's Adventures in Funland (1999)
words by Dana Bonstrom

commissioned by the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center (NYC)
duration (30')
fl,cl (Bb,A,bass),vln,vc,perc,pno,narrator

to Score and Sound Clips

Geppetto's Workshop (1997)

commissioned by

Elizabeth Ostling through a grant from the Fromm Foundation

I. A Piece of Magic Wood that Laughs and Cries Like a Child    Streaming audio
      II. Pinocchio Frolics with Punch and Judy, Which Incites the Menacing Fire-Eater
      III. The Talking Cricket Warns Pinocchio of the Dangers Ahead
      IV. Pinocchio Ignores the Talking Cricket's Warning and is Chased by the Fox and the Cat

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Cable Ready (1997)

commissioned by the Core Ensemble through a grant from Meet the Composer
duration (17')
vc,pno,perc

I. Power Chords    Streaming audio
      II. The All-Interval Tetrachord Blues
      III. Fully Inserted

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Grooved Surfaces (1996)

commissioned by

the Boston Musica Viva

I. Frame Shifting    Streaming audio
      II. Pitching Rotation
      III. Flipside

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Punch Lines (1996)

Design School (1994/5)

commissioned by Parnassus (NYC)
duration (20')
fl,ob,cl,bsn,vln,vla,vc,cb,pno

I Fibonacci's Fanfare    Streaming audio
      II. Photoelectric Effect
      III. Reptiles
      IV. Matrix Mechanics

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Caution to the Wind (1993)
concerto for flute and chamber ensemble

commissioned by the Koussevitsky Music Foundation
for flutist

Peggy Friedland and the Griffin New Music Ensemble

I Introduction    Streaming audio
      II. Excursion
      III. Recitative
      IV. Divisions
      V. Soliloquy
      VI. Incursion/Exit

Harlequin Sketches (1991)

commissioned by William Matthews
duration (15')
guitar

I Twilight Promenade    Streaming audio
      II. Minimetalism
      III. Once and for All
      IV. Nylon Drumming
      V. Ricochet

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Line of Approach (1990)

Personae (1986)

commissioned by Speculum Musicae, Sonor, the San Francisco Contemprary Music Players
through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

Concertino (1984)

commissioned by Parnassus

Il Ventaglio di Josephine (1983)

duration (5')
written for my sister

Josephine Gandolfi

Il Ventaglio di Josephine Streaming audio
(recorded by Josephine Gandolfi)

View score (PDF)

String Trio (1981)

Four Miniatures (1979)

Dramatic/Theatrical Works

The Universe Cascade
Charles Jencks' Garden of Cosmic Speculation
photo: © Ean White, incendiaryarts.org, 2006.

The Piper's Tale (2005)
words by Dana Bonstrom

commissioned by the Boston Musica Viva

Overture    Streaming audio
      I. The Town
      II. The Stranger
      IIIa. Invasion
      IIIb. The Rats Arrive in Town
      IV. Desperate Measures
      V. Bloviation
      VI. The Piper Appears
      VII. The Bargain
      VIII. Of Rats and the River
      IX. Betrayal
      X. The Piper's Last Song
      XI. The Morning After
      XII. The Children's Song
      Epilogue
      Life Force
View score (PDF)

Gwendolyn Gets Her Wish (1999)
original story by Dana Bonstrom

commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Education Division

Pinocchio's Adventures in Funland (1999)
words by Dana Bonstrom

commissioned by the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center (NYC)

I. Introduction    Streaming audio
      II. Geppetto's Workshop
      III. Pinocchio's Escape
      IV. The History of Pinocchio
      V. The Blue Fairy
      VI. Pinocchio and Candleflame
      VII. The Coach to Funland
      VIII. The Trip to Funland
      IX. Funland
      X. Donkeyland
      XI. The Coachman's Return
      XII. The Circus
      XIII. Pinocchio's Lament
      XIV. A Watery Adventure
      XV. Pinocchio's Return

View score (PDF)

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Budget Cuts (1995)
a septet for three players and conductor

commissioned (without funds) by

the Boston Musica Viva

The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation (1998)

commissioned by

Naomi Gurt Lind

text by Nahum Tate

Jazz/Funk Ensemble works and Arrangements

The Funk Project I (1999)

The Funk Project II (2000)

I Got Rhythm (1999)