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Earthquake!'s first movement, Victims' Lament, was begun as a response to the earthquake in Haiti Jan 12, 2010. I was feeling empathy for the victims of the earthquake and thinking how it must be to have the structures of ones home and community collapse around them, to lose loved ones and possessions. After the piece was completed, I decided to continue to explore the musical material in further movements, choosing names for them based upon a loose programmatic idea of processes one might go through after experiencing an earthquake. With the subsequent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the most recent earthquake in Mexico and with other earthquakes continuing to take lives every year, performances of this work feel particularly poignant. This piece is dedicated to victims of earthquakes wherever and whenever they occur.
This Performance was on March 31, 2017
at Temple University, Rock Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Performed by the Glaux Ensemble
flute: Cynthia Folio
flute: Lisamarie McGrath
cello: Jeffrey Solow
piano: Charles Abramovic
copyright 2010, all rights reserved
Cicada Brokaw Publishing
ASCAP
Ode to the End of Oil For SATB or TTBB chorus with Piano accompaniment.
From the musical "How We Saved the World"
Performance on March 2, 2017
at the event Cabaret and Cabernet at the Oliver Winery near Bloomington, IN.
Performed by members of the Quarryland Men's Chorus
tenor 1: Luiz Fernando Lopes
tenor 2: Nic Newby, Rex Hinkle
baritone: Cicada Dennis
bass: Chris Goodbeer
piano: Constance Cook Glen
Words by the composer:
He drives to work every day in his car
She gets the groceries and works twice as hard at two part time jobs.
They are just getting by. Then gas prices go up.
Whoa, oh...
Give us one more drop.
We've got to drill baby drill, to keep the rat race going.
Got to drill baby drill, despite the planet's warming.
Our luxury counts on us working each day
burning oil that we need to keep slaving away.
So give us oil without end (amen, amen).
She joined the army to defend our shores.
Now she helps keep it safe to drill for more oil
which is used to defend our right to get more.
As gas prices go up. Whoa, oh...
Give us one more drop.
We've got to drill baby drill, to keep the rat race going.
Got to drill baby drill, despite the planet's warming.
Our luxury counts on us working each day
burning oil that we need to keep slaving away.
So give us oil without end (amen, amen).
We dreamed that the oil would flow on forever.
Keep everything running on which we depend.
The summers are hot; the winters are cold;
and running the HVAC keeps driving... keeps driving...
driving the fossil fuel costs up, up, up, up, up!
Now she'd go to the store, but there's no gas to go.
And it's too far to walk, and there's nothing to buy.
And he'd do work from home, but the internet's down.
And there's no-one to call, 'cause their cell phones have died.
And the planet warms up! Whoa, oh...
Give us one more drop.
We've got to drill baby drill, to keep the rat race going.
Got to drill baby drill, despite the planet's warming.
Our luxury counts on us working each day
burning oil that we need to keep slaving away.
So give us oil without end (amen, amen).
copyright 2013, all rights reserved
Cicada Brokaw Publishing
ASCAP
Meadoweave is a transformational soundscape. Sounds from Ohio and North Carolina landscapes are woven together with flutes which float through the sonic texture. The two flute duets utilized in the course of this piece are performed by the composer and are from his flute duet cycle "For Dianne". There is an aspect of this piece that is about memory and perception. The doors and changes in sonic spatial characteristics relate to the perceptual differences of our direct experiences from those of our memories and our memories of memories. Related to the theme of memory there are also elements of wistfulness and yearning.
copyright 2005, all rights reserved
Cicada Brokaw Publishing
ASCAP
See the Sunrise For SATB chorus with Piano accompaniment.
Recorded by The Composers' Choir
Words by the composer:
See the sunrise at the break of day,
golden rays pierce through the haze,
dewdrops sparkle on shimmering leaves
spider webs a crystal lace.
This is our heritage.
We share creation with all other beings,
we share our fate.
How can we all live together in peace?
Share our wonder and awe of the earth and her beings, our brethren.
The fish in the sea, the birds of the air,
all of the plants and the animals,
hoof, feather, and fin, they are our kin.
Sharing in harmony,
sharing our love of the world,
of our lives,
of the sun!
See the sunrise at the break of day,
golden rays pierce through the haze,
dewdrops sparkle on shimmering leaves,
spider webs a crystal lace.
Waves pounding on ocean shores,
gentle rain and rolling thunder,
pine scent, lavendar, roses in bloom,
canyons formed by rolling rivers.
Open our eyes!
Help us to hear the stories of plants and animals, our kin.
Chorus of birds, insects call,
call us to connect with our heritage.
We share creation with all other beings, we share our fate.
We share the sunrise, let us awake!
We share creation with all other beings,
birds and insects, we share our fate.
Connect with our heritage, let us awake!
to the sunrise at the break of day,
golden rays pierce through the haze,
gentle rain and rolling thunder,
we will open our eyes,
we will open our ears.
We will see.
We will hear.
We will rise up and wield our power to change.
Sharing in harmony, sharing our love of the earth,
of our lives, of the birds,
of the trees, of the sea,
of the rain, of the sunrise at the break of day,
golden rays pierce through the haze,
dewdrops sparkle on shimmering leaves,
spiderwebs, crystalline lace.
See the sunrise.
See the Sun rise.
copyright 2009, all rights reserved
Cicada Brokaw Publishing
ASCAP
See The Sunrise is the final scene in the musical drama How We Saved the World.