johnfranekmusic @ gmail.com
LIST OF WORKS
ORCHESTRAL
Sea Change
(2.2.2.2. 4.3.3.1. Perc. 1.2. Pno. Strings)
Mithridates
(3.3.3.2. 4.3.3.1. Timp. Perc. Strings)
Torso
(Four Violin Soloists, String Orchestra)
61 Symphonies for Conductor
(For Conductor & Improvising Orchestra)
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OPERA
Nous
(SATBr. Soloists, SA Choir, Vln. 1.2. Vla 1.2. Vla. Vc. Cba.)
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CONCERTANTE
Aedificatoria: Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra
(2.2.2.2. 2.2.2.1 Pno. Solo. Perc. 1.2. Strings)
1ONDON-MONIT9R: Concerto for Piano and Eight Instruments
(Piano Soloist, Flute, Clarinet in Bb, Bass Clarinet in Bb, Vibraphone, Timpani, Violin, Viola, Cello)
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CHAMBER
(Records, Pan-flutes and Live Feedback)
Answering Machines
(Flute, Clarinet in Bb, Violin and Cello)
...and the rain
(Two Cellos)
++ for Octet
(Flute, Clarinet in Bb, Bassoon, Perc. 1.2., Piano, Violin 1.2., Cello)
Hiemal
(Flute, Clarinet in Bb, Vibraphone, Piano, Violin)
Backscatter
(Blockflöte, Panflutes and Live Feedback Loop)
Ogygian Cycles
(Flute and Classical Guitar)
Siphonic Perforations
(Cln. & B. Cln in Bb, Perc., Vln. and Pno.)
Tuonelaitku
(Cln. & B. Cln in Bb, Perc., Vln. and Vcl.)
Katadrosera
(Flute, Cln. in Bb, Perc., E. Gtr., B. Gtr., Pno.)
EGOAGO
(String Quartet No. 1)
Golos
(Saxophone Quartet)
Partita
(Piano, Fortepiano and Harpsichord) or (3 Pianos)
(Open Instrumentation - Seven or More Instruments)
Muted Artifacts
(Bass Flute, Bass Clarinet in Bb, Vibraphone, Piano, Violin 1.2., Viola, Cello, Double Bass)
De Motu Cordis
(Conductor, Flute, Clarinet in Bb, Sop. Saxophone, Horn in F, Trombone, Tuba, Violin, Viola, Cello)
(Two Violins )
(Clarinet in Bb, Trumpet in Bb, Violin, Contrabass, Piano)
IEDE-ZAI
(Soprano Soloist, Bass Clarinet, Horn, 3 Tom-toms, String Quartet)
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CHORAL
Flatus Vocis
Requiem for Many Voices with Soloist
O're Ta-Žhan
SATB A Cappella with part splitting
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SOLO
Plutic Canto
for Flute Solo
Uhtcearia
Partita for Oboe Solo
Inquietude
for Oboe and Electronic Track
Calliope
for Horn Solo
for Portative Organ
Brumalium
for Organ
Sonata
for Organ
Lament Configurations
for Viola Organista
Tethers
Partita for Viola Solo
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ELECTRONIC
INSTLLTN No. 1 - res
Symphonia for Orchestra Praeteritum
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IN PROGRESS:
ARIA: Concerto for Organ and Orchestra
GLAS: Cantata for Choir and Electronics
LIMINUM: for Automated Piano
SELECTED WORKS
Below you will find some more info about recently premiered works.
Interested in a commission? Feel free to reach out: johnfranekmusic@gmail.com
OGYGIAN CYCLES
for flute and guitar
A precarious relationship grasping for cohesion, a consistent desire for reciprocation, and unabashed attempts at tumbling into cohesion define the nature of this work.
Much like the vivid and contrasting characteristics of Odysseus's savior/captor Calypso in Homer's Odyssey, Ogygian Cycles (named so after the island Ogygia, where Calypso was said to reside) aims to portray the emotional depths of reluctance, hesitance, coincidence, understanding and agreement within the relationship of the the musical material from the two contrasting instruments.
This uncommon or unexpected instrumental duo, with each instrument possessing entirely different (and sometimes conflicting) timbrel and textural capabilities provided the perfect set of creative constraints to portray such an unlikely relationship of tones.
ANSWERING MACHINES
For Flute, Clarinet in Bb, Violin and Cello
Answering Machines is a collection of responses to the over stimulation of a working artist's daily process. As our instruments are also nothing more than "answering machines" within the narratives of the pieces we perform, the catalyst of a hyper-specific function-narrative relationship arose.
TUONELAITKU
For Clarinet/Bass Clarinet in Bb, Violin, Cello and Percussion
Tuonelaitku takes its harmonic and affective inspiration from the writings found in the Kalevala about Tuonela, or the Underworld, within Finnish Mythology.
The title Tuonelaitku comes from the combination of Tuonela, the realm of the dead, and Itku, the weeping and cries from it's inhabitants. In this work I attempt to use the familiar idea of lamentation and Funebre aesthetics and elevate them into a fresh, otherworldly soundscape.
Premiered by the Syntax Ensemble in Sala Puccini, Milan on Oct 29, 2021.
SIPHONIC PERFORATIONS
for violin, clarinet in Bb doubling bass, piano and percussion
Presenting the deepest sonic contrasts between fleeting stopped sounds and cloud-like atmospheres of noise, Siphonic Perforations was composed after experimenting with the disparity between short and long compositional material. The goal of this procedure was to experiment with creating as well as siphoning out a room's sound world, creating a structure of contrast that overlies the pacing of the piece's harmonic material.
Premiered by the Brightwork New Music Ensemble in Los Angeles as the culmination of the 2021 Impulse New Music Festival.
++
for octet
A piece in two parts, I began ++ in order to highlight my personal experience of mitigating overstimulation. Following a chaotic and diversely textural opening which commands attention in multiple direction simultaneously, the work begins to create space for notable gestural independence and shared functionality between the parts. This sudden departure from the original soundscape and gradual process of grounding the ensemble is directly referential from my own experience.
Structurally the piece expands upon and imbeds multiple traditional chamber music forms within itself while simultaneously striving to acquire it's own narrative. This adding of formulaic content further into form and harmonic progressions within its own harmonic foundation.
"++" was selected as a finalist in the 5th Edition of the Bruno Maderna Composition Competition, sponsored by the Lviv Philharmonic Society. Premiered by KLKNEWMUSIC in July 2021 at the Lviv National Philharmonic, Ukraine.
WAVELENGTHS
for Recorders, Pan-flutes and Live Feedback
WAVELENGTHS gathers visual light phenomena as subject material for musical representation and imitation, thereby producing aural wavelengths which are descriptive of their visual counterparts. Additionally, each instrument's sounds are augmented through live electronics in order to more fully capture the refractory nature of their optical wavelength counterparts.
TORSO
for four violins and string orchestra
TORSO is a piece centered around sculpting the reaction of the human upper body to anxiety and uncertainty in sound.
TORSO was premiered by the Janáček Filharmonie in Ostrava, Czechia on June 6th, 2020 and will be released on Navona Records on March 12, 2021.
SEA CHANGE
for Orchestra
A Sea Change indicates a profound transformation or substantial change in perspective, often times used idiomatically to refer to a societal shift in attitude towards social issues.
In the work Sea Change I attempt to represent the immense and consistent energy, struggle and commitment needed in order to achieve the slightest amount of progress or metamorphosis. The starting point of the work is on the note C, which through the course of the work comes to represent a checkpoint within a search-space of sounds and tonalities surrounding the pitch.
These independent pitches skirmish, exude independence and seek identity as the texture of the work as a whole continuously attempts to achieve cohesion. It is only through multiple dense, high-energy episodes that these independent actors eventually find togetherness having traveled as a whole gradually in the same direction, rendering the unison C note at the end different than the one at the beginning.
