STEVE GELLER, MUSICIAN
Some of my Compositions
...Like a Family (2010) [2:58] MIDI.
This piece, for Brass Quintet, was written to honor the retirement of Robert Ferrante, an influential high school teacher of mine. The structure of the piece is fairly simple, with a typical A and B section that merge in the piece’s final third.
Kumbayah (2000) [3:56] MIDI.
For piano. This piece was written because a fiend of mine, Luciano Chessa, who had grown up in Italy, was looking for a quintessentially American “theme and variations” piece with which to end a concert. He asked me if any variations had ever been done on the American folk song “Kumbayah.” While explaining to him that both the song’s simplicity and the culture’s frequent tendency to ridicule it made it very unlikely to have spawned serious interpretations, I convinced myself that his best hope for such a work was if I wrote it myself. From the original liner notes:
"When I think of the famous folk song Kumbayah, I envision not only the hearty, guitar-led campfire sing-a-long version inspired by Peter, Paul and Mary, nor the religious overtones originally intended by the Gullah people of South Carolina, but an integral piece of the American musical vernacular of the 20th century. This idea is strengthened by the fact that the tune was first made known to mainstream America in the 1920's, as the country made its most celebrated search for its own artistic identity. Thus, in trying to recreate the spirit of this important decade, I have chosen to incorporate into this arrangement other qualities of American music during the "roaring twenties," including block chords reminiscent of early 20th century American folk song, and elements of Tin Pan Alley popular song. I hope you will enjoy this eclectic interpretation."
Love, Honor and Part-ay (2007) [1:59] MIDI.
This piece was written for the processional service of the wedding of my friends Ryan Friedman and Delphean Quan in the summer of 2007. As per their wishes, it is an “upbeat and festive” piece, a symbol of their joy as they walked to the altar. Also, there is an underlying mental steal from Star Wars, Ryan’s favorite movie score.
Shingles (2009) [3:31] MIDI.
For flute and piano, I enjoy this piece because virtually all of the subject matter is developed from the opening 10 seconds of material (i.e., the piano exposition before the flute first plays).
The Millionaire Tycoons, mvmt. IV: Entrance of the Four Kings (1998) [2:24] MIDI.
This piece was written for clarinet, piano, guitar, viola and cello because these had been the instruments used for various academic exercises when I audited a composition course at Harvard in 1996. In order to present the pieces as a single work, I tacked on this movement as a “finale” two years later. As I find this movement to be more enjoyable than the original exercises, it is presented here on its own. The subtitle “Entrance of the Four Kings” was added years after the piece was written, an homage to the faux stateliness of the four main instruments (i.e., all but the piano) following each other in a series of identical passages.
The Midfield (2010) [2:09] MIDI.
Ryan Friedman and Delphean Quan, for whom “Love, Honor and Part-ay” were also written, asked me to write a concert piece that would feature only the two of them: Ryan on temple blocks and Delphean on tubular bells. The two percussionists sought this new work because they were unable to find a piece for such an unusual instrumentation. Since the temple blocks are limited to only 5 pitched notes (plus some non-pitched clicks of the sticks hitting one another), the piece explores a compact palette of sounds and imagery.
A Calm and Restless Evening (1999) [12:51]
This recording, for Debussy Trio (Flute, Harp and Viola), was performed by the UCDavis Empyrean Ensemble. From the original liner notes:
"A Calm and Restless Evening is borne of the contrast between the timbre of the flute, harp and viola. Each get opportunities to act both as solo and accompanying unit, and each approach these prospects uniquely. The basis of the piece is another contrast--that between the harsh clusters first heard in the introduction (and then during moments of sectional transition), and the series of tonal interludes that form most of the body of the work. The piece is not overtly programmatic, though many deliberately suggestive images may become apparent to the listener. As though one's mind might, during the midst of a restless night, skip haphazardly through a series of sequential melodies or other familiar pastiches, each slowly building momentum into eventual chaos, A Calm and Restless Evening perpetually supplants order with uncertainty and vice versa."
Teacher's Pet (2002) [5:23]
This recording, for Flute and String Trio, was performed by the UCDavis Empyrean Ensemble. From the original liner notes:
"Teacher's Pet is a scherzo, featuring essentially atonal A and B sections and an atonal coda, while the flute's cadenza ushers in a "trio" of sorts in F minor and then in G major. The flute, given the spotlight willingly or unwillingly because of a tone color astonishingly different from that of the strings, handles its notoriety much as a teacher's pet might; whether acting as the melody in the trio's dance-like passages, or trying to work as an equal partner in the coda, the eyes and ears of the "class" are rarely distracted from its performance."
Wee Small Hours (2001) [7:33]
This recording was performed by a woodwind quintet during a Davis Composers Collective Concert. It features several members of the UCDavis Empyrean Ensemble. From the original liner notes:
"Wee Small Hours is one of my most expeditious compositions. With the exception of six measures, the piece was completed and edited in its entirety in five days and six very long nights in early April, 2001. Because of this, I feel that this composition says something rather visceral about my inherent compositional choices; because I was impelled to write the notes which came to me most intuitively, many of the passages in this piece are deeply personal. The title represents several things: the sleepless early morning hours spent frantically working, the fact that the piece was composed in just a few short hours, and the perceived slowing of time as I began delving deeply into the development of the themes. The piece is in three sections, built in part around a fugal idea with which the bassoon inaugurates the final section. The other two sections, an amorphous chorale-like opening and the jaunty, contrapuntal variation which follows, are each in part based on a single motive, which ascends a seventh and then moves downward by step."
Secuencias para la Mujer del Jefe (1999)
Mvmt. 1 [6:19]
Mvmt. 2 [5:24]
Mvmt. 3 [6:02]
Written for the wedding of my friends Jeff Gutkin and Helene Blatter in the summer of 1999, the piece features pianist Ben Morss and violinist Ellen Groningen. The piece was recorded live (in sections, then spliced together) in one of the UCDavis music rooms. The title (in English, “Sequences for the Boss's Wife”) refers to the sequential (as opposed to hierarchical) nature of the themes, but also refers to the fact that Jeff was often nicknamed “Jefe” (or “boss”). True to the Spanish title, much of the piece’s second movement contains hints of Latin idiom.
The first movement presents and narrowly develops 3 themes, each of which deal in different ways with chromaticism. The second movement juxtaposes two “parlor” sections, one in D minor and the other a tritone away in Ab. If the narrative of the first movement is the peaceful cohabitation of the two instruments, that of the second movement is passion and seduction. The third movement combines some of these ideas with a sometimes-jazzy, sometimes pastoral feel, and then leads to a “folk song” beginning at about 2:10. Jeff and Helene, both avid musicians, had co-written a folk song together years before their marriage, and this piece (loosely) sets their folk song amid its other themes. The final chords, beginning at 5:25, are intended to imply the happy couple relaxing on the couch at the end of a long day of work.