The Music

I wrote this piece to enter in the Harrelson Trumpets 2006 composition contest. The requirements were simple: write an original composition for solo trumpet or trumpet and piano. I opted for the latter.
My inspiration for the piece was the owl (The Wise) -- primarily the common barn owl and the burrowing owl (grew up with those little guys in south Florida). The following are the notes I included with my score:
This solo is intended to be very episodic, with three larger sections representing different periods in the day of the owl, and each of these sections consisting of several smaller sections with themes and melodies loosely tied together. The three large sections to the piece are Dawn, Day and Dusk.
Since the owl is nocturnal the intense and powerful trumpet lines along with the frenzied piano in the Dusk and Dawn sections are meant to depict this. The Day section is, of course, the longest. It is more serene and lyrical, portraying the restful, peaceful owl perched over its nest or burrow, calmly observing its surroundings and taking care of its young.
The piano accompaniment serves as a frantic backdrop, essentially the “prey”, while the trumpet is “the wise” itself. The difference in the dotted rhythms juxtaposed to the triplets (quarter and eighth) is critical and must be emphasized and a clear distinction made by the performers. This is to represent the sometimes awkwardness of the owl. While they can be a graceful bird of prey in flight, during capture, particularly while struggling on the ground, their wing flutter can be very uneven and erratic.
When interpreting and performing the piece the musicians are encouraged to take liberties where they feel appropriate. One example is in the 16th note triplets in the piano beginning in measure 7. These could also be changed to two grace notes leading to the third note of the arpeggio as an eighth note, essentially as a broken chord. It does not necessarily need to be played as straight triplets. The rhythm does, however, need to be consistent throughout. Another instance is with the grace notes, as they are preferred on the beat, rather than preceding the beat, but the performers may interpret them as they wish. Articulations are also open to interpretation provided there is artistic reasoning and not simply facilitation to performance.

The award is a from Harrelson Trumpets was a custom trim kit for my horn, valued up to $350. First place was a custom trumpet built any way you wanted it, which could be valued well over $5,000 for this particular company. Not that I'm unhappy with my prize, but I'd sure like that first place next time.

MIDITRAX Mighty MIDI Contest Winner December 2000 A Child's Dream (5:54 - 44k)

I wrote this piece one week in the spring of '98. It features the piano and "music box", accompanied by a full orchestra. This is, without a doubt, my most popular composition and gets the most downloads and comments.

MIDITRAX Mighty MIDI Contest Winner February 2001 Roswell (3:52 - 16k)

Probably my second most popular piece, this was my first attempt at a new age, easy listening, cheesy soft sounding piece. It was written for a new friend who was having an operation. I wanted to cheer her up. I think I did okay.

Concert Band - This is a re-work of a piece I wrote in 1996 after the Atlanta Olympics based on the life of Ukrainian gymnast Lilia Podkopayeva. You can find the original version further down on this page. I used portions of the original and expanded on some of the motives. I think what I have now is much more complete. This first (1 of 4) movement describes Lilia's early years growing up in Ukraine while part of the USSR. Do a search at google if you want to learn more.

The second movement is about Lilia learning about gymnastics from a poster at a train station. It follows with her traveling to Kiev by train and having immediate success, winning her first competition. The majority of this movement has a light, playful feeling. I also tried to convey the early victories and the struggle of traveling back and forth from her home in Donetsk to Kiev for training.

The third movement is about the passing of Lilia's beloved grandmother just before the '96 Atlanta Olympics. Lilia was in the US and unable to attend her grandmother's funeral. It was Lilia's grandmother who got her into gymnastics and encouraged her. The heavy introduction is to represent the just how hard this news was on Lilia. Soon it sets in, however, and becomes pure sadness. It ends with a familiar theme from the first movement, which is to represent her futile wish to be home for the funeral.

The final movement is about Lilia's trip to Atlanta, parade through the opening Olympic ceremonies and gold medal winning performance. The last drive incorporates all of the main themes overlapping one another, moving together in a celebratory, victorious finish.

I wrote this song over the course of 2 days, February 13th and 14th. It's unlike anything I've written before. Dark sound with piano, violin and cello accompanying the solo voice. Read the lyrics. I've debated for quite a while about whether or not to upload an mp3 I have of myself singing this. Hmm . . .

Piano solo - It has nothing to do with God or any religion for that matter. It was when I wrote this piece that I knew I wanted to write music for the rest of my life. The very next week I changed my major from education to composition.

Hilton's Theme (3:28 - 10k)
No, I didn't steal someone elses music and write it off as my own. Hilton was my composition professor at the University of South Florida. I wrote this theme while studying with him. For the assignment I had to write a short piece, but I had to do it all sitting at the piano, and I wasn't allowed to write down a single note. I had to be able to play it myself (my piano skills suck) and I had to remember every note, dynamic, and little nuance. He felt that I was writing music that was just too complicated at the time, and this was his solution. I took the main theme from that assignment and turned it into this little ditty. I'm now using it in another video project which you can view at Chameleon Works

This Is Me (5:05 - 19k)
I wrote this rather hastily, and some spots of it show. I'm sure one day I'll clean it up, but I'm actually writing quite a bit right now and I want to get the new ideas down while they're coming. As far as this piece goes, it's pretty simple. It's a little New Age-y, though, so deal with it.

Missing (2:55 - 7k)

piano solo - I wrote this one lonely night while thinking of someone. Wonder who that was?

Thoughts of Being a Father (3:48 - 7k)

Some of you might remember this one from The Junkyard of this site. I began writing this piece in 1999 when my girlfriend at the time told me she was pregnant with my baby. Some time later it was all over, and there was no baby. To this day I still don't know what the truth is. This is a vague representation of my thoughts during that time, and since.

Within - Movement 1 (2:52 - 5k)
Movement 2 (2:35 - 6k)
Movement 3 (2:53 - 6k)

woodwind ensemble - This multimovement piece took me about 3 years to complete. I wrote the first and third movement in less than a week, and struggled through the second movement up until December, 2000, when it suddenly came to me one night. The theme is "beautiful dissonance". It's within us all.

Summit - for brass ensemble (4:51 - 26k)

for piano-four hands (4:51 - 26k)

This was an assignment in my first semester of music composition. I originally wrote it for piano-4 hands, then orchestrated it for a brass ensemble.

Day One (2:23 - 10k)

piano solo - This one is about probably my favorite person in the world. I wrote it a few years ago when we went out . . . for a day. I wonder if she even remembers it. Most people don't remember the music I write about, or for them. I don't know why, though, because I think some of it is kind of good.

Cave of Mystery - Movement 1 (4:01 - 20k)

Movement 2 (2:38 - 15k)

Originally written for a video game, the first movement was rejected by the game designers. They wanted something "darker". I had already been working with this team for a couple months, and in that time I deduced that they were all idiots and knew nothing about music, so I translated their idea of "darker" and came up with the second movement, which they loved. Both movements are mostly atonal. It's been a while since I've looked at either one, but I believe the only exception is a short portion of the first movement, which contains some whole tone scales.

E3 (3:06 - 9k)

This piece was inspired by the letter E. Damn thing just popped right out of my head.

She Is (1:47 - 6k)

clarinet solo - I liked a girl. I wrote a song.

The More I Know (4:43 - 9k) lyrics

Piano and voice - These lyrics were partially taken from a poem I wrote to a friend, which can be found in The Poetry section of this site. The meaning has changed. I just stole some lines. I'm not particularly fond of the chorus melody, so maybe someday I'll re-write it. For now it stays.

Yo Naci Un Dia "The Day I was Born" (3:33 - 3k) lyrics
For soprano voice and alto saxophone - This was my second assignment in my first and only semester at North Texas as a music composition major. The text is taken from a 20th century Spanish poem. I will post the translation to the lyrics up here someday . . . when I feel liek it. The basic translation of the first line of the original poem is "The day I was born, God was sick." It's an "artsy" piece and helped me get an A for the semster.

Accident Prone(4:04 - 8k)
For trumpet and piano - Yes, this is yet another trumpet solo. It was my first comp assignment at UNT and it's quite complicated. Like Yo Naci Un Dia, it might be considered "artsy". The motive orignally stemmed from the idea of "incomplete measures" with 7/16 bars trying to sound like 2/4 with a fraction of the beat missing. This missing piece floats around from measure to measure throughout the piece. However, this can easily be overlooked by the turgid ostinato bass line in the piano that provides the dark background feel I was looking for. The solo trumpet cadenza is merely a guidline for the soloist. If performed I would expect them to write their own personal cadenza, or improvise one. I spent more than 2 months working on this piece, rewriting passages several times, moving parts all around the score just trying to get it all to fit together. I'm actually somewhat happy with the outcome, considering this was an assignment I never wanted to do.

Dance of Tears (3:53 - 10k)

At the time I thought this piece was a great idea, and it got a terrific response from my peers. In retrospect, however, it's quite silly. This is my musical interpretation of the James Cameron movie "Titanic". My whole idea behind the piece was for the listener to imagine themselves in a dark theatre watching the scene with Jack and Rose dancing in the lower deck of the ship. Slowly the sound would fade, and the picture would slow. This piece would begin as you watch the couple share their first and only dance. Pretty lame, huh?

The Sky Is Blue (6:02 - 46k)

I worked on this piece off and on for about a month. I posted the first minute or so in MIDI and MP3 format so visitors could get a taste of it and tell me what they thought. No one said a thing to me! So now you will listen to every damn word that I have to say and listen to this piece all the way through. All six minutes and two seconds of it. And if you happen to notice that one of the themes sounds a little familiar, maybe from a movie, then you get 5 bonus points! :) Which you can use to kiss my ass!
No, really. Have a nice day.

Horror (1:46 - 9k)
I wrote this short piece for the Young Film Composers Contest at Turner Classic Movies. It accomanies a short clip from Nosferatu, the original vampire movie. It will be a while till all of the judging is done and I find out how I place. You can bet I'll post the results on this site.

Present Tree (2:02 - 8k)
This is actually a revised edition, at the request of a visitor, of a piece I wrote a few years ago. The original version was about 26 seconds long. Listen and see what you think.

The Fight of My Life (1:39 - 4k) Lyrics
I wrote this sometime late in 2000. Read the lyrics if you want to know what it's about.

My Kate (6:03 - 22k) Lyrics
I believe I wrote this in the spring of 1998. It's a fictious song about a man and his wife, who he accidentally killed. This was one of the more successful efforts I made at writing a song in the style of Adam Sandler. If you want to know more you'll have to read the lyrics.

I don't know why I never uploaded this before. I wrote it almost a year ago. It's nothing too special. Very light, almost uplifting kind of piece. It's a happy maker.

Alexandra (3:44 - 59k)

One of my oldest online friends requested that I write a piece about this girl he liked. I, having nothing better to do, devoted two whole nights to this. He had only a few requests. 1) He wanted it to feature a tiny instrument to represent her small stature. 2) it had to be a march (Don't ask why. This guy is weird.) 3) At least one melodic line had to be 8 notes long, to represent the 8 syllables in her name. He was happy with the final product.

Too Good (7:22 - 15k)

This is sort of a love song I wrote for an ex. I hated the lyrics and meaning of the song so I dropped the vocal line and left it as a piano solo. There are still many weak spots, but I'm too tired to mess with it.

Love (4:40 - 14k)

I was a stupid, stupid kid. Give me a break, okay?

Nad The Nerd (2:40 - 7k)

Her real name is Lucy. Like me, she is a nerd. But she's cool at the same time. One talk we had inspired me to write this short piece about her. It shows her dark side, along with all of the things that make her a beautiful person.

Knot (3:32 - 9k)

Piano solo - No story really. I took a day off of work because I felt sick. I wrote this piece when I coudln't stand to lay down anymore. Get it?

Unveil (3:21 - 22k)

This is a stupid story, but I'll share it with you anyway. I was coming online and talking to people for years before I ever made a web site. People constantly asked me for a pic, but I didn't have one. So finally when I got a roll of film developed I checked that little box to get my pics scanned to a disk at the same time. Everyone was making such a big deal about finally seeing what I looked like I just had to write this theme music for the unveiling. Of course, it took nearly 2 weeks to get my pictures, and that whole scenario brought about a failed composition titled "Death to Eckerd Photo".

Moving On (3:15 - 7k) lyrics
I wrote this one when a 2 year relationship came to an end.

lyrics by Eric Anderson - Heaven Sent An Angel (3:37 - 17k)

Back when I had my old web site up a kid emailed me saying he was a lyricist and he wanted to work with me on some music. He sent me several sets of lyrics. This was the only one I didn't think was horrible, so I used it.

Wrapping Up (1:34 - 9k)

In the summer of '98 I took a film class. This piece was supposed to be part of the soundtrack to my final assignment, which was a documentary on my roommate, a theatre lighting tech.

Emotions of The Games (4:14 - 26k)

Olympic Drive (3:06 - 16k)

The '96 summer Olympics drew me in and compelled me to write these two pieces. Olympic Drive describes the passion that each athlete has and Emotions of The Games takes you through all of the experiences from the pre-olympic trials, to the opening ceremonies, the triumphs, the losses, and the closing of the games.

Draco (5:48 - 11k)

Ah, yes, this is another theme song about an online friend. For a long time I believed him to be suicidal. It wasn't until after writing this piece that I realized it was just a cry for attention.

When I Think of You (4:21 - 27k)

This is the first song I ever wrote that I thought was any good. I modeled it after the song Celine Deon sang at the '96 Olympics, "The Power of a Dream". The lyrics are completely different. And actually, so is the music.

Last Words (2:56 - 7k)

This isn't a love song. It's about a guy who got his heart broken. It's fictional (and about 5 years old) if you were wondering.

Trumpet Thing (4:11 - 10k)

I wrote this guy last summer. I don't remember much about it as I was in the process of ending a serious relationship and most things in my life were screwy. I'm just now uploading it because I kept thinking I was going to go back and work on it some more, but let's face it, I'm tired.

Trumpet Solo - mvmt. 1 (4:05 - 11k)
Trumpet Solo - mvmt. 2 (1:55 - 7k)

trumpet solo - For years I tried and tried and tried to write a trumpet solo. I actually started writing this piece in 1996 when I was a senior in high school. I didn't finish it until my sophomore year of college. You guessed it . . . spring of 1998. The first movement was originally intended to be the second movement. The original first movement was completely thrown out, even though I still like it. It just didn't fit with the other two movements. In the beginning I actually planned to accompany the trumpet with a string quartet. I scrapped that idea and went with the more common piano accompaniment.

Journey (3:50 - 19k)

Not this time either.

Premonition (0:55 - 6k)

piano solo - It's kind of dark sounding I suppose. No reason. No story.

Bad Week (4:44 - 11k)

Spring of '97. NOT '98. About 50 thins crashed down on me in a one week period. Somehow I managed to salvage some good by writing this piece.

Nightmare (2:44 - 27k)

I don't remember much about this piece. It happened in that wonderous spring of '98, when I wrote about 50% of my pieces. I was producing 2-3 scores a week. Who the hell can keep track of that?

Sestra (4:25 - 10k)

flute solo - The title is Russian. I've never actually seen it spelled in anything other than cyrillic, so I'm guessing. It translates to "Sister". I wrote this piece as a xmas present for my sister to play on her flute in 1998. I never gave it to her though, and to my knowledge she still doesn't know it exists.

The Second Time (4:23 - 12k)

I wrote this piece in a furry of misbehavior. Basically I just sat down, wanting to write something simple, yet pretty, for a solo piano. The solo piano turned into piano 4 hands, and then I ended up adding strings. I'm happy with the general idea of the piece. By the way, this one's about someone (the same subject as Day One). She's too cool to only have one piece written about/for her.

Song of Kindred (3:55 - 6k)

This one is based on a poem written by the subject of "Draco", Tim Moungey.

Niagara (2:13 - 7k)

Another one about that ex. This, too, was an assignment. It's about our trip to Niagara Falls, and our first kiss.

No Battle is Ever Won (2:42 - 19k)

This was my first effort for an Electronic Music class assignment. I wrote a midi background, dubbed over sound effect, voices, and a real bugeler (me) . . . but I couldn't get the recording quality high enough with my equipment. So I stripped it down to what you hear now and turned in another piece which I wrote in about a half hour. I got an A anyway.

Rain (1:36 - 12k)

Back to the video games. Picture a forest. Picture rain in that forest. Picture some really stupid music playing.

Video Game Theme (2:41 - 12k)

Another video game theme. I actually kind of like this one.

Battle Music (2:50 - 21k)

Also a video game piece, I took a theme from a piece I could never seem to finish, changed it to a minor key, and the piece basically wrote itself from then on.

Bullshit (3:20 - 19k)

Do you ever look at all of your unfinished products and wish you could somehow throw them all together into one masterpiece? Me neither. This piece sucks. Especially one section near the end when I tried for an Italian March sound.

Son (4:20 - 10k) lyrics by Rachel A. Gold

I found a poem in 1997 by a 90+ year old woman about her son. I thought it would make a decent song. I'll see if I can find her name and web site.

Spanish Trio (1:20 - 19k)

2 trumpets, guitar - I tried to write a latin piece. This is as close as I ever came.

Valentine (2:57 - 16k)

Sappy love song. I lost the lyrics years ago.

Untitled (4:14 - 16k)

I never wrote lyrics to this song. I tried to get a couple of friends to do it because they were always asking if we could work together. It didn't work out too well though, so I still have no lyrics.

Golden - Distress (5:06 - 10k)
Abandonment (2:08 - 7k)
Discovery (1:48 - 12k)
Success (2:20 - 16k)
Sorrow (2:44 - 6k)
Triumph (2:46 - 14k)

No, you don't want to know.

MacLeod (2:29 - 12k)

Okay, yes, it's about yet another online friend. Shut up! He liked the Highlander series a lot, so I tried to incorporate some artificial Scottish sounding stuff. It's doodie.

Reflections (1:43 - 7k)

violin solo - ANOTHER assignment. It's a'ight.

Above and Beyond (1:14 - 4k)

Don't ask cuz I'm not sayin'.

Bugs (2:00 - 6k)

bassoon solo - I don't know that I would ever write a basson solo unless I was required to. This was a class assignment. It's retarded and I hate it, but it got the grade.

Double Duet - mvmt. 1 (2:00 - 6k)
mvmt. 2 (1:10 - 6k)
mvmt. 3 (3:50 - 10k)

two trumpets, two pianos - I'll admit it, I wrote this so I could perform it with a girl I liked. But like most of my terrific plans, nothing ever came of it. Perhaps it's because I have no faith in myself. Perhaps it's because no one else has faith in me. Or maybe it't just because this piece isn't any good.

Video Game Finale (2:12 - 12k)

I have been asked to write soundtracks to 2 video games. Neither game was ever finished. But I still wrote all of the friggin' music. This one comes from the first game. It's a very generic sounding theme song.

Letchworth (2:37 - 7k)

flute solo - Ugh. Sorry, but that's the first word that comes to mind when I think of this series of music. That is, music I wrote when I first started going out with this one girl. I don't know what was wrong with me. I was blind, I suppose. Anyway, we went to a park in upstate New York. I used that idea to write this class assignment.

Thank You (3:07 - 15k)

I don't like these lyrics, but I wrote them, so I won't pretend they don't exist. I just won't let you read them.

No Sleep (2:13 - 10k)

I've had sleeping problems for years. In fact, most of my music is a result (or perhaps the cause) of my insomnia. I barely remember this piece. It came in my first semester in college. I was tossing and turning for the longest time. Then I reached under my bed, grabbed a pad of notebook paper and a pencil. I proceeded to scribble down some notes (in solfeige) and chord progressions. The next morning I put it all into the computer and laughed my ass off.

LR (2:45 - 16k)

Sappy love song. I lost the lyrics years ago.

Something (1:52 - 4k)

piano 4-hands - I think I started to write something for an ex when were together, but this came out instead. Like "Trumpet Thing" I intended to go back and add more to this one, but I'm tired.

Only Dreaming (2:05 - 4k)

clarinet solo - Another assignment. It's really not about anything. And this isn't the final format I would have chosen, but I just did what my intructor told me to do.

When I Dream (2:30 - 17k)

Sappy love song. I lost the lyrics years ago.

I've Never Been In Love Before (2:44 - 10k)

Sappy love song. I lost the lyrics years ago.

Soap Theme #1 (1:28 - 7k)

Some friends of a friend produced a Soap Opera for public access television. I was the only musician they knew, so they came to me when they needed a theme song. This was my first attempt. I was going for the traditional theme sound. It's not so much that they loved it, as much as it is that they didn't. :P

Soap Theme #2 (1:17 - 13k)

This is my second go at it. Don't ask why, but they jumped all over this thing.

Soap Theme #3 (1:27 - 14k)

I was going through all of my old music files recently and came accross this piece. It was an attempt at my friend's friend's tv show theme, but I never finished it. When first listening to it I smiled. I'm not sure if it's because it's good or funny. So I finished it up and decided to post it here.

Searching (1:51 - 6k)

Fiction. Maybe sad. I don't know.

Canyon March (2:42 - 8k)

horn solo- This is the last assignment I ever completed before withdrawing from classes for medical reasons (I went nuts. I know. Me? Shut up!). I just wrote it. No story. And I guess it ends with an English march, which I did unintentionally.

If You Write Back (4:24 - 28k)

Sappy love song. I lost the lyrics years ago.

The Unknown (1:57 - 17k)

I wrote this one my senior year of high school in hopes that the graduating class might get to perform it at the final concert. We didn't. Bite me Mr. Knob.

Goodnight (3:00 - 8k) lyrics

This is a lullabye for a mother singing to her baby.

One Month and Forever (5:02 - 16k)

For and about an ex.

Run Away (2:30 - 4k)

For and about an ex.

Tell Your Story (2:48 - 6k)

Jeez. I forgot I wrote this much crap for classes. This is for a string ensemble. It's actually just two assignments that I didn't like, thrown together. Of course, my instructor told me to do it, so that makes it okay.

I Care (2:17 - k)

Sappy love song. I lost the lyrics years ago.

I Shot and Arrow in The Air (0:40 - 7k)

I wrote this piece for a video game. It's the introduction music for an archer character.

Coler, Me Mad (1:08 - 10k)

I wrote this piece for a video game. This is the theme music for a fighter character name Coler.

If Only (3:47 - 16k)

Sappy love song. I lost the lyrics years ago.

FX3 (2:05 - 10k)

Not much of a story here. I was killing some time between classes my freshman year of college. This is what I came up with.

Mage (0:44 - 5k)

Again with the video games! This is the introduction music for a mage character.

Forest (1:38 - 12k)

Remember the piece I wrote for the rainy forest? Well, this is a piece to play in that same forest, but without the rain. It's exactly the same but in a major key and with slightly different istrumentation.

Desert (0:54 - 5k)

Sound funky like it belongs in a desert? Good.

Town 1 (0:44 - 6k)

Video Game

Town 3 (1:00 - 3k)

Video Game

Talford (0:58 - 8k)

Another video game character.

Castle (1:24 - 9k)

Video Game

Castle 2 (1:14 - 6k)

Video Game

Castle 3 (0:53 - 3k)

Video Game

Andy Millott holds a copyright for all music on this site. If you wish to use these midis on your web site or for other use please contact the composer.