Selected Works
with audio and program notes
Chamber Music / Vocal Music / Large Ensemble / Chronological List
 Sextet
I. Groove - mp3
II. Canon - mp3
III. Ritornello - mp3
IV. Passacaglia- mp3
(Total duration: ca. 8 1/2 mins)
A piece for mixed instrumentation inspired by Baroque music and progressive rock.
>
Read the program note for Sextet on my blog. |
Zachary Boeding, Oboe
Andrew Thompson, Bassoon
Gregor Kaelin, Trumpet
Amy Kao, Harpsichord
Lisa Goddard, Violin
Elizabeth Oka, Viola
|
Completed January 2012
Premiered April 23, 2012 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Rehearsing "Sextet" in Jordan Hall
Completed March 2012
Premiered April 1, 2012 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
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Places in the Bay Area
I. San Francisco Streets -- Home - mp3
II. The Marin Headlands in Fog - mp3
(Total duration: ca. 8 mins)
A piece for flute (doubling on piccolo) and piano inspired by the San Francisco Bay Area, my hometown.
> Read the program note for Places in the Bay Area on my blog. |
Sarah Sutherland, Flute and Piccolo
Kristina Nyberg, Piano
|
Completed February 2012
Premiered March 6, 2012 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Kristina Nyberg, Nell, and Sarah Sutherland
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Setsugekka
I. Mountain and River on the Kiso Road - mp3
II. Panorama of the Eight Views of Kanazawa
under a Full Moon - mp3
III. The Whirlpools of Naruto in Awa Province - mp3
(Total duration: ca. 5 mins)
Inspired by the woodblock prints of Ando Hiroshige.
> Visit the Beyond the Notes multimedia guide to Setsugekka to learn more about the art and music. |
Samantha Bennett, Violin
Wesley Chu, Piano
|
Completed May 2011
Premiered October 25, 2011 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Samantha Bennett, Nell, and Wesley Chu
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Watercolors
I. An April Mood - mp3
II. Autumnal Fantasy - mp3
III. Sun and Rocks - mp3
IV. Glory of Spring - mp3
(Total duration: ca. 15 mins)
This wind quintet was inspired by the paintings of Charles Burchfield. Watercolors was winner of the 2011 New England Conservatory Honors Ensemble Competition.
> Visit the Beyond the Notes multimedia guide to Watercolors to learn more about the art and music. |
Andra Winds
2010-2011 Honors Ensemble at
New England Conservatory
Ridge Davis, Flute
Martha Kleiner, Oboe
Christopher Mothersole, Clarinet
Lauren Hunt, Horn
Sean Maree, Bassoon
|
Completed January 2011
Premiered May 12, 2011 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Nell with Andra Winds
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Completed March 2011
Premiered April 26, 2011 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Nell and Devin Ulibarri
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Into nowhere
I - mp3
II - mp3
III - mp3
(Total duration: ca. 18.5 mins)
"I had nothing but to walk into nowhere and the wide sunset space with the star."
- Georgia O'Keeffe
The first movement became the score to my video The Faraway Nearby: Georgia O'Keeffe and the New Mexico Landscape. |
Ridge Davis, Flute
Christopher Mothersole, Clarinet
Asher Severini*
and Wesley Chu**, Piano
Samantha Bennett, Violin
Joanna Wiebe, Cello
* first and second movements
** third movement
|
Completed April 2010
Premiered April 20 (movements I & II) and May 4 (movement III) 2010 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Wesley Chu, Ridge Davis, Chris Mothersole, Nell,
Joanna Wiebe, and Samantha Bennett
Asher Severini and Nell
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Trees
I. Eucalyptus - mp3
II. Redwood - mp3
III. Curly Willow - mp3
(Total duration: ca. 8.5 mins)
This is an arrangement of a work for two oboes with harpsichord, originally scored for six-part flute choir (four C flutes with alto and bass). It was written last summer for the San Francisco State University Flute Choir, who premiered the first movement in August 2009 as part of a program of music by American composers. |
Heather Shelley and
Paul Lueders, Oboe
Sojourner Hodges, Harpsichord |
Flute choir version completed August 2009.
Arrangement completed for oboes and harpsichord February 2010.
Premiered February 22, 2010 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Heather Shelley, Paul Lueders, Nell, and Sojourner Hodges
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Duet
I - mp3
II - mp3
III - mp3
(Total duration: ca. 7.5 mins)
A set of playful, virtuosic duets for flute and bassoon. |
Adam Eccleston III, Flute
Nathan Landes, Bassoon |
Completed October 2009 (mov. I), December 2010 ( movs. I & II)
First movement premiered October 27, 2009; second and third movements premiered January 26, 2010, at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Nathan Landes, Nell, Adam Eccleston
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Nine Muses
(click titles for mp3s)
For flute
Euterpe (the delightful one)
Muse of music and lyric poetry
Thalia (the blossoming one)
Muse of comedy and bucolic poetry
Melpomene (the chanting one)
Muse of tragedy
For harp
Calliope (the beautiful of speech)
Chief of the Muses and Muse of epic poetry
Polyhymnia (the singer of many hymns)
Muse of sacred song, oratory, lyrics, singing, and rhetoric
Terpsichore (the dancing one)
Muse of choral song and dance
For violin
Clio (the glorious one)
Muse of history
Erato (the amorous one)
Muse of love or erotic poetry, lyrics, and marriage songs
Urania (the celestial one)
Muse of astronomy
(Total duration: ca. 13.5 mins)
Three sets of miniatures for solo instruments inspired by the Greek Muses.
> Read the program note. |
Anne Gregory, Flute
Maria Rindello Parker, Harp
Audrey Wright, Violin |
Completed February 2009
Premiered March 10th, 2009 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Nell with Anne Gregory; with Maria Rindello Parker
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The Course of Empire
Peabody Essex Museum
I. The Savage State - mp3
II. The Pastoral State - mp3
III. Consummation - mp3
IV. Destruction - mp3
V. Desolation - mp3
(Total duration: ca. 15 mins)
Premiere at NEC
I. The Savage State - mp3
II. The Pastoral State - mp3
III. Consummation - mp3
IV. Destruction - mp3
V. Desolation - mp3
(Total duration: ca. 15 mins)
A string quartet inspired by Thomas Cole's cycle of paintings by the same name.
> Visit the Beyond the Notes multimedia guide to The Course of Empire to learn more about the art and music. |
Peabody Essex Performance:
Lisa Zurlindin, Violin
Ethan Wood, Violin
Jason Fisher, Viola
Alexei Gonzales, Cello
Members and Guest Members of A Far Cry
Premiere:
Tetrachord
Quan Yuan, Violin
Jennifer Wey, Violin
Matthew Davies, Viola
David Meyer, Cello
2008-2009 Honors Ensemble at New England Conservatory |
Completed December 2008
Premiered February 24th, 2009 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Second Performance July 31, 2011 at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA
Performance of The Course of Empire at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA
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The Promise
listen to mp3
(Duration: ca. 11 mins)
I chose the combination of trumpet and string quartet for a lush, quasi-orchestral feeling, reminiscent of the string and brass-oriented textures in an early Baroque orchestra. The first section features call-and-answer echoes between the trumpet and the violins, one of which plays offstage (a reference to Monteverdi). Each of the instruments live primarily in their low and middle ranges, created a warm, centered timbre.
The exact meaning of the piece is intended to be open-ended, but it is a general expression of hope and determination: a promise that one makes to others and to oneself. |
Diana Wensley, Trumpet
Amy Galluzzo, Violin
Jennifer Wey, Violin
Samuel Gold, Viola
Ginevra Ventre, Cello |
Completed March 2008
Premiered November 25th, 2008 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA
Ginevra Ventre, Jennifer Wey, Nell, Sam Gold, Amy Galluzzo, Diana Wensley
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Time-Lapse
listen to mp3
(Duration: 3:50)
As the title suggests, this piece was intended to give the sense of a length of time (hours, days or years) passing by in a condensed period of time. |
Jacqueline Leclair, English Horn
Bill Kalinkos, Clarinet in Bb
Chris Jenkins, Viola
Leigh Stuart, Cello
(Members of Alarm Will Sound, Fireworks Ensemble and Invert.) |
Completed October 2007
Recorded November 2007 at John Kilgore Sound & Recording in New York, NY
Engineered by John Kilgore
Chris Jenkins, Nell, Jacqueline Leclair, Bill Kalinkos, and Leigh Stuart
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Chamber Music / Vocal Music / Large Ensemble / Chronological List
© 2012 Nell Shaw Cohen
Please do not redistribute any of this content.
Send questions and comments to nell@nellshawcohen.com