Earthquake! (2014)

From the Koran's terrifying chapters on the apocalypse:

Earth! Earthquake!

Shaken by an earthquake, the earth shall cast forth her burden.
Her skin shall be stretched smooth. Not only shall man's buildings fall
but her mountains shall be leveled, her hills absorbed, her ancient valleys and fjords erased
(like wrinkles on a forehead where the mind has forgotten time).

Earth!

The heavens shall melt and the sun be darkened.
The stars shall fall because the angels who held them suspended between earth and sky
are gone forward.
Earth's seas shall abound, endless and uniform, without shores, then burst into flames!

Earth!
Earth!
Earth!
Earth!
Earth!
Earth! Earthquake!

In horror men shall ask, "What aileth her?" expecting no reply.
But the earth shall be enabled, miraculously enabled, to speak:
"O man so shall thou meet thy labor and thy Lord whether thy works be good or evil."

The original inspiration for the text came from Chapter XCIX of the Koran, "The Earthquake." I came across a 1734 translation by English Protestant, gentleman and "Oriental" scholar, George Sale (1697-1736) and was beguiled by the resemblance of Sale's early 18th-c. English translation to the rhythmic syntax and poetry of the 17th-c. (1611) King James Bible.

I am—and always will be—intensely interested in the shared tenets of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. In the face of the tragedies of prejudice and misunderstanding in our time, I find it tremendously necessary to underline the harmony of human thinking and the potential for peace and acceptance in our world.

My particular interest in this Qur'anic chapter—which is only one of many describing the Day of Judgment in terms that often closely echo the Christian Book of Revelation—is its focus on the Earth as a participant in the judging of humanity. To me, as a post-Sandy New Yorker from Cape Cod, this seems especially important and poignant. Climate change is a reckoning of a sort for human civilization as a whole.

However, Chapter XCIX of the Koran, itself, is very terse. So I've used only two short phrases as they actually appear: "shaken by an earthquake" and "the earth shall cast forth her burden[s]". See line 2. A third phrase "and a man shall say, What aileth her?" is reflected in line 17, conflated with the tone of Abdullah Yusuf Ali's (1872-1953) translation of Koran line 099.003: "And man cries (distressed): 'What is the matter with her?'"

Instead, I drew the richest material from George Sale's generous footnotes and in his 132-page "Preliminary Discourse." In these, he amasses detail he has translated and collected from classic Qur'anic interpretations of medieval scholars Abdallah ibn Omar al-Baidawi (d. 1286) and Abu al- Qasim Mahmud ibn Umar al-Zamakhshari (1074-1143).

I adapted lines 3 and 4 from from Sale's Koran's Chapter LXXXIV (also apocalyptic) and footnote (bracketed):

"...when the earth shall be stretched out, [Like a skin: every mountain and hill being leveled.]" (Sale, Chap. LXXXIV, p. 484)

From the same chapter, I adapted material for the last line, 19:

"O man, verily laboring thou labourest to meet thy LORD, and thou shalt meet him. [Or, And thou shalt meet thy labour, whether thy works be good, or whether they be evil.]" (Sale, Chap. LXXXIV and accompanying footnote, p. 484)

More of line 4 and all of lines 7, 8 and 10 emerge, with my own free form of paraphrase, from:

"The effects attributed to this first sound of the trumpet are very wonderful: for they say the earth will be shaken, and not only all buildings, but the very mountains levelled; that the heavens shall melt, the sun be darkened, the stars fall, on the death of the angels, who, as some imagine, hold them suspended between heaven and earth, and the sea shall be troubled and dried up, or, according to others, turned into flames..." (Sale, Preliminary Discourse, p. 59)

And finally, line 18 I've adapted from Sale's footnote to line 099.004:

"'On that day the earth shall declare her tidings, for that thy LORD will inspire her.' [i. e. Will inform all creatures of the occasion of her trembling, and casting forth her treasures and her dead, by the circumstances which shall immediately attend them. Some say the earth will, at the last day, be miraculously enabled to speak, and will give evidence of the actions of her inhabitants. (Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi. See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. p. 59. OR Al Beidâwi. See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. p. 63.)]" (Sale, Chap. XCIX, p. 496)

Although it's obvious where lines 1, 6 and 11-15 come from, it was my own decision to focus the chapter's title word "Earthquake" on its component "Earth". This helped to spotlight planet Earth herself as judge, an idea that is neither Christian nor Muslim but I think strongly implied. I chose to have the cry "Earth!" represent the horn blasts. And I include the Christian number of seven blasts rather than the Muslim three.

In the Koran, the angels die, as Sale mentions above, but in the Book of Revelation they do not. In order to not to violate either belief, I inserted line 9 implying that the angels have left their posts allowing stars to fall because they have "gone forward."

Parenthetic line 5 "(like wrinkles on a forehead where the mind has forgotten time)" is entirely my own. As I watch my parents age and approach death, I'm struck by the terrifying increase of a childish innocence. To me, at this moment, this is apocalyptic and calls in a sense of final judgment. Small to anyone else. But big to me.

I pray that my very personal rendering of concepts fundamental to both Christianity and Islam and this explanation of why and what I've constructed, has not offended anyone.

Going Home (1996; substantially revised 2014)

Trio for clarinet, piano and percussion with klezmer and other unexpected twists and turns. Video-illustrated by Russell Lee's famous Depression-era photo documentation of Pie Town, New Mexico.

Faro Caudill family eating dinner in their dugout, Pie Town, NM, 1940. Photo by Russell Lee.

the soul's tale
from Symphony No. 3 “Native to Where” (2000; revised 2014)

Video-illustrated by 1969 photos of anthropologist Frank Cancian from Zinacantán, Chiapas, Mexico. The story behind the symphony derives from ancient Mayan concepts of loss and redemption.

• the soul's tale
1. Severe Objects of Worship
2. Our Houses of Sticks
3. Discovery of the Loss of a Part of the Soul
4. The Search to Recover Begins
5. The River Cuts Away, Then Runs Backwards Up the Mountain!
6. Severe Objects of Worship—Reprise

 

 

The Soul's Tale is the first of three movements in my symphony "Native to Where."

In the highlands of Chiapas, the Zinacantecos believe that our souls have 13 animal parts. If even one part strays or gets lost, you will fall ill. Then the community must organize a curing ceremony to climb to the highest mountaintop to search for and recall the soul's part.

(Photos by Frank Cancian)

Irish Farewell (2014)

Also known as St. Patrick's blessing.

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rains fall soft upon your fields

And until we meet again
May god hold you in the hollow of his hand.

Whatsoever in Nature (2014)

Excerpt from Baruch Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise, Part IV, Ethics of Human Bondage, or the Strength of Emotions, Appendix, VIII, published anonymously in 1670, seven years before his death in 1677.

Whatsoever in nature we deem to be evil,
or to be capable of injuring our faculty
for existing and enjoying the rational life,
we may endeavour to remove in whatever way seems safest to us;

on the other hand,
whatsoever we deem to be good
or useful for preserving our being,
and enabling us to enjoy the rational life,
we may appropriate to our use and employ as we think best.

Everyone without exception may,
by sovereign right of nature,
do whatsoever he thinks will advance his own interest.

Towards a collection of “essential prayers.”

The Art of Memory (1st draft)

Premiered February 17, 2013—Avant Music Festival 2013, Wild Project, 195 East 3rd St., New York NY. Curated by Megan Schubert and Randy Gibson. Evening-length oratorio for 9 musician-actors. Text began as my own translations of excerpts from Confessions of Augustine, letters from Ambrose of Milan and 4th-c. Latin hymn texts. Libretto expanded and finished by Miriam Seidel in 2014.

Fireworks (1999-2002, revised 2013)

Revision and re-orchestration of 4th-of-July opera. Words by playwright Billy Aronson.

Originally commissioned & developed by American Opera Projects. Original conceptfor family opera & direction by Grethe Barrett Holby. Premiered Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn, July 2002, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

Billy Aronson, words. Kitty Brazelton, music. An opera for the 4th of July!

STORY: An alien (INTERGALACTIC de TOCQUEVILLE or I.T.) is sent to earth to research why these colored lights emit "every time this globe hits a certain point..." Landing in a town park, her research leads IT (soprano) into chance encounters with five very individual Americans—NERD (baritone), SINGLE MOM (alto), TEENAGE REBEL (mezzo), ACTOR (tenor) and GROUNDSKEEPER (bass). A madcap tangle of wishes and misunderstandings accumulate. As the farce heats up, delightfully unexpected insights into what it means to be free—result. Fun!

Collage of get-to-know-you excerpts from workshops and one fully staged outdoor production in Brooklyn's Fort Greene Park. All commissioned, developed and produced by American Opera Projects between 1999 and 2002. And directed by Grethe Barrett Holby (whose idea it was to have an opera for a holiday when everyone is off with their families).

(FIREWORKS----Aronson-Brazelton-960x540.m4v)

 

Loving-Kindness Mantra (2013)

From the practice of Metta Bhavana

May I be filled with loving kindness
May I be well
May I be peaceful and at ease
May I be happy

May you be filled with loving kindness
May you be well
May you be peaceful and at ease
May you be happy

May we be filled with loving kindness
May we be well
May we be peaceful and at ease
May we be happy

Carol: Puer natus in Bethlehem (2013)

Latin verses excerpted from 15th-c. hymn text. English translation by Kitty Brazelton

Puer natus in Bethlehem
Alleluia
Unde gaudet Jerusalem
Alleluia

Hic jacet in praesepio
Alleluia
Qui regnat sine termino
Alleluia

Cognovit bos et asinus

Quod puer erat dominus

Reges de Saba‚ veniunt

Aurum, thus et myrrhum offerunt

In hoc natali gaudio
Alleluia
Benedicamus domino
Alleluia

Alleluia

Towards a collection of “essential prayers.”

Psalm 104

Awarded the 12th annual Carl von Ossietzky Composition Prize by the University of Oldenburg. After Sandy's damage to my New York City neighborhood in the fall of 2012 I translated Psalm 104 and set it to music, fascinated by its millennia-ancient, possibly even Egyptian, prayer for human safety from the fury of nature. The violent beauty of our precarious existence on this earth connects us to our cousins in the 14th c. BCE, across time, culture, war, everything. I am incredibly honored and thank the distinguished jury—Violeta Dinescu, Siegrid Ernst, Christoph Keller, Michael Searby and Johannes von Hoff—who conferred this award February 10, 2013, in St. Ansgari Kirche, Oldenburg, Germany.

www.smallgovtimes.com

TRANSLATION of PSALM 104, November 2012, Kitty Brazelton

1
Sang David: O my soul, bless Him. Bless the Lord.
Lord, my God, you are violently maginified.
You wrap yourself in honor and beauty,

2
a cloak of light like a gown of gold.
You stretch the sky like a skin around you,

3
you who cover all the seas:
you who place your ladder into the heavens upon the clouds;
you who walk on the wings of the winds:

4
you who make the angels into your own breathing,
to serve us burning flame.

5
You built the earth, the ground we trust beneath us
will never waver, in cycles of cycles never waver, never never waver.

6
You clothed the world in water dressing the abyss below the sea;
but the waters stood above the mountains.

7
From your voice and loud rebuke they fled;
from your thunder and noise they retreated.

8
Now the waters rise from the mountains and descend into the valleys.
Now the waters follow the patterns that you built for them.

11
The beasts of the field shall drink:
and the wild deer shall solve thier thirst.

12
From the rocks above, winged beasts of the sky
shall give voice.

13
The earth shall be satisfied by the fruit of your work:

14
growing grain and grass
you draw bread from the ground.

20
You made darkness, and night is here,
when all the forest creatures shall awaken:

21
the young lions roaring as they hunt...

22
Risen is the sun

23
Now man shall come out and go to work til evening.

24
How magnificent are your creations Lord!
Everything known to us you made!
Full is the earth of your riches.

35 Bless the Lord. O my soul bless Him. Bless the Lord.

The Adoration (La Adoración) (2012)

A "chorale" cantata for stringed quintet based on the ballad Anda Gila y sin Tardanza from the traditional pageant Los Pastores as well as Matachines dance tunes and the Ritual Dance sequence as it occurs in the Albuquerque Basin, using folk tunes transcribed and recorded by John Donald Robb.

Title: Coloquia de la pastorela - anda, gila y sin tardanza
Creator: Baca, Prospero ; Robb, J.D.
Subject: Pastores; Religious songs

Description: J. D. Robb Field Recording. Recorded in Bernalillo, NM. See also index numbers 690-709. J.D.R. note: "Coloquio de la Pastorela. These numbers refer to letras or song texts of the Christmas play, Coloquio de la Pastora. The owner, the late Mr. Baca, permitted me to copy from his handwritten copy the manuscript of the entire play. The recordings were made at a later time and there are numerous differences between the texts as written in the notebooks and the texts as sung. However, since the texts and the melodies as sung by Próspero Baca were published by Richard B. Stark in his Music of the Spanish Folk Plays in New Mexico, Museum of New Mexico Press in 1969 with the consent of the undersigned the differences are hardly sufficient to justify a revision of the texts and melodies at this time. They are available at any time to scholars who wish to pursue the matter further."
Date: 1951
Collection: Robb Field Recordings

New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, New Mexico Arts

But Ruth Said (1999, revised 2012)

Setting of Ruth's reply to Naomi, Book of Ruth, 1:15-17, 19. Revised for performance 2012.

 

Naomi said, "Behold your sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, back unto her gods..."

But Ruth said:

"Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you. Where you go I will go. Where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die. There will I be buried. May the Lord to thus and so to me and more as well if even death parts me from you."

So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest...

 

Dark Pond (2012)

Composed for Florida trio Pulse Chamber Music. Single movement.

Dance Suite for Oboe Quartet (2012)

1. Starting to Dance
2. Guaguancó for Tea

Composed for Atlanta Chamber Players' Rapido! Composition Contest. Two dance movements.

The Adjective (2012)

Mark Twain’s:

“As to the adjective: when in doubt, strike it out”

for my spring choral composition class to sing. Though the round is very simple, the class's learning curve was large and I didn't want to take away from preparation of their own compositions so we didn't end up performing it.

In June, I posted it on Wikipedia's Choral Public Domain site foregoing copyright, in hopes someone will have fun with it

Candle Blessing for Shabbat (2012)

Setting of a Shabbat brucha for choir. Towards a collection of “essential prayers.”

Father Myke's Prayer (2012)

Setting of Father Mychal Judge's prayer for choir. Father Myke was chaplain for the New York City Fire Department, first casualty September 11, 2001.

Lord take me where you want me to go
Let me meet who you want me to meet
Tell me what you want me to say
and keep me out of your way.

Towards a collection of “essential prayers.”

Watching the Forest Grow (2012)

Upside-down brass quintet. Easy for students. Premiered by Bennington College Brass Quintet, May 2012.

Playing on the Lawn (2008, revised 2012)

Upside-downstring quartet No.1. Originally written for four teenage girl stringplayers who then became "frenemies" and stopped playing together. Explores issues of parity and competition, amicably.

Psalm 23 (2012)

Two settings of the 23rd psalm for choir.

Towards a collection of “essential prayers.”

Our Father (2010-2012)

Setting of the “Our Father” for choir. Towards a collection of “essential prayers.”

Please note: my “essential prayers” form core of repertoire for course taught by Thomas Bogdan at Bennington College, fall 2012. World premiere.

Wondrous Love-arr. (2011)

Arrangement of pre-colonial (16th-c. or older) Celtic-American folk song. Premiered December 2011 at Bennington College with Hui Cox on guitar.

Wayfarin' Stranger-arr. (2011)

Arrangement of 19th-c. American folk song. Premiered December 2011 at Bennington College with Hui Cox on guitar. Performed at Spectrum for Innova Recordings ÀLab”, New York City, June 28, 2012.

Darkness, Darkness-arr. (2011)

Arrangement of 1969 ballad by Jesse Colin Young of the Youngbloods. Premiered December 2011 at Bennington College with Hui Cox on guitar.

Bird of My Heart (2011)

Song for my daughter’s leaving for college. Premiered & recorded December 2011 at Bennington College with Hui Cox on guitar. Performed again with Hui at a benefit for Buddha’s Smile School in Sarnath, India, held at Brooklyn Conservatory December 2011. Performed solo in Marlin, Texas, for my cousins, January 2012. Performed at Spectrum, New York City, June 28, 2012.

CAT!—the Opera Musical (2005, 2010)

Stand-alone spin-off from Animal Tales (see below) for performance in schools. Libretto by George Plimpton. Director Grethe Barrett Holby. Commissioned by Ardea Arts. Premieres July-September 2010, Southampton Fresh Air Home, Parrish Art Museum and the Central Park Zoo.

Animal Tales-aria revisions (2010)

Aria revisions of HAMSTER and DOG arias for ease of performance at opera conference in February 2010.

Serenity Prayer for Chuck (2009)

I made a setting of the Serenity Prayer for my friend Chuck Holland who died in November ’09.

Ti Nene’ (the Newborn) (2008-2009)

Commissioned by the Texas Infant Mental Health Association for a conference in Dallas in January 2010, I created a setting of words my father insisted he‘d heard from the Mayan-descended Zinacantecos in Chiapas, Mexico when he and I worked there the late ’60s.

I wrote to an old friend, Tzotzil lexicographer Robert Laughlin at the Smithsonian, who replied no, this was not a Tzotzil saying, but that my father had always been creative.

So I translated my Dad's “Mayan saying” into Tzotzil, learned when I was 14 with him in Mexico. I then set both songs to music, the English and the Tzotzil, for a middle school SAT competition choir.

The young voices sang my two songs with 3 high school percussionists and a pianist in honor of my father and his work with newborn babies around the world. The Richardson North Junior High Chorale led by Melissa Roth performed these beautifully January 7, 2010, and were roundly applauded by a large audience of pediatricians, nurses and child healthcare providers.

Animal Tales (2004-2008)

Aesop's fables meets Dr. Dolittle. Story & words by George Plimpton. Music by Kitty Brazelton. Origin, dramaturgy & direction by Grethe Barrett Holby. Commissioned & Developed by the Family Opera Initiative. Development Partners: Atlantic Center for the Arts, Montclair State University and with major support from the Jaffe Family Foundation.

Animal Tales Act I workshopped in January 2005 at Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, with cast members from Orlando Opera, and Orlando Youth Opera.

Animal Tales Act II workshopped in July 2006 at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

After revisions, the entire piece showcased in a week-long set of concert readings November 2008 in New York City.

(more)

HAMSTER and FROG costume sketches by Camille Assaf

ecclesiastes: a modern oratorio (2008)

1. preamble [eccles. 1:3-11, 15]
2. beginning & ending
3. motet [eccles. 3:1-8, 15]
4. bells
5. time to go, time to remain
6. that which
7. heaven
8. every purpose
9. under, to
10. bells & words
11. ending & beginning
12. ending

ecclesiastes: a modern oratorio grew out of a project called Time Remaining commissioned by Gina Gibney Dance and made possible by Danspace Project's 2002-2003 Commissioning Initiative with support from the Joyce-Mertz Gilmore Foundation, DANCECleveland, Music and Performing Arts at Trinity Cathedral, Live Music for Dance Program of the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, administered by the American Music Center, Public Funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The Bossak/Heilbron Charitable Foundation and The Harkness Foundation for Dance.

The Time Ramining Band premiered Time Remaining in 2002, and continued to perform with the dance company until 2004. By this time the septet had developed a strong interactive sensitivity to the music and its purpose. So we gigged and recorded the piece with a focus around the text from the Bible book of Ecclesiastes which Time Remaining had drawn upon.

I finished the record developing the text further and singing two more pieces using further Ecclesiastes text. I became interested in re-translating this text from the original Hebrew through reference to the Vulgate's Latin translation. Through comparison, I came up with a text I felt spoke to a more contemporary spiritual practice, in particular the 12 steps of recovery.

ecclesiastes: a modern oratorio and liner notes discussing the process are available on Innova recordings.

O Joy! (2008)

A celebration of song, singing & utterance
with Psalm 77:1-6
Dedicated to those amazing Ensemble Singers
and Philip Brunelle º Happy 40th!

O Joy! was composed by Kitty Brazelton as part of the Sixth Annual Essentially Choral Program. Designed by VocalEssence and the American Composers Forum and funded by the Jerome Foundation, Essentially Choral seeks creative and innovative works in a wide range of styles as an opportunity for emerging composers to hear and develop their Àworks in progress” in a supportive, professional environment. Works commissioned through this program contribute to the expansion and strengthening of the choral repertoire. Essentially Choral affirms the ongoing commitment of VocalEssence and the American Composers Forum to the work of today³s composers and the performance of their music.

Premiered by VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, pianist Charles Kemper and director Philip Brunelle for the choir's 40th anniversary celebration, September 14, 2008, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, Garrison Keillor, emcee. Later broadcast on NPR. Reviews Minneapolis Star-Tribune, St. Paul's Pioneer Press.

Excerpts from Psalm 77 re-translated from original Hebrew & Latin versions by Kitty Brazelton. Other text by Brazelton.

O Joy! was publshed in Boosey & Hawkes' "Sing A New Song Series" in 2011. Click on the cover on the right to go to Boosey's website where you can "find your local music shop"!

Three Orchestral Songs(2008)

• Remembered Music—A Fragment
• The Fountain
• New England Arming!

Three orchestral songs composed while studying on sabbatical with composer David Del Tredici.

Settings of Civil War-era poetry by James Russell Lowell (Remembered Music… and The Fountain) and his brother the Rev. Robert Traill Spence Lowell (New England Arming!). Remembered Music… andThe Fountain were read by Musician's Accord, David Del Tredici conducting, Kitty Brazelton singing.

Remembered Music…later re-orchestrated for string orchestra (String Orchestra of New York City or SoNYC) and performed at Make Music New York 08, in June outdoors on Cornelia St., organized by Composers Collaborative Inc.

• Voice and piano
• Voice and chamber ensemble (flute, alto sax, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, french horn, piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass)
• Voice and string orchestra

Upside Down String Quartet No. 1: Volteggio (2008)

Composed for cellist Rosie Mandel and her friends.

If the Yellow Moon

Setting of poem by April Bernard for solo performance at Bennington College orientation concert.

• Voice & electric bass

Love, I Know Beyond A Doubt (1997, 2007)

Motet including text and melodies from traditional & Occitans chants and a monophonic chanson roial from the Rémède de Fortune by Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-1365), in memory of Professor Peter Gram Swing (1923-1996).

Revised for the 6th annual Essentially Choral program where five composers were selected to have their works-in-progress read by the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, a 32-voice professional chorus directed by Philip Brunelle, and professional orchestra musicians. Essentially Choral affirms the commitment of VocalEssence and the American Composers Forum to the work of today's composers and the performance of their music. The program is generously supported by a grant from the Jerome Foundation.

Reading by VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, director Philip Brunelle, pianist Charles Kemper, baritone saxophonist Kathy Jensen, bassist Greg Hippen and drummer Joseph Pulice, Minneapolis, May 2007.

Translation & interpretation of Machaut & plainchant texts from Medieval French, Latin and Occitans by Kitty Brazelton.

Molybdenum, 4-5-6-7-tet (2007)

Composed for the Advanced Cello Ensemble (A. C. E.) at Third Street Settlement Music School. Premiered fall 2007 under the direction of Sybille Johner.

Cambridge Sonata (2005, 2007, in progress)

1. Kresge (2007)
2. Sanders (2007)
3. (untitled cha cha) (in progress)

Four (2007, unfinished)

Brass quartet in progress.

Ave maris stella (2005, revised 2006)

Monophonic & polyphonic settings of Marian plainchant hymn Ave maris stella for a cappella women's choir. Includes staging suggestions. Performances by Bennington College Women's Choir, director Mary Montgomery, spring 2005 & winter 2006.

Translation & interpretation of Ave maris stella hymn verses from Medieval Latin by Kitty Brazelton.

stabat mom
(co-composed with Dafna Naphtali, 2006, 2008)

A collage about motherhood created for Mother's Day 2006 at Tonic curated by Gisburg, with other mother musicmakers Miya Masaoka, Mari Kimura, Lois V. Vierk and Gisburg herself.

Adapted for full BAT? trio including Danny Tunick and premiered at Music with a View series at the Flea Theater, curated by Kathy Supové, January 2008, stabat mom juxtaposes 18th-c. Pergolesi Stabat mater duet for alto and soprano, with Naphtali's hard rock song about the rages of motherhood, and an adaptation of Brazelton's 1992 Lullaby for Handbells for hammered electric bass, glockenspiel, vocals, guitar and computer.

Recorded fall 2008 at HarvestWorks.

You Leave Me Twisting In The Wind (2006, revised 2012)

A study in 7. Composed for Bennington College colleague Elizabeth Wright. Premiered fall 2012 by Yoshiko Sato at Bennington College.

Three-Finned Fish (2006)

Composed for the brass ensemble at Bennington College under the direction of trumpeter Ron Anderson. This is who he had in the ensemble that year.

trio (2006)

1. caccia
2. canso
3. contredanse

Trio for two violins and piano. Premiered by John Van Buskirk, Kaori Washiyama and Heather Sommerlad at Bennington College 2006.

2 pieces for young violinists (2006)

• La giustizia (from Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto)
• Yiri yiri bom (tune by Cuban salsero Beny Moré)

Short pieces which re-use well-known tunes in different rhythmic and contemporary contexts to pique the interest of the less experienced player .

Yiri yiri bom is also scored for cello and piano.

Graduation Quilt 2006 organized by Kitty Brazelton with melodies composed by John DePippo, Westbrook Johnson, Bailey Math, Mary Montgomery, Mike Rugnetta, Heather Sommerlad and Marie Valigorsky (2006)

Used as prelude to graduation ceremony. Fragments were composed by seniors graduating in a Music concentration, as well as graduating M.F.A. and composer intern, then organized into a musical "quilt" by Kitty Brazelton.

states of mind, bodies of water (2005)

1. narrow
2. wide
3. round

Composed for Bennington College colleague David Anderegg. Premiered by him, The Carriage Barn, September 2005.

Busy Trio (2005)

Composed for the beginning of school for Ron Anderson, trumpet, Bruce Williamson, bass clarinet, and John Van Buskirk, piano. Premiered by them in the Carriage Barn at Bennington College, September, 2005.

Sonata for 3 Flutes (2005)

1. Overblown Trill
2. Low Notes
3. Trois-Flute Stomp

Written for my students at Bennington College.

The House Upon The Love Is Gone (2004)

Premiered by Kitty Brazelton, Spring Music Festival '04, Bennington College.

Graduation Quilt 2004 organized by Kitty Brazelton with melodies composed by Juliet Case, Rachel Shirk, Sam Tyndall and Dexter Wayne III (2004)

Used as prelude to graduation ceremony. Fragments were composed by seniors graduating in a Music concentration, then organized into a musical "quilt" by Kitty Brazelton

D¸ by Francesco Landini (1325-1397), arranged by Kitty Brazelton (2004)

Written for Bennington College Graduation. Combines classical forces who are performing traditional march by Lou Calbro with Milford Graves' students hand-drumming in a more improvisational African-influenced style. Used as recessional in 2007.

Attention Deficit Disorder (2003)

Montage of fragments of Led Zeppelin's Black Dog, Metallica's Wherever I May Roam and Rodgers & Hammerstein's Bali Hai as an improvisational structure for free jazz trio and rock voice.

Fireworks (1999-2002)

Motet (2002)

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 15

Part of ecclesiastes: a modern oratorio, Innova Recordings. Originally commissioned & premiered by Gina Gibney Dance for time remaining (2002) [see below]. Premiered by the Time Remaining Band in concert version, June 2004, Nuyorican Poets Café, New York City.

Re-translation & interpretation of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 15 from original Hebrew & Latin versions by Kitty Brazelton.

Time Remaining (2001-2002)

1. opening
2. eden's elegy
3. driving force
4. one
5. two
6. motet
7. time ritual 1
8. angharad runs
9. match
10. pillars
11. wall
12. floor duets
13. eden emerges
14. time ritual 2
15. undertow
16. ending

Premiered by Gina Gibney Dance, October 2002, St. Mark's Danspace, and November 2002, Cleveland Public Theater. Reviews: N.Y.Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dance Insider.

The Time Remaining Band later adapted and recorded the piece in 2004 as ecclesiastes: a modern oratorio. Further revised in 2007 & 2008 by Brazelton for release on Innova Recordings. See above.

Gina Gibney Dance, Time remaining, 2002-2004

ordinary, mass (2001)

• kyrie
• gloria
• credo

The beginning of a setting of the mass. The text is Latin and Greek with vernacular asides.

Premiered at ASCAP's "Thru the Walls" series curated by Martha Mooke, 2nd Edition February 27, 2001. Performed by Niola Workman (electric cello with effects), Judith Davidoff (bass viol), Harvey Price (double lead steel drums), Kitty Brazelton (voice & electric bass) and Tony Lewis (drumkit). Recorded live by Ben Arnow.

More at http://www.ascap.com/playback/2001/
with slide show.

Consider the Carving Knife (2001)

This is a big brawny, funny piece about "the conundrum of married life".

Commissioned by curator/composer John King to open the Kitchen House Blend series. Premiered at The Kitchen, NYC, April, 2000. Also on the bill, House Blend premieres by composer/performers Craig Harris and David Krakauer.

Repeated in May 2005 with House Blend at the Kitchen.

Both events, 2000 and 2005, recorded by Ben Arnow.

as the day goes by… (October 2001)

Reactions to the September 11, 2001, attack on the city where I live.

Commissioned & premiered by Relâche at Delaware Center for Contemporary Art & The Philadelphia Ethical Society, Nov. 30 - Dec. 2, 2001. Review Philadelphia Inquirer. Also webcast with interview on newmusicbox.org in March 2002.

I have tried to portray the emotional process of struggling to comprehend something violently incomprehensible. I try to enact the jagged dissonance between the juxtaposed flashbacks—the first, to what it was like before, and the inevitable second, to what it was like then, during the event. What is the nature of the innocence of "before"? Are the spores of what was to come now perceptible in hindsight? And the impossible horror of "then"—can there ever be resolution or redemption?

In the middle of as the day goes by… the Trinidadian steel pan played by Harvey Price emerges. I imagine the instrument as a sort of angel. The melodies and sounds from "before" and "then" are re-integrated more gently, bending and softening to each other in a shimmering Afro-Caribbean timbre—I call that part "song."

I conclude the section "song" with two songs, specific references from the outside world: one, the medieval Catholic requiem chant "dies irae" (day of wrath) with text from the original 12th-c. poem (which is even more eerily predictive of the firestorm and ashes of September 11), interwoven with two, a melody I have transcribed from a reading of the Koran. Because use of this melody and text may be offensive to those who practice Islam, I only use the opening word "bismillah" (blessed be), and I am willing to alter the word so as to make it unrecognizable if an audience member is uncomfortable. My intent is to make consonant these texts and melodies and by inference, the civilizations they represent.

I don't know if the listener will find resolution or harmony in as the day goes by… I hope so—it would be a way that I could help. In the end, though, the horror and consequences of September 11th are something only the passage of time will heal "as the day goes by…"

Studies in C (2000)

Reginis Apium (2000)

1. Buzzing Fields
2. Ow! the Sting…but Mm the Honey
3. Lilies in the Valley

Composed for flutist Ardith Bondi and her students. Performed by them in recital at LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and the Performing Arts, spring 2000.

5 dreams; marriage
(co-composed with Dafna Naphtali, 2000)

Five arias based on her wedding vows composed for and sung by Dafna Naphtali, alternate with five answers by Kitty Brazelton derived from her 1978 song I Told You So which describes the decay of a marital relationship. Everything explodes at the end of Answer 5 and is concluded by the Glory Chorale with Dafna, Kitty, drummer Danny Tunick and sound designer Paul Geluso singing a fugue over CMIX pluck algorithms.

Commissioned by HarvestWorks through New York State Council for the Arts. Premiered Sound Symposium 2000, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. American premiere, Whitney Museum Design Triennial, New York City, listed in New Yorker magazine.

Released on Tzadik/Oracles summer 2003. Reviews: The Wire, All Music Guide, Boston Herald, etc.

Kitty Brazelton & Low Brass (2000)

• Down So Low by Tracy Nelson of Mother Earth 1970, arranged by Brazelton for Low Brass 2000
• No More Bends in the Wire by Kitty Brazelton 1996, arranged for Low Brass 2000
• Think I'm Fallin' In Love by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia, 1982, arranged for Low Brass 2000

I started with an arrangement for voice, tuba, 2 trombones and steel drums of Tracy Nelson's Down So Low for Phil Kline's curation "Your Hit Parade" in March at the New Museum in Soho. I arranged a few more tunes of my own to perform on Frank Oteri's 21st Century Schizoid series in May with the same instrumentation (me singing, Bob Stewart tuba, my beloved Chris Washburne (from Dadadah) and Julie Josephson on trombones, Danny Tunick (also beloved from Bat?) on vibes, and Tony Lewis on drums (from the Kitchen House Blend).

Symphony No. 3 “Native to Where”
(2000)

• the soul's tale
1. Severe Objects of Worship
2. Our Houses of Sticks
3. Discovery of the Loss of a Part of the Soul
4. The Search to Recover Begins
5. The River Cuts Away, Then Runs Backwards Up the Mountain!
6. Severe Objects of Worship—Reprise
• chorale of the soul reunited
1. The Lost Part Found
2. Healed & Reunited, the Soul's Parts Start to Sing
3. Fear
4. Hope
5. Distraction
6. All 13 Parts Join in the Old Song
7. All Hope
• last dance
1. Moon's Day
2. Thor's Day
3. Freia's Day
4. Tiw's Day
5. Saturn's Day
6. Day of Whatever God
7. Next Moon's Day

Leg Vague (1999)

Composed for Kathleen Supové for her birthday, January 1999. Premiered The Flea Theater, NYC, April-May 1999 (N.Y.Times 4/26/99, Boston Globe)

Sonata for the Inner Ear (1999)

• Exposition
• Development
• Recapitulation

3 modular movements deconstructing sonata form---is it valid?---Exposition establishes motives a and b in multiple configurations; Development invites all 8 players to solo on these ideas; Recapitulation restates and wraps up bang.

Premiered by the California EAR Unit, Los Angeles County Museum, October 13, 1999. Recorded in 2001 for release in 2002 on "Kitty Brazelton: Chamber Music for the Inner Ear", CRI-Emergency 889

The Battle of X and Y (1999)

An algebraic battle between ostinato x and bridge y. Structured ensemble improvisation. Virtuosic rhythm. Premiered by Relâche in May 2001 in Philadelphia at the Institute of Contemporary Art and at the Philadelphia Ethical Society.

Getting In & Out Of Trouble (1999)

Rondo of ostinati originally composed for jazz orchestra, commissioned by the Charles Fox Fund of the Alumni & Friends of LaGuardia. Premiered by LaGuardia High School of Music & Art Junior Jazz & Pit Orchestra combined under the direction of Bob Stewart, May 6, 1999.

9 outa 10 (1992, 1999)

When the Lights Go Out (1988, 1999)

You Can't Stand in the Way of Love (1988, 1999)

I Oughta Know (1988, arr. for DADADAH 1999)

The Moon Has Ears (1999)

for DADADAH:

• voice
• alto sax
• horn
• trombone
• harp
• cello
• electric guitar
• electric bass
• drums

Hildegurls'
Electric “Ordo Virtutum”
Act II
(adapted from Hildegard von Bingen's plainchant by Kitty Brazelton in 1996; revised for Lincoln Center Festival 1998)

(more)

Hildegurls at Lincoln Center Festival, photo by Stephanie Berger

Sleeping Out Of Doors (1998)

1. THE DOOR OF DAY—Allegro
2. THE DOOR OF GOOD AND SAD DREAMS—Adagio
3. THE DOOR OF CONFUSION AND OBSESSION—Allegro & Adagio
4. FIND YOUR WAY HOME—Cadenza
5. THE DOOR OF DAY—Allegro

A semi-concerto for piano and orchestra. Commissioned and premiered by Kristjan Järvi and Absolute Ensemble with soloist FangYu Liao, Merkin Hall, New York, May 5 1998.

This commission was made possible in part through a grant from American Music Center and the Margaret Jory Copying Assistance Program.

Sonar Como Una Tromba Larga
(to sound like a great waterspout)
(1998)

CMIX-processed trombone sounds (use of granular synthesis, comb-filters, Ceres, algorithmic processes, etc.) at first canonically then rhythmically interactive with live trombone. Composed for Chris Washburne and premiered by him at Composers Concordance concert, Leowe Theater, New York University, May 15 1998.

Performed by trombonist Chris McIntyre at Mannes School of Music 1999. Performed by Washburne, Frank Oteri's 21^st Century Schizoid Series, 2000. And by Nicholas Keelan at Lawrence University Women Composers Conference 2001. Recorded by Chris Washburne August 2001 for CRI-Emergency CD 889 Kitty Brazelton: Chamber Music for the Inner Ear.

Dark Secret(1998)

Commissioned by choreographer Beth Leonard. Premiered by her, Music Under Construction Loft, April 18, 1998. Repeat performances Ersatz Marathon May '98, Battery Park Lunchtime Series Sept. '98.

Also broadcast on www.arcananet.org/newmusicradio: choose Joe Pehrson's 5/15/98 interview with Kitty Brazelton (if you can find it!)

Xmas Carol & Fuguetta (1975, 1998)

Originally a Musica Orbis song. Revised in 1998 for SATB choir. Fuguetta is added. Old piano accompaniment absorbed into choral parts. Enjoyed the simple syncopation of the old song. Have tried to bring it out in the singing and the simple percussion. Should be fun to sing I'd think.

Just Imagine (1998)

Song for Gala celebration of the life & work of Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, held in Washington, D.C. in spring 1998. Performed for her father by Kitty Brazelton and her daughter Rosie Mandel (age 5), and pianist. Lyrics by anonymous supporter of Dr. Brazelton.

Passed Away Is The Piano Girl (1998)

Collage of songs about love and transience by women composers: Kitty Brazelton, Hildegard von Bingen, Mme. Bayon-Louis, and Luise Reichardt with improvised addenda of the performers' choosing.

Written for and performed at College Music Society Conference on Teaching Women & Gender In Music, Austin, Texas, February 1998.

Skinnydipping (1998, 1988)

Song.

Recorded 1998 by Lyris Hung, violin, Tom Chiu, violin, Danny Tunick, percussion, Jimmy Pugliese, percussion, and Kitty Brazelton, voice.

A-Maze (1998)

Go No Further (1998)

Green Onions in the Field (1998)

Walkin' On My Beat (1988, 1998)

Song for Todd (1998)

for DADADAH:

• voice
• alto sax
• horn
• trombone
• harp
• cello
• electric guitar
• electric bass
• drums

Eight-Eyed Spy (1997)

Flute octet in memory of local NYC '80s pop band. Premiered by Lawrence University Flute Choir, Women Composers Conference, May 2001, Appleton, WI. Performed by amateur flute 12-tet, Mannes School of Music, May 2008.

Fishy Wishy (1997)

A re-texting of the 4th mov't of Schubert's Trout Quintet—text from or based on Brazelton translation of text from Schubert's lied "Die Forelle".

"Alternative Schubertiade," Downtown Arts Festival, American Opera Projects, NYC 9/19/97 (reviewed in N.Y.Times 9/22/97 and Voice 9/30/97). Recorded for CRI CD "Alternative Schubertiade" spring 1999.

she said–she said, "can you sing 'Sermonette' with me?"
(co-composed with Dafna Naphtali, 1997)

Life study created in collaboration with composer Dafna Naphtali for our trio WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A BAT?; my portion developed at Columbia University Computer Music Center, March-June 1997.

Women's Avant Fest '97, Chicago, October 12 1997. Columbia University Computer Music Center's Interactive Arts Festival 99, The Kitchen, April 1999. Reviewed in Chicago Tribune 10/14/97 and Reader 10/23/97.

Released on Tzadik/Oracles summer 2003. Reviews: The Wire, All Music Guide, Boston Herald, etc.

Ornette In Vietnam (1997)

Composed for harpist Park Stickney and flutist Immanuel Davis during Music at Omi/Jazz Residency.

Down n Harp n All a Rondo (1997)

Palindromic rondo of pedalings and motivic textures for harp solo written for Elizabeth Panzer. Premiered Bloomingdale House of Music in NYC, Composers Collaborative, Inc., April 18, 1997.

Recorded by Elizabeth on CD Dancing In Space, o.o.discs, oo56, June 1999.

Suite for Fred Anderson & his Velvet Lounge (1997)

1. Nine-Step Cadence
2. If the Tenor Loved You
3. Teaching Detroit on the Way to Chicago

Composed during Music At Omi Jazz Residency, for solo harpsichord. Premiere by Calvert Johnson, October 3, 1999, Bethesda MD

I Have Feelings I Shouldn't Have
(So Unreasonable)(1997)

Trombone duo commissioned by Chris Washburne and premiered by Chris Washburne and Julie Josephson May 2000 at Cornelia St. Cafe, NYC. for Frank Oteri's "21st Century Schizoid" Series.

Lookin' for Honey (1997)

Minimalist jazz song. Premiered by Dr. Laura Mann, soprano, George Mason University, VA, March 1998.

Queen of the Rain (1978; revised 1997)

Musica Orbis song revised for quintet. Performed by Mark Taylor, horn, Kitty Brazelton voice and flute, Jennifer Devore, cello, Jed Distler, piano, Music Under Construction, May 18, 1997. Adapted for First Avenue, January 1999.

i touched your cheek (1995-7)

Developed at Columbia University Computer Music Center from conversations between composer and performers. Commissioned by twisted tutu through American Composer Forum's CCP Program (substantially funded by Jerome Foundation). Recorded for o.o.discs, Copland Recording Program; released fall 1999.

goto: Recordings by Kitty Brazelton—twisted tutu: play nice

Need for Faith (1974, 1997)

MUSICA ORBIS song rearranged for guest Bob Stewart on tuba, trombone, cello, voice, electric guitar, and other members of DADADAH.

for DADADAH:

• voice
• alto sax
• horn
• trombone
• harp
• cello
• electric guitar
• electric bass
• drums

Goin' Home (1996)

Chamber duo with klezmer and other unexpected influences.

Just Met (1996)

Bass marimba and violin in conversation. Composed for Marimolin. Premiered by Lyris Hung and Danny Tunick at Roulette, NYC, March 25, 1998.

Come Spring! (1996)

1. Dogwood Petals & Hormones
2. Miles Through the Upstairs Window
3. Harmonic Fable
4. First Second Seder at the Knitting Factory

4 movements for brass quintet for the Manhattan Brass Quintet.

Premiered St. Ignatius of Antioch, NYC, May 1998 by Manhattan Brass Quintet and maintained in repertoire and performed many times by the group 1998-2000. Recorded June 1998 for 2002 release "Manhattan Brass Quintet: the Manhattan Project."

Skimamaski (1996)

Premiered by Kitty Brazelton (voice), Martha Mooke (viola), Martha Colby (cello) and Jane Getter (electric guitar), Venus Festival, Context Studio, NYC, September 28 1996.

The Two Timing F**k I'm in Love With (1996)

Poem by Carolyn Peyser of Nuyorican Poets. Premiere by Absolute Ensemble, June 30, 1996.

Recorded 1998 by Lyris Hung, violin, Tom Chiu, violin, Danny Tunick, percussion, Jimmy Pugliese, percussion, and Kitty Brazelton, voice.

• Your Mad Mad Love
• In The Eye Of The Storm (1996)

2 chamber rock songs for Randall Woolf's band CAMP. Premiered at Context Studio, August 1996, and The Cooler, July 1997.

Wanderlust-Obadiah (1995)

4-song setting of poem cycle by Denise Lanctot commissioned by New Music-Theater Ensemble, Ben Krywosz, dramaturg, Tom Linker, music director; funded by Opera America. Scene premiere, Southern Theater, Minneapolis, April 11, 1995

Shoal (1973, 1995)

Polyphonic song with surreal imagistic text which opens into untexted improvised baritone solo against semi-improvised choral background.

Premiered in original version for soprano, tenor, melodica, pipe organ, cello, tenor saxophone, and guitar by Musica Orbis in April 1973. Revised for voices in 1995.

Poetry by Kitty Brazelton.

Sonata for a Musical Marriage (1995)

1. The Challenge of Unison
2. The Companionship of Difference
3. Your Music, Your Partner & You

3-movement suite for piano and electric guitar commissioned by Bernadette Speach and Jeffrey Schanzer. Premiere Brooklyn, May 13, 1995.

Yalum' Ta Vinahel (Roots of the Sky) (1995)

Premiered by Double Edge (Nurit Tilles and Ed Niemann), Whitney Museum at Philip Morris Duo Piano Mini-Festival, May 10, 1996. Reviewed (N. Y. Times 10/96, and Improviser 10/96). Repeated Sonic Boom '96, Miller Theater.

A Valentine from the Avant-Garde for Kids (1995)

Full-length show compositionally organized and produced by Brazelton at P.S. 126 in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood. Includes student-collaborated operettas A Valentine Surprise for Blonds and Garfield, the Human, Greenwich House Music School, NYC February 14 1995.

Tom & Mary Beth's Music (1995)

Music written for my brother's first wedding in Barnstable, early summer 1995. Performed by local Cape Cod string trio led by Sandy Spencer.

Around You (1995)

Cinderella's Sister (1995)

Drift (1995)

Hold You in My Eyes (1988, arr. 1995)

Open the Window & Look Out (1995)

Sex Wind Dream (1995)

Soul Kiss (1995)

Thing of Beauty (1988, arr. 1995)

this is not real (1995)

Waitin' for Ya Baby (1995)

You're in Love and You Don't Know Why (1988, 1995)

Woman's Works (1992-1994)

A fantasia in deconstructed sonata form for orchestra.

R (1989; revised, 1994 and 1998)

Chamber piece. No text. Parisian flavor? Rather exotic. Premiered by Jay Kauffman, classical guitar, Kitty Brazelton, voice, Lyris Hung, 5-string violin, Mat Fieldes, double bass, Danny Tunick, bongos, Roulette, NYC, March 1998 and December 1994. Recorded 1998.

Kitty Brazelton: Chamber Music for the Inner Ear, CRICD 889—Try New World Records http://www.newworldrecords.org/cri-nwr-2004-03.shtml

String Quartet No. 2 (1990, 1994)

1. The World As Seen From The Moon
2. Deconstruction No. 1:
   The Planes Of Your Location
3. Deconstruction No. 2:
   Radio Waves or Where Else Could You Be?
4. Deconstruction No. 3:
   Stay Here, Don't Worry Anymore Tonight

3 movements deconstruct the 1st movement, which was premiered alone by Atlantic String Quartet for the League/ISCM at Merkin Hall, NYC 1/11/94 (reviewed N. Y. Times 1/94)

2-4th mov'ts premiered at Roulette, 12/11/94.

Called Out Ol' Texas (1994)

'Cello and alto sax duet (title is anagram thereof). Premiered and recorded live in concert at Roulette, December 1994, by Danny Weiss (alto sax) and Dan Barrett (cello), Hugo Dwyer recording. Released in 2002 on "Kitty Brazelton: Chamber Music for the Inner Ear", CRI-Emergency 889

Yauchzen (Yell for Joy) (1993, 1994)

Fantasia for solo double bass written for Jay Elfenbein. Premiered by Ken Filiano, Roulette, December 1994.

From Her Story (1994)

1. Born
2. Madrigal
3. Is This the Way?
4. Bass Landscape: 6 chords
5. Who can I run to?
6. Guitar Landscape: 12 chords
7. Blood

Leonardo (1993)

Commissioned for dance by choreographer Eduardo Zeiger with excerpts from Sigmund Freud's essay Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood. Premiered Merce Cunningham Dance Studio, New York City with Eduardo Zeiger and Friends, February, 1993, and without dance at CB's 313 Gallery, May 1992.

Recorded by BOG LIFE at WNYC, May 1994.

Growing Up Female (1993)

Songs and incidental music for full-length revue with non-professional cast of 20 women ages 8-93 using text generated from their life stories. Commissioned and premiered by Paula Sepinuck & TOVA, Lang Performing Arts Center, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, 1993; Painted Bride Art Center, 1994, Phila. public school system, Flint, MI by UAW women's group, 1996-97.

Me, 4 recorders & Turkish Finger Cymbals (1993)

Tribute to Sun Ra
by Kitty Brazelton and Allan Chase (1993)

1. Saturn's Rings
2. ra 1
3. ra 4
4. Egypt
5. Planet Song
6. ra 3

Lullaby for Handbells (1992)

Ensemble lullaby with lighting and movement, dedicated to a newborn daughter Rosie Mandel, commissioned by Corn Palace Productions for New Music America '92. Premiered by Brazelton, Jack Vees, Jeff Brooks, Maura Bosch and others at The Southern Theater, Minneapolis, October 1992, New Music America. Rosie attended performance at age 2 months.

Revised in 2006 for inclusion in What is it Like to Be a Bat? collage stabat Mom. Recorded by Bat? in 2008 at HarvestWorks.

I Was Kidnapped
By Martians (1992)

Operetta in which entire ensemble except contralto is Martian and speaks in motives learned from radio waves in space. Libretto by Lorraine Llamas. Premiered by BOG LIFE at Dixon Place, New York City, November 1992.

Half-Way Between Dante's View and Vegas (1992)

Theatrical song; libretto by Denise Lanctot, composed during Composed Librettist Workshop at New Dramatists, New York City, April 1992, featuring tenor Tom Bogdan.

Public premieres by the New Music-Theater Ensemble of Minnesota Opera, Ben Krywosz, director, Atlanta Arts Festival, October, 1992; Washington, D.C., April 1993; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, fall 1993.

The Dinner-Party (1987-1991)

Song cycle setting six poems by Bostonian imagist poet Amy Lowell, published 1911. M. A. thesis, Columbia University School of the Arts, 1991. Premiered by Brazelton's BOG LIFE on Cape Cod, MA tour funded by Massachusetts Arts Lottery, November 1991. Included on BOG LIFE recording "New & Unusual American Chamber Music."

Don't Look Back (1991)

Snow White (Rose Red) (1991)

Rise Up (1991)

Little Gamelan Da (1991)

Recorded and nationally released on DADADAH CD "Rise Up!" Accurate/Distortion Records AD 1003, May 1994. Nationally reviewed. See Reviews.

Dance Suite (1990)

1. Texture 1
2. Texture 2
3. Texture 3: Baby Now
4. Texture 4: Machines 1-6
5. Texture 5: My Perfect Toes

5 symphonic movements reinterpreted in the modern idiom. Originally commissioned by choreographer Rebecca Romero. Premiered by Rebecca Romero & Friends at Columbia Teacher's College, 1990.

Performed without dance by DADADAH at The Knitting Factory, LaMama Galleria, P.S.122, CBGB's, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, NYC, 1990-94. Recorded and nationally released on DADADAH CD "Rise Up!" Accurate/Distortion Records AD 1003, May 1994. Nationally reviewed.

The Night Is Mine (1990)

Protest of the 1st Gulf War. A woman's right to walk at night. A society's right to peace. Freedom from aggression.

Recorded and nationally released on DADADAH CD "Rise Up!" Accurate/Distortion Records AD 1003, May 1994. Nationally reviewed.

sanglikeabelllikeafrog (1990)

Premiered Columbia University Computer Music Composers, Merce Cunningham Studio, May, 1990; Bard College, June 1990; University of Illinois/Champagne-Urbana Computer Music Concert, July 1991; Computer Music Conference, Athens, Greece, Summer 1991.

Bang on a Can Marathon, Alice Tully Hall, June 1996 with live rock scream and drums introduction.

goneclamming (1989, 1993)

Premiered Columbia University Computer Music Composers, Merce Cunningham Studio, October, 1989.

Revised for voice and tape in 1993 and performed at Akademie der Künste, East Berlin, as part of USArts: American Art in the 20th Century, June 1993.

String Quartet No. 1 (1987, 1989)

• Allegro ma non tanto
• Chorale
• Dance

3 short movements experiment with modernist influences then move on into rhythm. Reading by Atlantic String Quartet, February, 1989.

Fought So Wild by Kitty Brazelton & Carl D'Errico (1989)

Skinnydipping by Kitty Brazelton (1989)

Thing of Beauty Wild & Curious by Kitty Brazelton (1989)

& more

Three Songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Harp (1988)

3 short love songs to be sung continuously. Premiered Columbia Composers, Miller Theater, Fall, 1989

Hide it by Kitty Brazelton (1988)

Hold You in My Eyes by Kitty Brazelton (1988)

You Can't Stand in the Way of Love by Kitty Brazelton (1988)

This House is Haunted by Kitty Brazelton & Carl D'Errico (1988)

I Oughta Know by Kitty Brazelton (1988)

Walkin' On My Beat by Kitty Brazelton (1988)

You're in Love by Kitty Brazelton (1988)

asirememberedhymn (1987)

Analog tape piece based on Bach chorale created at Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Premiered Roulette, 1994.

Don't Touch Me When I Don't Want to Be Touched by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1987)

& more

rats eat steak au poivre too--- (1986)

Short 12-tone trumpet solo read by Speculum Musicae.

• solo trumpet

Etude for Flute and Bb Clarinet (1986)

For Speculum Musicae.

Speculo (1986)

For Allan Blustine of Speculum Musicae.

Liszt in the Murk (1986)

Premiered by Elizabeth Rodgers, Columbia Composers, Miller Theater, 1986. Repeated by Kathleen Supové, Roulette, 1994 and CB's Lounge 1998.

Four Short Subjects for Solo Guitar (1986)

12-tone suite for solo classical guitar, based on 4 exclusive (but playable!) tetrachords

Trio in Question (1986)

L'Idylle Torchée (1986)

Solo viola etude. Reading by Speculum Musicae, 1986.

Bye Bye Mon Cheri by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1986)

Valentine by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1986)

The Violins Go To Boston (1985)

Violin duet premiered by Chen Yi and Gayle Roth, violins at Columbia Composers Concert, 1986.

No Lee (1985)

Flute solo in memory of Bruce Lee and his son. Premiered by Stefani Starin of NewBand, Sonic Boom '93, The Kitchen.

Sex & Violence by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1985)

& more

Girl in Danger by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1984)

Heaven Only Knows by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1984)

He's the Boy by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1984)

K. I. S. S. I. N. G. by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1984)

No no no no no no no no no You by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1984)

& more

I'm Not A Virgin by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1983)

Is It Over? by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1983)

Snowed In for the Winter by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1983)

Young Boy by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1983)

& more

All Over You by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Biker by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Can't Feel by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Countdown to Love by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Do Ya? by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Don't Leave Me Now by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Infatuation by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

No More Conversation by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

So Much to Say by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Some Other Girl by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Summertime (Come See Me) by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Walk Away by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

When Ya Comin Home? by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Where Were You? by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

When Do I Win Your Love? by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1982)

Half a Heart Away by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1981)

Do What You Did Last Night by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1981)

Think I'm Fallin In Love by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1981)

Crawlin' for You by Kitty Brazelton & Joey Scarperia (1981)

Wrong Turn (1980)

Go Down (1980)

On the Road (1980)

& more

Hollow Blue (1979)

North of the North Wind (1979)

& more

Chance of Passion (1978)

I Told You So (1978)

Hungry Lady (1978)

& more

Andy (1977)

Marianne (1977)

Home (1977)

& more

Welcome (1976)

Samuel (1976)

Red Winds (1976)

Sacrifice (1976)

Trombone (1976)

Walk Outside (1976)

Walk (1976)

Typewriter (1976)

Folk Song (1976)

Against the Night (1976)

Maruc sciuk Matal (1976)

Chanteuse (Latterly Sweet Hen) (1976)

River Drive (1976)

Janie (1976)

Patience (1976)

Amy Lowell (1975)

Canon for 5. Premiered during MUSICA ORBIS's annual Evergreen Festival at the Painted Bride Art Center, 1974, and repeated every year after until 1977.

Eight Small Pieces of Medieval Courtly Life for Irish Harp (1975)

1. Goldfish
2. Watching the Laundry-Maid
3. Entry of an Important Lord into the Morning Sitting Room
4. Hunters a Mile Away
5. Writing a Chanson Balladée
6. Riding
7. The Gig Merry
8. Yes…?

Written for Caille Colburn's Irish harp to be played while audience views slides of illustrations from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berri. Premiered during MUSICA ORBIS's annual Evergreen Festival at the Painted Bride Art Center, 1974, and repeated every year after until 1977.

Triumph Beat (1975)

It's Hard to Say (1975)

Argument (1975)

Linda (1975)

In the Season to Come (1975)

Lately (1975)

Gringa (1975)

Cole Porter & the Secretary on Weekend (1975)

A Rose (1975)

Love Song (1975)

William (1975)

Songs of Charlotte (1975)

Porno Films (1975)

Germantown (1975)

Morning Clear (1975)

Hero (1975)

Tail (1975)

Winter (1975)

• solo flute

Thauma Gegonen (1974)

Duet for double bass, harp and their voices. Recorded by Caille Colburn and David Clark of MUSICA ORBIS for broadcast by Terry Gross for NPR and WUHY-FM, fall 1975, from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Summer Island (1974)

Need for Faith (1974)

Song of (1974)

If (I were a plane) (1974)

Dancer to the Moon (1973-4)

New Silk (1973-4)

Some Sunday Morning (1974)

Teresa (1974)

For Polly (1974)

• solo flute

Abortion (1973)

Red Man Dan (1971, arr. 1973)

Two Cats & a Dog (1973)

Billowing Ladies (1973)

Shoal (1972-3)

Sick Man (1972, arr. 1973)

One Man Jug Band (1973)

Hotel of Joy (1972, arr. 1973)

White-Head Maudie (1972, arr. 1973)

Citadel (1972, arr. 1973)

Shulie (1972, arr. 1973)

We are Laughing (1973)

Sea Green Cadillac (1972)

Soul Shut (1972)

And When You Go (1972)

While a Million Years Flow Down River (1972)

Lowlands (1972)

White Head Maudie (1972)

Porch (1972)

Hotel of Joy (1972)

Ladybird Triptych (1972)

Silver Daggers (1972)

Birthday Song (1972)

Shulie (1972)

Citadel (1972)

Sick Man (1972)

Ember (1971, arr. for voice, piano & drums 1972)

Ember (1971)

Sailor Song (1971)

Red Man Dan (1971)

Jasper (1971)

Okay in the Day (1970)

Sew a Shirt to Fit the King of Queen (1970)

Battleship was Kitty Brazelton (flute, voice), Miriam Scheiber (flute, voice), Lizabeth Burrell (12-string guitar, voice), and Susan Wanklyn (acoustic guitar, voice). Jamming in the basement of Willets dormitory as freshwomen at Swarthmore College, many tunes went by. These are the ones I remember. One gig: Passim, in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass. in summer of '70.

Thought Song (1969)