I’ve been composing this kind of thing for a really long time, and recently some of it has even gotten good. Some contemporary highlights:
6 Variations sur un Thème de Coltrane (Piano, 2014-15)
A tongue-in-cheek treatment of “Les Pas Géants,” poking at the edges of the French Romantic tradition.
- Chorale (Un peu andante)
- Legato
- à Trois (Plus vite)
- Fluidement (Moins)
- à Deux (Allegretto)
- Finale (Plein d’entrain)
A.D.T. (Tango ensemble, 2014)
A moderate concert tango scored for two violins, cello, bass, and piano. Everyone gets their say.
Paso Doble (Piano, 2013-2015)
I recently revisited an abortive old project and puffed it back up with a little hot air and elbow grease. A quasi-virtuosic concert dance suitable for playing really loudly when you’re home alone, or playing really ingenuously when you’re on stage.
String Quartet (2015-)
More or less after Bartók, with some healthy doses of Debussy and Glass thrown in. It’s a long-term project — two of four movements are done so far.
Four Line Conics (Orchestra, 2014-)
An orchestral score to the 1961 Fletcher-Jodoin-Longpré classic Four Line Conics. Unfortunately, I only made it about five minutes into the film (11 minutes) before Finale 2012’s video-sync feature started bugging out on me. I’ll revisit the project when a more stable version of that feature is rolled out — it hasn’t been a priority in recent releases, though.