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Private instruction, university coursework, and performance opportunities have all played a part in my musical development. While I've enjoyed performing over the years, my true musical interest has always been composition.
Influences on my music have been as eclectic as my career choices. My grandfather was a church composer; my father was a collector of bluegrass music; a close family friend was a classical violinist who loved Viennese waltzes, Mozart, and Hungarian folk music. Composers who have influenced me range from English virginalists to bossa nova songwriters and include Byrd, Rameau, Handel, Bach, Scarlatti, Beethoven, Chopin, Tárrega, Ernesto Nazareth, and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
My compositional focus is the creation of evocative instrumental works. Much of my music is difficult to classify. However, one listener did refer to some of it as “baroque elevator music.” While I like the emotional effect of exotic elements, I tend to favor melodies with a classical feeling and prefer a polyphonic approach to composition with all the attendant incidental harmonic and melodic effects created in contrapuntal development. In any case, I try to reach the listener both intellectually and emotionally. Any feedback, whether artistic or technical, sent to wrippo@comcast.net would be welcome. Current Offerings Listed below are descriptions of compositions now available for purchase as either audio or print files along with links to free audio and print excerpts. To download the full audio files of the first seven offerings as an album for $4.95, click here. To download the full audio file for The Scrivener's Tale of Southwark for $0.99, click here. Introduction | Contact | To Order   Euphoriana
An underlying milonga ostinato with percussive jazz accents sets the background for a variety of tonal, percussive, and rhythmic textures in this highly polyphonic composition. Scored for flute, three guitars, piano, string bass, drumset, and miscellaneous percussion, Euphoriana explores a number of jazz-based themes and rhythms through classical methods. Duration: 9:52
To listen to an excerpt from Euphoriana, click here, then click on the sixth arrow under Preview.
 Romanza
While reminiscent of the tango-romanzas of the Rio de la Plata, Romanza combines unusually accented variants of traditional milonga and sincopa rhythms with elements of French musette styles and Franco-Russian and 19th century classical romances to create a uniquely evocative musical work. Various moods are created as the thematic matter leisurely wends its way through subtle modulations between the tonic minor key, its relative major, and the corresponding Aeolian and Dorian modes. Romanza is scored for violin(s), bandoneons (or accordions), guitar(s), and bass(es). Duration: 5:22
To listen to an excerpt from Romanza, click here, then click on the seventh arrow under Preview.  Fantasia No. 1 (Suite): I. Toccata for Harpsichord
This is the Harpsichord Toccata from Fantasia No. 1, a suite of five pieces based on or related to the Toccata. Possessing the mood but forgoing the structural components of the keyboard sonatas by the eighteenth century Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian masters, the Toccata has a free form, rhapsodic quality with rapidly developing sections. In its original form this piece, like many of the earlier toccatas, was designed for the purpose of testing the capabilities of various keyboard instruments. Now, it has been revised and recomposed as a study in instrumentation. The Harpsichord Toccata is the first of its three arrangements. Duration: 4:35
To listen to an excerpt from the Toccata, click here, then click on the first arrow under Preview.  Fantasia No. 1 (Suite): II. Tango Reverie for Piano
This is the Tango Reverie for Piano from Fantasia No. 1. Using elements of the habanera, tango andaluz, tango de salon, French impressionism, and late romanticism, it alternately contrasts and blends formality, emotional romanticism, and suggestion. I have created a variant of the opening motif of the Albeniz Tango in D for the principal motif of the main theme. This theme alternates with a lush secondary theme that is simultaneously expressive and atmospheric. Inventive modulations and the expressive abilities of the piano successively transform these themes to create a unique evocation. Duration: 5:42
To listen to an excerpt from the Tango Reverie, click here, then click on the second arrow under Preview.  Fantasia No. 1 (Suite): III. Impromptu for Piano
The Impromptu for Piano is essentially the piano version of the Toccata and constitutes its second arrangement. It has been transposed downward a half tone to F-sharp minor and the misterioso section at measure 85 (1:42) has been revised and expanded. The expressive capabilities of the piano, especially the pedal and variation of dynamics, give this piece a quality decidedly more related to the Romantic period. Naturally, the rhapsodic and expansive character of the piece has been retained, but it now feels more like an improvisation that tests the possibilities of the musical material rather than a device that tests the capabilities of instruments. Duration: 4:46
To listen to an excerpt from the Impromptu, click here, then click on the third arrow under Preview.  Fantasia No. 1 (Suite): IV. Bossa Nova Caprice for Jazz Ensemble: Hummingbird (Beija-flor)
This is the fourth movement of the Fantasia No. 1 Suite. Although adapted from the Tango Reverie for Piano, this work explores new territory through the use of bossa nova rhythms and a jazz type development of principal themes to create a contrapuntal mélange of melodies and countermelodies. Rigidity in the vibes part is used to capture the sense of hovering and sudden movement, while rapidly repetitive percussion suggests the high speed fluttering of the wings. An easygoing bass and graceful and whimsical countermelodies in the guitar invoke the overall shimmering character. The saxophone part is intended to convey the emotional response to this spectacle. The Portuguese name is included in the title because of its descriptive meaning: Flower Kisser. Duration: 6:55
To listen to an excerpt from the Bossa Nova Caprice, click here, then click on the fourth arrow under Preview.
To listen to an excerpt from the Rhapsody, click here, then click on the fifth arrow under Preview.
To listen to an excerpt from the Scrivener's Tale, click here, then click on the Preview arrow. |
