Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Sonata in A minor for flute alone

Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Sonata in A minor, Poco adagio
There are never enough hours in the day for me to do everything I want to do. This summer I am torn between composition, painting, and the flute. I have been devoting more time to flute lately, bringing my chops up to [...]

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New Music – Flute Concerto “The Espionage”

I am happy to announce the completion of my latest composition for flute – the long-awaited Flute Concerto. If you are a faithful reader of my blog, you might remember my references to writing a flute sonata. I originally thought I would write a respectable sonata for flute and piano, but as [...]

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Jubilance and Lament – New Compositions

I am enclosing links to my latest compositions: The Jubilance and the Lament. Both works were composed to satisfy the final requirement of a counterpoint course in my undergraduate studies and both draw inspiration from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Klavier.
In their initial version, the Jubilance and the Lament were written for [...]

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Making Music Making Love

Several years ago I was in need of some mindless decompression and so I went to the movie theater to see a popular at that time chick flick The Devil Wears Prada. Perhaps the Prada story itself could serve as a topic for another post, but for now I would like to focus [...]

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Orchestration / Scoring Demos

A good composer has to be able to wear many hats; that of an orchestrator, arranger, conductor, instrumentalist, and, of course a creator / inventor.
I finally had some time to pull my orchestration projects I prepared last year. It’s so much fun to play with the orchestral colors. I am enclosing a couple of [...]

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Epiphanies – Artwork and Music Combined

I thought I would experiment with combining my abstract painting with music. The video features 10 of my paintings and the soundtrack is one of my electronic compositions entitled Thousands of Tears.

©2008 Dosia McKay

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Prelude and Fugue – New compositions for piano solo

Lest you think I only write poetry these days, I am encolsing links to my latest music compositions.
Inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Klavier in style and form, and influenced by the colorful progressions of the Impressionists, I wrote a Prelude and a Fuge in 3 voices. This time I ventured [...]

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Beautiful is the Mention of Your Name

Beautiful is the mention of your name
Lovely is the shape of its sounds
But were it not for the language
My lips would call upon it still
With velvety timbres of golden sunrises
And soft whispers of hisses and shimmers
With every breath the muse soars
On swirling currents of warm air
The fingers tremble and thirst
For a touch of the sacred [...]

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Das Wohltemperierte Klavier

I will not be still
In the presence of eternity
Breathing into a fleeting moment
Blessed be the pleasures of the mind
The symmetry of the Universe
And the anticipation of a kiss
Of the immaculate conception
Oh, what is a frail human
To command the world
To resonate in concentric circles
To govern the ebb and flow of the soul
Everblooming overflowing
Effervescent lifesprings
Of invisible colors [...]

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Colargol – Music Influences, Polar Bears, and First Loves

It would be very sophisticated and high-brow to list Scriabin or Schoenberg as my musical influences. Brahms might be classy, and Bach perhaps too predictable. But in all truth and honesty I must admit (and I only realized it this week) that it is, in fact, Colargol.
My mother sent me [...]

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Color Me Blue – new music for soprano saxophone, 2 vibraphones, and double bass

What happens when counterpoint meets jazz? Lot’s of interesting things. Colorful progressions, virtuoso solo passages, and a little bit of a “mood” are all found in my new composition Color Me Blue for soprano saxophone, 2 vibraphones, and double bass. This is not quite a standard set of instruments, but an interesting combination nevertheless.
Since, [...]

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Kronos Quartet, Early Music: Lachryme antique – Review

The Kronos Quartet, one of the premiere American chamber ensembles, has pushed the boundaries of genre, style, and interpretation for over 30 years. From its conception, ever since violinist David Harrington heard John Crumb’s “Black Angels”, a work inspired by the Vietnam War, featuring bowed water glasses, spoken word passages, and electronic passages, the [...]

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