Selecting works to recommend is always a challenge. And having a generic list here is especially problematic, since it presupposes (quite incorrectly I think) that our tastes are more similar than dissimilar. Given these substantial challenges I’ve set about making a relatively loose guide where a reader might themself select the pieces that most closely match their interests.
Three impressionistic piano works:
Arranged from shortest to longest. The first is a bit over a minute in length, the last is close to six. All three feature human performance. (Rachel Aubuchon performed Study 3. I performed Studies 9 and 13.)
Study No. 13: Slate Grey Skies
Study No. 3: Rondo on a Lullaby for Norah
Two expressionistic piano works:
Both relatively short, but somewhat more dissonant
Study No. 14: Syncopated Rhythm
Two pieces for brass:
The first is somewhat neo-baroque, the second is slightly more expressionistic. Both feature John Perkins and Alex Pickard on trumpet, Bruce Gordon on horn, and Dan Witter and Todd Yatsook on trombone.
Fanfare and Fugue for Brass Quintet
The March of the Robot Monster
Two neo-baroque organ works:
A neo-classical piano work:
Of slightly greater duration. This is probably a bit more approachable than the scherzo, but it does utilize a good bit of dissonance.
A neo-classical orchestral work:
Of rather lengthy duration. (About fifteen minutes.) This too utilizes some dissonance, but in a way I think the audience will recognize. Further, it attempts to tell a story, which in some ways makes it easier to follow. (You can, if you wish, read the libretto, which tells that story.)
Tableau I from The Faerie Flute
A minimalistic concerto:
Concerto for Piano and Strings
An expressionistic suite:
In three movements. This work is considerably drier than almost any of the other pieces, and uses some compositional techniques not found elsewhere: namely serialism. That said, the neo-classical and minimalist elements help to make the more foreign material a bit more transparent. (And it is, after all, meant to depict a desert, which should be rather dry, and noticeably rocky.)
