Selected Works
By Joel Friedman
On 21, Jun 2016 | In Music in the Hall Music in the Club | By Joel Friedman
Uncle Hokum’s Fiddle for solo violin (2013)
Uncle Hokum’ s Fiddle is a fun, virtuosic solo violin “fiddle” piece with a Blue Grass flavor – think Wieniawski meets Orange Blossom Special! – commissioned for the 2013 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and performed by all the semifinalists (and some finalists). The title comes from two main sources. The first is the word “hokum,” which basically means nonsense, bunk, or something silly. It was also used in theater to describe some sort of stage gimmickry designed to elicit a response from a jaded audience. Perhaps a crowd pleaser? The second source is a type of bowing typical of virtuosic country fiddling pieces: hokum bowing (also referred to as the “double shuffle”). Check out Orange Blossom Special as an example of this “trick bowing.” I wanted to graft the traditions of 19th Century virtuosic violin writing with country or bluegrass fiddling. This performance was by semifinalist Yanghe Yu. Uncle Hokum’s Fiddle works really well as a recital encore!
The score is available
through Grey Bird Music. To see a perusal score click here.
You can purchase a 10×13″ PDF copy of the score below:
By Joel Friedman
On 03, Jan 2013 | In Music in the Hall Music in the Theater Music in the Club | By Joel Friedman
Arias with Dance Glitch (2016)
Commissioned by the Irving M. Klein International String Competition for the duo Soliloquy – Klein Laureates Ariel Horowitz, violin & Lauren Siess, viola. NEW REVISED VERSION!
Instrumentation: violin and viola (NB: this piece requires some singing and movement)
Duration: Ca. 20″
A video of the Washington DC performance can be found here; the National Sawdust performance here; a short film about the piece and those of us involved in the project is here.
The score is available through Grey Bird Music. To see a perusal score click here.
You can purchase a 10×13″ PDF copy of the score below:
By Joel Friedman
On 24, May 2016 | In Music in the Hall Music in the Club | By Joel Friedman
When the World Disintegrates Before Your Eyes for solo viola (2013)
My fierce little solo viola piece When the World Disintegrates Before Your Eyes was commissioned for the 2013 Irving M. Klein International String Competition. Performed here at its Washington D.C. premiere by the superb Derek Smith, principal violist of the New Orchestra of Washington, at Georgetown University. It is a virtuosic, intense, fractured, scherzo-like piece with echoes of Beethoven. The film is by Francisco Campos-Lopez of CinÉ/Company E. You can also hear a blisteringly brilliant performance by 2002 Klein winner and now principal violist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Teng Li at National Sawdust Here. The original remarkable World Premiere performance by 2013 Klein winner Dana Kelley Here. Want to hear Andrew Gonzalez play it at the Heifetz International Music Institute? Click here! Read what Strad Magazine had to say. The score is available through Grey Bird Music. To see a perusal score click here.
You can purchase a 10×13″ PDF copy of the score below:
By Joel Friedman
On 17, May 2016 | In Music in the Hall Music in the Club | By Joel Friedman
Movable Home (for string orchestra) (2015)
Movable Home for String Orchestra
Instrumentation: string orchestra (1.1.1.1.0 solo, plus 2.2.2.1.1 absolute minimum, more preferred – see below)
Duration: 18 minutes
Excerpt 1 (click here): Bright and energetic: The opening. A fast, energetic, and in-your-face introduction to the piece’s basic material: descending scales and a syncopated rhythm. (Mm. 1-33)
Excerpt 2 (click here): Ethereal (un poco rubato): A final distillation of the descending scales mixed with nostalgic melodic fragments from earlier variations. (Mm. 314-335)
Excerpt 3 (click here): Tenderly (poco rubato): Part of the expressive “central core“ of the piece as thematic bits coalesce into long melodic lines… which are then abruptly undercut by an unpredictable jazzy treatment of the scalar material (Mm. 177-225)
Excerpt 4 (click here): A tempo, intense: A further development of the opening rhythms plus an important expressive secondary theme appears for the 1st time. (Mm. 37-71)
By Joel Friedman
On 08, Jun 2016 | In Music in the Hall Music in the Club | By Joel Friedman
Triptych for solo cello (2013)
By admin
On 28, Nov 2012 | In Music in the Hall Music in the Club | By admin
Tomorrow Never Knows
Tomorrow Never Knows is an arrangement of the landmark Lennon & McCartney song (from their 1966 Revolver album ).
Instrumentation: mixed septet & electronics/pre-recorded sound.
Duration: ca. 5 minutes
By Joel Friedman
On 07, Dec 2012 | In Music in the Hall Music in the Theater Music in the Club | By Joel Friedman
Fallings (Workshop Excerpts)
Fallings (work-in-progress) – A multi-media chamber music theater piece residing in the realm between opera and musical theater. Seth Friedman libretto
Instrumentation: 6 person cast (3 women, 3 men), solo violinist, mixed ensemble, and pre-recorded sound
Duration: projected as a one act
By admin
On 21, Nov 2012 | In Music in the Hall | By admin
Concerto (In the Form of Variations) for Viola and Orchestra
Concerto (In the Form Of Variations) for Viola and Orchestra
Instrumentation: viola and orchestra
Duration: 21 minutes
By admin
On 21, Nov 2012 | In Music in the Hall Music in the Club | By admin
The Emily Songs
A song cycle/album (work-in-progress).
The Emily Songs sets the austere, powerful texts of Emily Dickinson in an unadorned fashion: as indie rock.
Instrumentation: mixed ensemble
Duration: ca. 15 minutes
By admin
On 21, Nov 2012 | In Music in the Hall | By admin
Elastic Band
Elastic Band – An edgy, playful work that fuses jazz, rock, funk, and classical idioms.
Instrumentation: now in 3 “flavors” 1. Sextet (clarinet, string quartet, and percussion); 2. Septet (clarinet, string quintet, and percussion); 3. Chamber Orchestra (clarinet, strings, and 2 percussion) – now out on CD at iTunes and Amazon!!
Duration: 16 minutes