publishing and producing the music of William Grosvenor Neil

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Chasing Clouds (2022) Linda Chatterton, flute; Maja Radovanlija, guitar; YunZhe Lin, guitar
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Chasing Clouds (2022)

Flute and two guitars.   9 mins.

Premiered March of 2025 at the University of Minnesota, Linda Chatterton, flute; Maja Radovanlija, guitar; and YunZhe Lin, guitar

What is it about the magic luminous display of cumulus clouds on a summer day that refreshes the spirit? There is something about the grand magnitude of clouds that
inspires reverence for the majestic. We gaze spellbound as clouds seemingly transform before our eyes, their colossal shapes stirring the imagination. Indeed, it’s amazing how this alchemy of wind, moisture and air pressure can create such a spectacular show above our heads.
The four cloud references that I have captured musically are visual impressions but also evocations of past feelings that come with viewing the horizons that drift through our lives.
The opening section, Cirrus reflects on their wispy appearance with music that has a flighty nervous energy. Stratus follows with music that alludes to its rippling characteristics. Noctilucent are clouds that are typically associated with sunsets, and I have composed music that is quiet, reflective and mysterious. Finally, the closing section, cumulus,
is inspired by clouds that are majestic and graceful in motion but on the cusp of becoming thunderheads as they pile up into the stratosphere.

 

Canis Lupus-Lamentation for Eb Clarinet & Digital Acoustics (2024) performed by Fátima Boix
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Canis Lupus-Lamentation for Piccolo Clarinet & Digital Acoustics (2024)

Solo Eb Clarinet & Digital Acoustics   7 mins.

Online YouTube Premiere May of 2025 performed by Fátima Boix

Canis Lupus-Lamentation for Piccolo Clarinet and Digital Acoustics laments the loss of wolves that have
been reintroduced in the wild over the last 20 years. Specifically I was inspired by the Alpha wolf, referred to as “06”, who thrived in Yellowstone National Park, raising her cubs against all odds, including predators and competing wolf packs. In addition to the recorded sounds of wolves edited and compiled to create diverse sonorities, the digital part also includes the sounds of the multi-chambered clay whistle, a terra cotta whistle
in the shape of a human skull, and an overtone flute that was crafted specifically for this piece by a Serbian flute maker. These ancient forms of human musical expression blend with the primal sounds of the wolves in the wild. In the climatic section of the piece, where the clarinet reaches its highest pitch and the digital acoustic swells dynamically, the music alludes emotionally to the death of “06” shot by a lone hunter who selfishly pursued the celebrated wolf as trophy of defiance for rights of hunters.

 

The digital acoustic consisting of a single .wav file, can be played on a media player program on a Mac or PC computer. The computer should ideally be connected to an interphase device with stereo TRS outputs to a mixer with outputs to an amplified stereo sound system with high quality speakers.This would render the most high fidelity reproduction of sound that would full realize the acoustic richness of the digital recording. The .wav file should begin simultaneously with the clarinet’s first notes. The beginning section of the clarinets part, from a capo to letter B, requires the clarinet to play into a dedicated microphone patched into a channel in the mixer with a medium concert hall reverb.  When the score is purchased, instructions are given regarding the receipt of the performance .wav file by email.

Fàtima Boix performing Canis Lupus-Lamentation for Piccolo Clarinet and Digital Acoustics

Sonata for Flute and Piano (2023) Jonathan Borja, flute, and Lindsay Garritson, piano
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Sonata for Flute and Piano (2023)

Flute and piano    14 mins.

Premiered March of 2023 at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Jonathan Borja, flute, and Lindsay Garritson, piano.

This three movement sonata is dedicated to flutist, Jonathan Borja. I was inspired by his virtuosic interpretation of contemporary music and each of the movements showcases a facet of his technical brilliancy on the flute: a spirited tone in the first movement, expressive lyricism in the second movement and powerful rhythmic phrasing in the third movement.

Rondo Capriccioso

There are four whimsical, dance-like themes in this movement alternating in rondo fashion. (ABCBCBDCDAB). Each statement of the multiple themes is a variation of its previous version,

building tension through varied melodic and rhythmic embellishment. I have placed a fourth theme in the center of the movement that, through its more expressive harmonies, brings the movement to an emotional climax. Then rotating back through the themes, the movement ends with a short coda.

Adagio

This movement is based on a repeated harmonic sequence or chaconne in the piano accompaniment. The harmonies are characterized by a tragic melancholic feeling, while the flute expressively and lyrically rises and then slowly descends to a resolution in the final bars.

Estatico

The last movement is a pure play of exhilarating and joyful melodies that are driven rhythmically by rich piano sonorities. The first theme is launched with cascading arpeggios in the flute and the second theme is spun from the piano toccata-like accompaniment. There are two quiet sections that interrupt the energetic flow of the opening with a lyrical reflection on the motives from the main theme. The movement ends with an explosion of glissandi in the piano and flute before the final statement of the second theme and a quick ending.

Highlights from Sonata for Flute and Piano

I. Canis Lupus-Nocturne (2020) Artaria String Quartet, Ray Shows, violin, Nancy Oliveros, violin, Analee Wolf, viola, and Patricia Ryan, violoncello
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Sacrum Creaturae (2021)

for string quartet and digital acoustics      21 mins.

The Artaria String Quartet, August 18th at the Stringwood Chamber Music Festival in Lanesboro, MN

Read about the premiere

Commissioned by the Artaria String Quartet

Sacrum Creaturae (String Quartet No. 2) for string quartet and digital acoustic commissioned and premiered August 18th, 2021 at the Stringwood Chamber Music Festival by the Artaria String Quartet, profiles three endangered creatures:  wolves, dolphins, and birds in the three movements of this string quartet.  Each of the digital acoustics, the recorded and processed sounds of wolves, dolphins, and birds, explore the sounds of these creatures from three perspectives.   Canis Lupus-Nocturne developed through the exploration of wolf howls, growls, snarls, barks, and choruses.  My goal in integrating the sounds of wolves with the string quartet was to make them equally passionate and expressive driving the dynamic and emotional climaxes of the music with equal intensity.  Programatically, I have placed the wolves deep in the forest,  in an environment that allows the string quartet to evoke the mystery and primal energy associated with these animals. I make musical references to the controversy of re-introducing these animals in the wild and the history of violent annihilation by hunters.          Delphinus-Cradlesong comprises the slow, middle movement of this piece.  The cradlesong is literal and is inspired by the recent discovery by marine scientists that a mother dolphin will sing to its unborn calf so that it bonds with the mother and is familiar with her voice after birth.  I have essentially orchestrated my Cradlesong for solo piano for string quartet and the whistling sounds of a mother dolphin singing to its calf.  The final movement, 21 Birds, incorporates the bird calls of 21 birds in the Driftless region of the upper Mississippi, integrated with the thematic music of the string quartet. I treat the birds as 21 soloists and as an orchestra of birds accompanying the quartet. In the performance with the quartet, I have employed various special effects, such as reverberation, echo, and delay to blend the two acoustics.  The performance of the piece involves a very high-quality sound system that envelopes the audience in a three-dimensional sound environment.

Purchase per performance license and receive link to download files with performance instructions.  $50

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Please contact TheComposerStudio for further support:   thecomposerstudio@gmail.com 

Objets Trouvés (2019) Jonathan Borja, flute, and Mary Ellen Haupert, piano.
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Objets Trouvés (2019)

Flute and piano    7 mins.

Premiered February of 2019 at Viterbo University, Jonathan Borja, flute, and Mary Ellen Haupert, piano.

This piece for flute and piano is dedicated to the silenced artists that perished during WWII and is inspired by two fragments that I found in the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.:  an ink drawing entitled "A Brighter Future", by Bedrich Fritta, and a musical sketch of a twelve-tone row composed by the Moravian composer, Gideon Klein. I was captivated by the ink drawing with its clear expression of freedom and the still life that depicts a violin and musical manuscript containing a music motive in Ab major.  The construction of my composition is largely derived from the dual tonal-atonal nature of the two motives as it drives forward in thematic variations expressing the conflicting emotions of hope and despair.  WN

Jonathan Borja, flute performing Objets Trouvés

Spiritual Adaptation to Higher Altitudes (2018) Corey Mackey, clarinet, and Keith Leinert, vibraphone
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Spiritual Adaptation to Higher Altitudes (2018)

Bb Clarinet and Vibraphone    7 mins.

June 2018 at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Dr. Corey Mackey clarinet, Keith Leinert, vibraphone.

Commissioned by Dr. Corey Mackey

Spiritual Adaptation to Higher Altitudes is a beautiful work.  Bursts of excitement and moments of dialogue punctuate the long, seamless phrases, inviting the musicians to explore the remarkably rich palette of colors created by this pairing.  William Neil has created a truly unique, much-needed addition to the clarinet and percussion repertoire!- Dr. Corey Mackey

Midi Audio of Three Tangos for Clarinet and Piano (2017)
Tango No. 1 for clarinet & piano performed by Bethan Jones, clarinet, and William Grosvenor Neil, piano
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Three Tangos for Clarinet and Piano (2016)

For piano and clarinet in Bb        10 mins

Tango No. 1 is dedicated to Malgosia and her newborn.  I imagined a mother, with a child in her arms, dancing to the rhythm of this tango.  Tango No. 2  is for  Diana, a  poet and a  believer in sci-art quantum physics of the everyday.  It is a slow and somber dance with the universe.  Tango No. 3 was inspired by  Amanda, the mother character in The Glass Menagerie.   The music, like her memory,  is surreal and fantastic.

Tango for guitar and violoncello (2013) (midi audio)
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Tango for Guitar and Violoncello (2013)

Guitar and violoncello    3 mins.

Premiere performance by Marco De Santi, guitar and  Frieder Berthold, 'cello in Gargnano, Italy June of 2013.

This tango is an arrangement of Tango No. 1 of Six Tangos for solo piano. Tango No. 1 is dedicated to Malgosia and her newborn.  I imagined a mother, with a child in her arms, dancing to the rhythm of this tango.  

Purchase digital download of score and parts from SheetMusicPlus   $12

Piano Trio No. 1 “Notte dei Cristalli” (2012) Trio Malipiero: Giacomo Dalla Libera, piano, Tommaso Luison, violin, and Giancarlo Trimboli, violoncello.
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Piano Trio No. 1 “Notte dei Cristalli” (2012)

Piano, violin, and violoncello   20 mins.

Premiere performance by Trio Malipero, Giacomo Dalla Libera, piano, Tommaso Luiso, violin, Giancarlo Trimboli, violoncello, June 18th, 2015 at Teatro alla Specola, Padova, Italy.

Commissioned by Trio Malipiero.

Piano Trio No. 1 (Night of Broken Glass) for the piano trio is a tribute to the children who are often the innocent victims of the tragic and violent actions of men. Although I have referenced the Kristallnacht attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938, I am, in my musical expression, alluding to all senseless demonstrations of violence that often reach catastrophic proportions as they shatter the lives of children. In these three movements, I juxtapose the intensely orchestrated sonorities with two Jewish traditional lullabies*. The themes, only briefly heard as lyric contrasts to the more aggressive music, interweave and develop their own narrative, gaining an increasing emotional weight as the episodes unfold. In addition, there are two “enigma” themes that I use to drive the transformation of the music to its emotional climax.

Other Echoes Inhabit the Garden (2009) Wang Guowei, erhu, Yang Wei, pipa, Teresa Reilly, Bb Clarinet, John Bruce Yeh, Bb bass clarinet
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Other Echoes Inhabit the Garden (2009)

Erhu, pipa, clarinet in Bb, bass clarinet in Bb        11 mins.

 

 

Premiered April 11th, 201o at  Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College in Naperville, IL

Birds and Phoenix

Wang Guowei, erhu , Yang Wei, pipa
John Bruce Yeh and Teresa Reilly, clarinets.

Commissioned by Birds and Phoenix

I composed this piece imagining myself in a garden of images, sonorities, and aromas that all merge in an idyllic moment in time.  I have taken a line from one of T.S.Eliot’s poems in the Four Quartets, for my title, Other Echoes Inhabit the Garden. The poem, Burnt Norton, concludes with the poignant truth that “humankind cannot bear very much reality.”  I often wonder whether my work as a composer really has any significance or meaning beyond helping my listeners temporarily escape their personal realities.  In recalling Eliot’s line,  “What might have been and what has been/ point to one end, which is always present” I am reminded that a melody, a single line of lyric pitch flow evokes memory in the mind of the listener and that rhythm and accent often draws our attention to the present moving towards the future.  So, with these inherent powers

of music in mind, it was my goal to create a piece of vibrant and engaging music that relentlessly draws the listener into the present moment.  Eliot also alludes to a timeless merging of present and past in this poem. His line, “then a cloud passed and the pool was empty” brought back memories of being a child watching clouds almost unnoticeably move across the sky.  I was similarly inspired to conclude Other Echoes Inhabit the Garden with music that evokes an ecstatic stillness tempered with a longing for the past.  WGN

Birds and Phoenix performing Other Echoes Inhabit the Garden

Nightmantra (2006) Erica Ward, violin

Nightmantra (2006)

For solo violin and digital acoustics.

Duration:  8 mins.

Premiere performance by Noah Geller, violin at the Julliard School of Music, March 25th, 2006.

The work is inspired by an entry in the Diary of Anne Frank where she daringly leaves the safety of the annex one night to view the night sky-a sky she had not seen for many years.  That night she wrote in her diary:   "It’s not just my imagination on my part that to look up at the sky, the clouds, the moon and the stars, makes me calm and patient."   Incredibly, during this same period of time, Anne Frank was seeking refuge from the Nazis in the secret annex in Holland, the controversial conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler was conducting Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in a series of concerts in Berlin.  The concerts were to provide an escape and sanctuary for the German audience during one of the darkest periods of the war.   Indeed, shortly after the last concert, the concert hall was bombed.  I have extracted a digital sample from  an archive recording of the concert in 1944 of Furtwangler conducting a performance of Bruckner’s 5th Symphony.  I have created a sound mantra from the dark "shadow" of this audio excerpt. As the piece unfolds, the  violin leads us away from the mantra’s  dark grasp and directs us to look up at the night sky full of stars.

 

Purchase score and receive link to download digital acoustic file with performance instructions.  $30

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Performance by Erica Ward at Case Western Reserve University

Fantasia for Guitar, Flute, & ‘Cello (1979) (excerpt of score) Michael Lorimer, guitar, Ellen Kahne, flute, and Bob Weber, violoncello
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Fantasia for guitar, flute, and violoncello (1979)

For guitar, flute, and violoncello    10 mins.

Premiered at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington July 1984, Michael Lorimer, guitar, Ellen Kahne, flute, and Bob Weber, violoncello

“I composed Fantasia reminiscing on a year I lived in Cologne, Germany. I remembered my disgust with the noise and with the architectural ugliness of a city hastily rebuilt after the war, and, at the same time, I recalled the beauty and the peace of the city’s small, secretive, walled gardens.” William Neil