SKU: A0.1002835

I started writing what would become One Sows for the Benefit of Another Age in 2013, as I was sketching ideas for what became a piano trio. I liked what I had created, but two things became evident: The piece was destined to be for orchestra, and I was not good enough as a composer to finish it. Over the next seven years, I kept returning to this piece in my spare time, adding some sections, tweaking some others, and at some point I gained the experience to finish it. But the trade-off was that I no longer had the time. At least until Spring of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic put most of my projects on hold, and I was able to return to--and finish--the work.

The title came last. My ideas while I was writing centered around Americana (I was listening to a lot of Copland, Barber, and Ives) and infusing my history and experience in the Ozarks and on the plains. I knew I wanted to make use of the idea of illumination, of dawn. I wanted to start in the shadows and end aglow. The darkness was such a defining feature that my working title was Aegri Somnia, loosely translated from Latin as troubled dreams. As I continued working, I realized that the focus wasn't the darkness--the focus was the change.

I discuss change a lot in my teaching. Students often see change as transformative change--massive, radical, sweeping change, like winning the lottery, or winning an audition. Transformative change is easy--it usually involves hoping for a situation or a Deus ex Machina, and if it happens, it benefits us immediately. Iterative change, however--small, repeated, incremental change that builds up over time--is hard. An extra half-hour of work every day, a little extra contributed to savings every month, these changes add up over time and become significant. But it requires intention and action, and it doesn't reap immediate benefits. It may not end up benefitting us at all.

One Sows changes iteratively. It starts from a dark place, but is sprinkled with seeds of hope. A descending motive introduced in the violins brings us out of the darkness, albeit slowly. The idea spreads, develops, and eventually becomes part of a new idea, a new paradigm, that takes over.

In searching for a title, I came across Serit ut alteri saeclo prosit, North Dakota's Latin state motto, whose English translation is the title of this work. It's a recent addition to the North Dakota statutes, but a timeless message. Our work isn't finished yet.

SKU: A0.1277133

Missa Solemnis in B major, op. 27 (conductor's score).
Based on its Neo-classical style, this setting of the Roman Catholic mass text could possibly work as a festive mass (missa solemnis) with trumpets and timpani, and its duration would fit such a solemn service. However, its intense and sometimes dramatic treatment and universal addressability due to its well-known and rather concentrated text, yet also due to eliminating the „Filioque� (which would still fit the rhythm of the repeated „qui ex Patre�, should any Catholics ever wish to perform this as a mass) make it rather a „liturgical oratorio for all nations�, more appropriate in the concert hall. 

The work has had a long gestation: imagined in 1984 after the composer’s first contact with Beethoven’s masterpiece, then sketched first in 1987-1989, and many of its themes date back from those years. Its working out is quite polyphonic, discretely modal and cyclical, and also full of centuries-old musical symbols traditionally associated with the setting of the mass text: e.g. unisons for the more dogmatical parts, Baroque dotted rhythms at the Nativity (the first coming of the  King of Kings), „rex caelestis� and also at his Passion (whose setting is discretely inspired by folkloric Romanian laments), the „anabasis� gesture at „Gloria in excelsis Deo�, „et ascendit in caelis�, „in remissionem peccatorum� and the resurrection, a flute trill standing for the Holy Spirit who has come ’like a dove’ at „et incarnatus est�, a cross-shaped texture at „crucifixus�, and some word-painting (hushed sonorities at „et invisibilium�, anticipations between orchestra and chorus at „et exspecto� etc.). Moreover, certain symbolic roles are assigned to the instrumental groups when alone (the organ represents God the Father and transcendence, the winds and/or solo voices represent God the Son and humanity, and the strings represent the Holy Spirit). 

„Kyrie� is restrained and soft, besides the powerful chords opening the respective sections of its tripartite, simple structure, and it leans towards Palestrina’s serene modality and counterpoint. „Gloria� begins with a colorful orchestral introduction depicting discretely the shepherds who kept watch over their flocks right before the Nativity, and then gradually the bright revelation. „Credo� has an orchestral introduction as well, but powerful, recurring and based on the beginning of the plainchant hymn „Pange lingua�, made famous by Mozart’s last symphony and by other Classical composers. Both „Gloria� and „Credo� end with extended, powerful and elaborate fugues („in gloria Dei Patris� and „et vitam venturi saeculi�, respectively) with dramatic modulations and sometimes with enthusiastic syncopations at odds with the words’ accents, a la Stravinsky. The same sections plus „Agnus Dei� end with soft quartal harmonies suggesting transcendent appeasement (similar harmonies appear powerfully at the beginning of „Sanctus�). „Judicare� quotes the beginning of the well-known „Dies irae� plainchant tune, and the Consecration between the „Sanctus� and „Benedictus� sections is represented by a contemplative prelude for solo organ, quoting Lutheran chorales, too. Another long orchestral introduction, suggesting the Last Judgment and based on traditional Byzantine hymns, opens „Agnus Dei�, which includes another quotation (the famous ’Dresden Amen’ at „qui tollis peccata mundi� and „dona nobis pacem�). In the final section, with its refined simplicity, the choral voices enter in descending order, and the „Kyrie eleison� theme is briefly remembered, then it ends softly and peacefully. 

Total duration: 50 min. Performing Rights Organization: SOCAN. The mp3 audio clip is Kyrie.

SKU: A0.809811

Bourree - Technically a 17th century dance with French origins.  Assume that there was overlap from the 1500's to the 1600's as this dance type was mention at least as early as 1615.  A quick, duple meter conducted in two.  However, in this case, it's notated in four. (Ex. Bach Bourree in E minor for the lute suite in E minor.)  Very short.  Approximately 1 minute and 37 seconds.  This is the 3rd movement in the Dance Suite and is in E minor.

SKU: A0.730492

Advisory: Ballet story contains adult situation and themes. Not suitable for audiences or performers under the age of 18.  


INDIVIDUAL INSTRUMENT PARTS 1 (Woodwinds and Brass). Piano Score, Full Orchestral Score, Individual Parts (Part 2) Sold Separately. American composer, James Nathaniel Holland, brings a ballet adapted from the first century Roman novel by Gaius Petronius (cir. 50 A.D.) to the stage. An entertaining ballet for adults (not suitable for general audiences under the age of 18), celebrating the male ballet dancer's physique and a laugh at our own human sexuality. The comedy is a romp of three gay protagonists and their adventures and misadventure in ancient Rome and their characters; an ex-gladiator, Enclopius, his young lover, Giton, and an upper class snob, Ascyltos. It should also be said that this ballet is not pure gratuitous vulgarity, there is a interweaving story containing a deeper message of real human relationships, the satire of ancient Roman archetypes, and a humorous glimpse into ancient Roman life that still rings true even 2,000 plus years later. Regardless of the subject matter, Holland's original music is fantastic tapestry of counterpoint, set in a sort of atonal-ism and heavy percussion, evoking a period of history no longer available to us. Although not all cues and counterpoint is contained here, this piano score is extremely useful for either a performance with 2 pianos and percussion and a dance company, a director's/choreographer's score, or a concise conductor's score, or rehearsal score. Measure numbers line up with the full score. An orchestral, performance CD is available for those company's on a budget.

SKU: A0.730493

Advisory: Ballet story contains adult situation and themes. Not suitable for audiences or performers under the age of 18.  


FULL ORCHESTRAL SCORE (with stage directions). Piano Score, Individual Parts (Parts 1 and 2) Sold Separately. American composer, James Nathaniel Holland, brings a ballet adapted from the first century Roman novel by Gaius Petronius (cir. 50 A.D.) to the stage. An entertaining ballet for adults (not suitable for general audiences under the age of 18), celebrating the male ballet dancer's physique and a laugh at our own human sexuality. The comedy is a romp of three gay protagonists and their adventures and misadventure in ancient Rome and their characters; an ex-gladiator, Enclopius, his young lover, Giton, and an upper class snob, Ascyltos. It should also be said that this ballet is not pure gratuitous vulgarity, there is a interweaving story containing a deeper message of real human relationships, the satire of ancient Roman archetypes, and a humorous glimpse into ancient Roman life that still rings true even 2,000 plus years later. Regardless of the subject matter, Holland's original music is fantastic tapestry of counterpoint, set in a sort of atonal-ism and heavy percussion, evoking a period of history no longer available to us. Although not all cues and counterpoint is contained here, this piano score is extremely useful for either a performance with 2 pianos and percussion and a dance company, a director's/choreographer's score, or a concise conductor's score, or rehearsal score. Measure numbers line up with the full score. An orchestral, performance CD is available for those company's on a budget.