Tom Munsell

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I played trumpet in high school and college. This work takes the entrance notes and the key changes from a Giovanni Gabrieli brass quartet, and I wrote the new phrases and themes. A combination of old and new. I visited St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice where Gabrieli wrote many works for the cathedral. I saw the twin choir lofts upstairs where the players were stationed. I could hear the sounds of music echoing from the past. The experience was very awe-inspiring.

A Visit to Venice

Brass Quartet

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The Princess is cursed by the Evil Witch because she despises the Kingdom and the Royal Couple. A bird sees the scene with the Witch and flies to tell the Good Fairy, who the bird knows will help. The Good Fairy tells all her fairy friends of the Princess's fate and asks for help. A Handsome Prince hears it and goes to kill the Witch with the help of an enchanted sword and break the curse. The Princess falls head over heels in love for the Prince. The King gives his permission for the couple to marry. The couple wed and live, well you know, happily ever after. This was a piece that I wrote many years ago intending it for the harpsichord. There was a harpsichord competition that was on my radar.  I revised the piece for the piano.

Fairy Tale Suite

Piano Solo

When I first started composing, the ideas kelp bursting out of my head. This is the first of one of those pieces that I set down to paper. The bass line keeps on descending by step through out the first theme. This base theme repeats in various ways like in a circle. The main idea reminded me of horses, subsequently they stampede. The second idea morphed over time into what you hear today.

Merry Go Round Caprice

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A lyric work in 6 movements lasting for approx. 23 minutes. The first movement is a 'Concert in the Park' is a mixture of 'On Top of Ol' Smokey', 'Oh My Darling Clementine', 'Blow the Man Down', 'Down in the Valley', and 'Home on the Range'. The second movement is 'The Streets of Laredo', it goes through different setting of the song. The third movement is 'Railroad through the Mountains', which is a mashup of 'I've Been Working on the Railroad' and 'She Be Coming Round the Mountain'. The forth movement is a setting of 'Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal' where Sal is an important player, you hear her three times. The fifth movement is 'We're Going to a Barn Dance' in rondo style consisting of 'Turkey in the Straw', 'Polly Wally Doodle', 'Sweet Betsy from Pike', and 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat'. The sixth and last movement is 'Shenandoah'. This movement starts with the river theme, then goes through six variations of Shenandoah with the last variation overlapping the river theme one last time.

This work presents songs I remembered singing in grade school music class. "The Streets of Laredo' and 'Shenandoah' I remember most distinctly and they hold more prominence.

Songs from Childhood

Concert Band Score & Parts

I wrote this piece more than 15 years ago. The thought of being able to take a ship and sail anywhere I wanted to go, no matter where or when, was very freeing. Go on a trip to the land of Fairy's over here and to the creation of the universe over there. Or visit England in the 16th century, how is your old English, who knows, you might run into the Bard.

Sailing on a Dream

Manuel De Falla wrote Pièces Espagnoles for Piano in 1904. There are 4 movements, of which Andaluza is the last movement. The beginning of Andaluza invokes the strumming of a guitar. The sections vary from soloists to full orchestral tutti and back again. When I listen to the piano piece, I imagine a Flamenco Dancer dancing to a guitar, clapping her hands and stomping her heels on the stage telling her story.

Manuel De Falla's Anduluza from Pieces Espagnoles for Piano arranged for Orchestra

Full Orchestra Score & Parts

I was on vacation in northern Europe on a cruise ship. I only had my iPad with me, but I had a score writer on it. I started writing material for the first movement of a string quartet. I liked it quite a bit, I kept going by the end of the vacation I had the A section. I had in mind the B section but it took some working out to get what I wanted. The rest took shape when I got home. I had another Scherzo and Final movement, but they didn't fit into where this piece was going, so I have else something to write in the future. I hired a Violinist to go over the piece. I'm glad I did, he gave me great insight in string playing in a quartet.

Reflections of Life

2 Violins, Viola, Cello Quartet

A very old woman elegantly dressed is dancing a waltz. She begins to stumble as the room spins, and she collapses. As the scene erupts into chaos, she doesn't notice the earthly realm, she just sees all the beauty around her. Then she sees the life she once so gloriously lived...

Her Last Waltz

I wrote this piece more than 15 years ago. I have revised it slightly from its original version. I was in the concert band in High School. My English teacher had a PHD in Music. He wrote a band piece that the band played through one day. His piece was "The Battle of Agincourt". He was a great influence in my life, I was thinking about him when I wrote this piece.

The Battle of Agincourt

I wrote this piece more than 12 years ago. Someone said to me, "Yeah, and pigs can fly". And that was the thought that launched this piece. Here pigs can fly and talking pink horses with white spots can go to birthday parties. And they bet on human track and field events. You can live inside a huge tree that talks about the nature of the universe. Everything is possible.

Fantasy Scape

I thought of a person reliving their past because they were no longer happy in the present. They were revisiting their past over and over again like when a song gets stuck in your mind, and you can't stop thinking about it. The piece gets a little grandiose at times like special images of one's past. This was a piece I wrote about 15 years ago; here it is with a few slight revisions.

Lost in the Past

Dorothy was a coworker at the time this piece was written. She was also a pianist. She played some of my pieces and gave me feedback. I wanted to thank her for the help she gave me, so I wrote this piece. I love writing Waltzes as they kind of take control and write themselves. This one was no different. I am hearing some of the International Dance music now, which dance will be next? A Foxtrot or a Tango...

Waltz for Dorothy

I took Ballroom dancing for several years. So, for me, the first dance to tackle was the Waltz. This was one in the first five pieces I composed. I was thinking about a Ballroom Dance competition, and this melody came to me. From the initial thought to the final piece takes some trial and error. I tried many iterations until I found the rights ones to complete the piece.

Waltz at a Costume Ball

A fast-paced race against time. One idea turns into another and another. One theme morphs into two, then into three. They combine and break apart again and again. The B section is an extended theme in the piano's low register with a sparkling right hand adding icing to this section. The A section returns but fuller in scope. The Coda concludes the piece in a breakneck race for the finish line. The question is who will get there first.

Late for Work Again

I got this crazy bass theme in my head and it would let go. I sounded something like galloping horses. I wanted to change the meter into something equally crazy, so I picked 5/4. There is a section that reminded of a chase, but were the horses the pursued or the pursuer? You will have to figure that out for yourselves. This piece was very different for me at the time but I really enjoyed writing it.

Running with the Herd

I worked on playing many of Chopin pieces. His Nocturnes hold a special place in my heart. This piece was inspired after I listened to one of them. I formed this piece in my mind and wrote it down. The idea morphed over time into what you hear today.

Obscured by Mist

I wrote this piece more than 25 years ago. I have revised it slightly from its original version. I envisioned this piece as a painter would select a pallet for a work of art. The various sections are a series of brush strokes. Since there is nothing to visualize, you have to form the picture in your minds.

Bagatelle

Global Sections - CORE [DO NOT TOUCH]*

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