Tom Swafford

Audio Available

Component

Delivery

Ensemble

Eprint Folders

Grade

Instrument

Instrument Family

Instrument Type

Item Sequence

Large Print Edition

Marketed Status

Minimum Sell Quantity

MINTS Data Available

Product Line

Prop65

Score Available

Video Available

A short Mariachi-inspired piece for four violins featuring danceable rhythms and singable melodies, and an optional vamp section for improvised solos. My original title for this, Picaroon, is close to a Spanish word which means "rascal" (among other things).  While I was writing this, my wife Molly and I were planning our honeymoon to Mexico. My excitement and anticipation for that adventure found its way into this piece!

Picaron

Violin Quartet

Bodkin is inspired by my experience playing fiddle in a folk-punk band called Meisce in the early 2000s.  It is an accessible, danceable tune with an Irish flavor and lots of room for personal expression.

Bodkin

Violin Trio

These arrangements began as semi-improvised multi-track recordings I made in 2011. In these transcriptions I kept the improvised spirit.  The arrangements are appropriate for a variety of levels. Silent Night can be played by intermediate players while Good King Wenceslas is for more advanced violinists. I hope fiddlers everywhere will have as much fun with this as I have!

Five Christmas Carols for Violin Trio

Terror in toon Town is an entertaining, rollicking, piano 4-hands piece for adults or advanced students.  Towards the end is a sly quote from one of my favorite 20th century Russian composers.  You may also hear laughter, a sort of elephantine mambo, a broken music box, and more humorous effects. The score is designed to be printed in piano duet style with the lower (secondo) part's music on the left. The music is arranged so that at least one player has rests for easy page turns. It was premiered in 1993 at Tufts University by John McDonald and Marilee Annereau. Duration: approx. 5 minutes.

Terror in 'toon Town

Piano Duet-1 Piano, 4 Hands

I wrote Times Square Shuffle in 2007, shortly after I moved to New York.  The title comes from signs for a traffic revision program that "shuffled" cars to 7th Avenue and away from Broadway, keeping the area free for pedestrians.  I always thought this sounded like some kind of a dance, in a shuffle rhythm naturally!  The piece begins with honking horns and yelling drivers, which transforms into a blues shuffle. Amidst the chaos are quotes from Bach's C sharp minor fugue (BWV 873).   It was premiered in 2009 at the Douglass Street Music Collective in Brooklyn.

Time Square Shuffle

Woodwind Quintet

Dubious Diversions features West African influenced polyrhythms and written-out rubato over a steady rhythm in the piano, similar to what a jazz soloist might do over a rhythm section. The musicians often diverge, playing contrasting music. They come together in the tranquil end section, which brings back themes from earlier in the piece.

Dubious Diversions

Clarinet Solo

Inspired by rhythms from Latin American music, I wrote this piece with the hope that players would be inspired to dance as they play it.  Although reading the rhythms can be challenging at first, there is a definite groove and it is satisfying to play and to listen to. It was premiered by my friends Beth Fleenor and Rosalynn DeRoos in Seattle in 2007.

Traveling Dance

Clarinet Duet

Yclept begins like a shape-note hymn and morphs into a something resembling a folk or country song. It was written for the 2018 "RPM Challenge," which is to compose and record a full-length album in the month of February. I chose the titles for all of the pieces from a list of archaic words, more for the sound of the words than the meanings.

Yclept

Varlet is a lyrical, jazz influenced miniature featuring chromatic harmony, and a melody that is catchy despite (or perhaps because of) its many large, often dissonant, skips.  Although written for three violins, it can be played by any instruments. It is part of a series of pieces I wrote for the 2018 "RPM Challenge," which is to compose and record a full-length album in the month of February. I chose the titles for all of the pieces from a list of archaic words, more for the sound of the words than the meanings.

Varlet

Dandiprat was written in February, 2018. It is part of a series of pieces I wrote for the "RPM Challenge," which is to compose and record a full-length album in the month of February. I chose the titles for all of the pieces from a list of archaic words, more for the sound of the words than the meanings. What I had in mind for this one was a theme song from an imaginary British television show, perhaps from the 1970s, which may or may not have been called Dandiprat.

Dandiprat

Quidnunc was inspired by the English folk-rock group Pentangle, singer Kate Bush, and the Stranglers' song "Golden Brown."  Liberty can be taken in terms of numbers of repetitions, inner voices being tacet the first time, etc.

Quidnunc

Ambuscade is inspired by the solo violin works of J. S. Bach. It can be played as a solo, duo, or trio. The slower third violin part (all in half notes) can be played by a less advanced violinist.

Ambuscade

Format

Exciting and dramatic short orchestra piece with a wide variety of moods and textures, and a lot of rhythmic drive. The piece has 4 main themes in contrasting styles: Romantic (strings and horns), funky/rhythmic (clarinet), corny (piccolo),  and lyrical (oboe).  All the themes use the same principle notes (D, C sharp, B flat and A) and could be considered "friendly" or "fiendish" depending on your musical taste. At the climactic ending all the themes are layered on top of each other. Care was taken to make sure all instruments had something satisfying to play.  It was composed for the U. C. Berkeley Orchestra and received an Eisner Prize from the U. C. Berkeley faculty. Duration: 7 minutes. ASCAP 
Instrumentation: piccolo (separate player),2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, timp, 2 perc (perc 2 can double timp), strings

Friend or Fiend

String Orchestra Score & Parts

Tango Izquierda is inspired by Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla. It was composed in 2005 for Tom's duo with pianist Amy Rubin in Seattle. He later arranged it for his New York based ensemble String Power. This version was done in 2017 for the South Anchorage High School Orchestra conducted by Nathan Levine. A viola cadenza is included in the score. As an alternative, the cadenza has been transposed for violin and cello and included in the score and parts. Cadenza players are encouraged to improvise on the given material or compose their own cadenzas. 

"I am so thankful for Tom Swafford's compositional abilities and his willingness to arrange this piece for my top level HS Orchestra. The rhythms proved to be a bit tricky to sightread, but once the students got the hang of it, they realized it wasn't all THAT hard. My favorite memory of this piece is my students dancing around a warm up room playing it from memory before going out and performing in our district wide Large Group Festival. So much passion and fun can be explored with Tango Izquierda. Don't even think twice. Buy it now!"

					-Nathan Levine, director
					 South Anchorage High School Orchestra

Tango Izquierda

Global Sections - CORE [DO NOT TOUCH]*

Favicon

Need Help? Contact Us or call 1-800-345-6296    Live Chat

Header

Don't have a business account? Create one

Products