The enclosed is a scene from the 1932 movie “Freaks” I scored recently. Those of you who follow my whereabouts might know that I am currently studying scoring for film and multimedia at the New York University. Expect more projects to be posted here soon.

Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Sonata in A minor, Poco adagio

There are never enough hours in the day for me to do everything I want to do. This summer I am torn between composition, painting, and the flute. I have been devoting more time to flute lately, bringing my chops up to speed for upcoming auditions. I hope to connect with other musicians in New York and New Jersey this fall in chamber and orchestral settings.

Please click on the above link to hear my rendition of one of my favorite pieces in flute literature – Karl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Sonata in A minor for flute alone. This sonata inspired a poem I wrote last year entitled Beautiful is the Mention of Your Name which I am reprinting here.


Beautiful is the mention of your name
Lovely is the shape of its sounds
But were it not for the language
My lips would call upon it still
With velvety timbres of golden sunrises
And soft whispers of hisses and shimmers

Fill me to overflowing
Play me to overfilling
Beautiful is the mention of your name
Karl Philipp Emanuel

©2008 Dosia McKay

More of my flute performance excerpts can be found at http://www.dosiamckay.com/flute

“Color is the power which directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with the strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.” – Vasily Kandinsky

Artwork ©2009 Dosia McKay

In the town of Nobake
Time congeals
Like a peach pie filling from a can

One tried
And got burned

©2009 Dosia McKay

She is looking for crumbs of him
At the table they sat
That day she could not eat
A nauseous heart
Is a sign of a different
Kind of hunger
One you cannot stuff
With a seven-layer
Lasagna of self-denial

©2009 Dosia McKay

Tangled breaths of water nymphs
Waves’ incessant moans
Intertwined in endless
Ebbs and flows
Nothing satisfies let me

Soul’s vital flaw
Nothing satisfies

©2009 Dosia McKay

Excerpt 1

Excerpt 2

This past winter I was invited by a fellow composer and my former teacher James R. Carlson to participate in the annual Art Moves, a collaboration of original art, music, and dance inspired by artwork at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

I was commissioned to compose music celebrating A Visionary Journey in Glass exhibit by the world-renown glass artist Josh Simpson. I collaborated with choreographer Mike Bensey, Momentum Dance Lab, and videographer Ren Cummings and composed a soundtrack to a multimedia presentation involving live dancers and video, entitled Glass.

This project was a refreshing departure from composing for acoustic instruments, as I decided to focus entirely on synthesized sound linked to the video. I was free to explore not only new harmonies, but also new timbres.

The sonic palette of my composition resembles sounds heard during the process of glass making; the sizzling of the furnace, the bright eerie sounds of thin goblets, and the blowing of air. The music is upbeat, driving to a climax with a steadily pounding drum sequence.

The dancers on the stage spin in circles individually and then meet together to form a sphere imitating the way in which Josh Simpson creates his glass “planets.” The music transitions to a slower and more reflective section brought on by the sound of a cooling rain while the glass and the dancers are stretched and moulded through a series of breathy sounds in the music. The piece ends with the return of the furnace sounds and upbeat drum sequences.

In my poem entitled Music Is I describe music as “the dance of the soul.” I draw on that metaphor quite often when I compose and sometimes when I listen to music that moves me. So when I had the opportunity to compose a soundtrack for a dance company, I did not hesitate. I found the entire experience, from initial conceptual talks, through composition, rehearsals, and performance to be very rewarding and inspiring, and I hope to collaborate with other artists on multimedia presentations in the future.
—————————————–
Photography by Johnny Newman

Plush velvet cottonwheat
Strands of mauve and milk
In snug pleats enveloping
Faded gray wooing
Fond weave of yarn
Shelter petals rust
Safely closely holding
Folding and unfolding
Winter’s hush
Spring’s rush
Braided surrender
Warmth suspended
Wool sheets
Silk dreams
Barely bed of feathers
Layers upon layers
Shawls in fringes wild
Turn around
Linen sleeves
Smooth sweeps
Press with flare
Wash with care
Visible
Untouchable

©2009 Dosia McKay

Used to carry wind in his pockets
The call of the forests
Chirped in his ears

His brains
On patented prescription
Delay
Death by settling down

©2009 Dosia McKay

Love is green
Like freshly-cut grass
Raw earthy and sour
The stiff sharp blades
Pierce your bare feet
Without apology

Love is purple
Like dreamer’s paradise
Turned inside out
You pull me by a string
And show me how to fly
Nothing is too wild

©2009 Dosia McKay

Queens Envied Me My Joys

If Not With You, My Heart is Nowhere

My Most Wretched Soul

I am very excited to introduce my new composition for chamber orchestra entitled Three Laments of Heloise. The Laments were inspired by the Letters of Abelard and Heloise I read this spring. I was deeply moved by the story, especially the character of Heloise.

Although the book is frequently marketed as a forbidden love affair between a nun and a monk, I found it to be quite inaccurate as Abelard and Heloise both entered monastic life only after they were married and consequently separated.

I don’t want to divulge too much of the story line in case you might want to trace it yourself. Suffice it to say that yes, in Abelard’s Historia calamitatum and couple of Heloise’s letters the passion rages on freely, but overall the story centers around a crushing loss, self-denial, sacrifice, and conformity to the standards of medieval society.

The first movement of my composition entitled Queens Envied Me My Joys is Heloise’s recollection of early days with Abelard. “Every wife, every young girl desired you in absence and was on fire in your presence”, writes Heloise. “The pleasures of lovers which we shared have been too sweet… They are always there before my eyes, bringing with them awakened longings…”

The second movement entitled If Not With You, My Heart Is Nowhere, expresses Heloise’s sense of abandonment by her lover. She writes to him: “My heart was not in me but with you, and now, even more, if it is not with you it is nowhere; truly, without you I cannot exist.”

The third movement, My Most Wretched Soul gives voice to Heloise’s continued struggle with her loss and the reality of the convent life. She does not see herself as a servant of God, but rather a hypocrite who remains pious on the outside and rages inwardly. “Of all wretched women I am the most wretched, and amongst the unhappy I am unhappiest.” “How can it be called repentance for sins, however great the mortification of the flesh, if the mind still retains the will to sin and is on fire with its old desires?”

I have orchestrated the Laments for chamber orchestra consisting of a flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, tambourine, drum, and strings. Modal scales and dance sequences give them a Renaissance feel. Music theory students might appreciate the fact that the unifying element of the three movements is the interval of the 7th which appears very frequently in melodic and harmonic gestures and creates a feeling of ambiguity and of a lack of resolution.

For now I am enclosing only MIDI realizations of the score, but the piece is scheduled to be premiered by the University of Tennessee Contemporary Music Ensemble on April 19 and another performance will take place on April 23 under the direction of Rachel Grubb.

Silence on the verge
Is weightier than
Oceans of words
Air as thick as
A snow cloud
Ready to burst
Holding her breath
In expectation
Almost
Nearly
Not yet
Vibrant
Sweet fever rising
To delirium of
Being

©2009 Dosia McKay

She will give you a new name
Your name will be
A mighty conqueror
A brave warrior
A knight of valor

Twelve foolish maidens
Will toast to your death
One will await
Your resurrection

©2009 Dosia McKay

Long after we are gone
They will unearth our bones
From beneath warm glaciers
Or cold ashes of extinct volcanoes
They will store our frail artifacts
In hermetic containers
And date them
Somewhere between
Pre and Post
With an acceptable margin of error
We will be a topic
Of someone’s dissertation
They will chart our journeys
Outline our courage
Measure our grasp
And explain our fears
Then we will finally know
Why we were
The way we were

©2009 Dosia McKay

1. Haunted

2. Wind Chimes

(Samples from a live performance by Jeffrey St. John Sherwood, clarinet and Melony Maness, piano, March 29, 2009.)


I am happy to unveil Two Moods – my latest composition for clarinet and piano, written for clarinetist Jeffrey St John Sherwood.

Jeffrey and I discussed collaboration on a piece as early as spring of 2007, but because of time constraints and other projects I was involved in, it wasn’t until last November that the idea for the composition began to emerge.

I anticipated couple of weeks of uninterrupted writing time in December and I remember telling Jeffrey that the time has finally come because I was beginning to “hear things.” I had a sudden rush of ideas. I improvised on the piano and scribbled on the whiteboard in my studio, then jotted some runs and adjectives on staff paper.

But before I committed to any of them I really wanted to hear Jeffrey’s take on the piece. Jeffrey proved to be rather undemanding and told me that he trusted my judgment. His only request was that I don’t write academic “think” music. He wanted “mood” and “feel” music. This, of course, was music to my ears (pun intended).

My initial instincts were on target. I decided to explore two contrasting moods. Thus, the first movement entitled Haunted illustrates an eery, suspenseful feeling, intertwined with passages of sheer panic and terror. I recalled my childhood struggle with the fear of darkness and I wanted to confront those kinds of cold-sweat fears in my music. Haunted takes a few unexpected turns and is bound to “freak out” those who enjoy the lyrical aspect of my compositions.

Wind Chimes, if one can brave through Haunted, brings the listener to the other side of the emotional spectrum. In this movement I wanted to portray a feeling of freedom, release, and beauty. Perhaps I owe the inspiration to the wind chimes on my deck, which have been a faithful companion to my writing since last fall. Somehow I had managed to write several other pieces ignoring their gentle rattle, but this time the chimes finally found their voice in the abundance of the pentatonic melodic and harmonic figures in the movement.

Unpublished poems
Scratch the insides
Of antique bureaus
Peering through the keyholes
Of rusted locks
Awaiting pardon
From blurred memories

They stretch their
Unexercised verbs
While silently
Mouthing censored stanzas
Breathing fully
Through the spaces
Between the lines
Unburdened by the responsibility
Of guarding
The true meaning

©2009 Dosia McKay

Dear Life
Please note that
Observance of guidelines
Stated in the
Policy Manual
Is mandatory

Have a nice day

©2009 Dosia McKay

Possibilities
Inevitabilities
Liabilities
Vulnerabilities
Squared
Multiplied
Permutated

I rewind to that scene
Right before
But now
The lighting is different
And the conclusions
Are inconclusive

©2008 Dosia McKay

Heaven or Earth?
Day or night?
Water or air?
Neither
Just the horizon
Cradling the face
Of stillness
I walk blindly
Knowing less
Hearing anew
Feeling
Truly
Unreservedly
Barefacedly

©2008 Dosia McKay

Poets are enemies
Of the state
Of comfortable vegetation
Stirring dissent
From a well-balanced
Diet of
Clocking in
Clocking out

Every gesture betrays
You
A victim
Of stolen anonymity

©2008 Dosia McKay