Compositions

My profile on the British Music Collection is here.
My SoundCloud account, with recordings of some of my compositions, is here.

Violin

Violin Sonata (2016)

I.   Allegro moderato
II.  Modal Jig
III.  Ballad
IV.  Rondo

Sonata for Violin and Piano sample pages
Violin Sonata Performance Notes

Airplay (+ birdsong) (2022)

 for violin and piano

Allegro moderato excerpt (computer generated)

Modal Jig excerpt (computer generated)

Ballad excerpt (computer generated)

Rondo excerpt (computer generated)

Cello

Cello Sonata (2015)

I.   Budapest
II.  Vienna
III. Brno
IV.  Tirana

Cello Sonata sample pages
Cello Sonata Performance Notes

I. Budapest excerpt (computer generated)

II. Vienna excerpt (computer generated)

III. Brno (live recording)  Video here on YouTube

IV. Tirana excerpt (computer generated)

String Quartet

String Quartet (2015)

I.   Maestoso
II.  Adagio
III. Minuet: Allegretto (pseudo raga)
IV.  Con brio

String Quartet sample pages
String Quartet Performance Notes

Maestoso excerpt (computer generated)

Adagio excerpt (computer generated)

Minuet: Allegretto excerpt (computer generated)

Con brio excerpt (computer generated)

Romp! (2020)

About this piece

Flute

Flute Vibes (2015)

for flute and piano

Premiered 17 May 2015, Exeter College, Oxford
Chris Britton, Flute

Flute Vibes sample pages
Flute Vibes Performance Notes

Flute Vibes, with Chris Britton, flute, and Kirsten Johnson, piano

Clarinet

Being (2015)

for clarinet solo

Premiered November 14, 2020, by The Boston New Music Initiative
Stephanie Clark, clarinet

Score – please let me know if you choose to perform Being

Watch a video of me talking about this piece with Beth Ratay (BNMI) here.

Cha cha cha! (2022)

for clarinet solo

Oboe

In simplicty, beauty (2023)

for oboe solo

Bassoon

Epik and Dance (2019)

for bassoon and string trio

Epik and Dance introductory notes
Score available through UCLA Contemporary Music Score Collection: Epik and Dance (escholarship.org)

Epik and Dance excerpts (computer generated)

Brass

Brass Quintet (2017)

I.   March sample pages
II.  Waltz  sample pages
III. Soliloquy  sample pages
IV.  Finale  sample pages

Performance notes

I. March excerpts (computer generated)

II. Waltz excerpts (computer generated)

III. Soliloquy excerpts (computer generated)

IV. Finale excerpts (computer generated)

Tuba

Deep Blue (2017)

Tuba solo with extended techniques

Deep Blue sample pages

Chamber Ensemble

Remembrance, Journey and Dance (2016)

Trio for clarinet, oboe or viola; cello or bassoon; and piano

Premiered 1 April 2017, MC Gallery, New York City by Vent Nouveau

Remembrance, Journey and Dance sample pages
Remembrance, Journey and Dance Performance Notes

Remembrance, Journey and Dance, performed by Vent Nouveau

streams, waterfall, pool (2016)

for flute, violin and cello

streams, waterfall, pool Performance Notes
Score available through UCLA Contemporary Music Score Collection: streams, waterfall, pool (escholarship.org)

 

streams, waterfall, pool excerpts (computer generated)

Elegy (2020)

Trio for violin, cello and piano

Performance notes

Elegy, performed by Trio Spilliaert
Jean-Samuel Bez, violin Guillaume Lagravière, cello Gauvain de Morant, piano

Episodes (2024)

Trio for clarinet, cello and piano

  1. Breathing
  2. Playing
  3. Feeling
  4. Knowing
  5. Dancing

Orchestra

Union/Disunion (2017)

Premiered 17 June 2017, London
London Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, workshop

Union/Disunion Performance Notes
Union/Disunion sample pages

And time stood still…. (2019)

for string orchestra

And time stood still…performance notes
Score available through UCLA Contemporary Music Score Collection: And Time Stood Still… (escholarship.org)

And time stood still…. performed by the Medirecon Orchestra

Why? performed by the Medirecon Orchestra

Tsunami (2021)

for full orchestra
About the piece

Vocal Ensemble

Fall, Leaves, Fall (2016)

for male sextet, a cappella, 4’20”
Text: Emily Bronte

Fall, Leaves, Fall sample pages

What the Swallows Did (2016)

for 2 sopranos, 1 mezzo-soprano, a cappella,3’20”
Text: Louisa May Alcott

Performance notes
What the Swallows Did sample pages

An Evening Prayer (2018)

for male sextet (2 Altos; 2 Tenors; Baritone; Bass), a cappella, 3’50”
Text: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

An Evening Prayer sample pages

Vocal Solo

Eliza (2017)

for soprano and found objects.
Text: Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Sample score

Longing (2022)

for soprano and piano
Text: Jonathan Herring

Was bin ich? (2023)

for soprano and piano
Text: Bell Walden

Never give up…. (2023)

for soprano, singing bowls and woodblock
Text: Harriet Beecher Stowe

 

Premiered December 17, 2022, 4 pm EST, by The Boston New Music Initiative on their Prismatic Congruency series: view here!

Choral

Ages of Ages (2015)

SATB, a capella, 4’30”

Performance notes
Ages of Ages sample pages

For Christmas-Tide is Here! (2016)

SATB and organ  3’30” [also in SATB and piano version]
Text: Louisa May Alcott

Performance notes
For Christmas-Tide is Here! sample pages

The Pied Piper of Hamelin (2016)

for Children’s Choir, SATB Choir, Flute, Double Bass, Percussion and Piano, 20’
Text: Robert Browning (extracts)
The Pied Piper of Hamelin further information

Sing Unto The Lord (2016)

SATB a cappella, 4’10”
Text: Psalm 96, vv 1, 11-13

Sing Unto The Lord sample pages

The Twirling Shoal (2017)

for SATB quartet and piano
Text: K. Johnson

The Twirling Shoal sample pages

The Four Elements (2017)

for SATB a cappella
Text: Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)

The Four Elements sample pages

Breathing (2022)

for SATB a cappella
Text: Masaoka Shiki (1867 – 1902)

Tanka text

Piano

Seasons of Life

North Texas (a scherzo for piano)
Remembering
November Wind

Seasons of Life sample pages
Sadness sample pages

Three Pieces for Piano

1.  In The Beginning, a prelude
2.  Elegy
3.  Rondo

Three Pieces sample pages

Sonata for piano

I.   Agitato
II.  Passing through
III. Toccata

Sonata for piano performance notes
Sonata for piano sample pages

Seven Diatonic Preludes

One note:  C  sample pages
Two notes:  C and D  sample pages
Three notes:  “Call”  sample pages
Four Notes:  Gigue  sample pages
Five Notes:  Waltz  sample pages
Six Notes:  Improvisation  sample pages
Seven Notes:  Haiku  sample pages

Patriotic Medley (2010)

A medley of American patriotic tunes written in memory of my father Maj. Ronald P. Johnson (1941-2010)

Recorded on Patriotic Piano

Nocturne Semplice (2016)

5’15”

Nocturne Semplice sample pages

9 Expressions for Piano (2021)

Expression No. 1, Brooding
Expression No. 2, Whimsical
Expression No. 3, Presto: Too many things happening at once, can’t cope and can’t keep up….
Expression No. 4, Slow in time and space
Expression No. 5, Moving on different planes, in seemingly different universes
Expression No. 6, Fleeting
Expression No. 7, Quizzical
Expression No. 8, Leisurely
Expression No. 9, Fast

Devices used: 1. Fibonacci series; 2. bitonality; 3. octotonic patterns; 4. 7th chords; 5. fugue; 6. 2nds; 7. chromaticism, augmented triads; 8. tone row; 9. quartal patterns.

Watch a video of me talking about Expression No. 1 with Beth Ratay of The Boston New Music Initiative.

Expression No. 1, premiered by The Boston New Music Initiative, Minato Sakamoto, piano

Expressions No. 7 and No. 8
Premiered by Charlotte Boquet, 23 October 2021
L’Espace des 4 Saisons, Woluwé-Saint-Pierre, Belgium

Applicazione Addolcita No. 13 (2021)

In homage to Benjamin Carr’s Applicazione Addolcita Nos. 1-12

Months of the Year (2022)

Rolling waves …. not to be overwhelmed (January 2022)
Barcarolle (February)
War (March)
Rain (April)
May Dance
Fireflies (June)
Fireworks (July)
Sun, sea and sand (August)
September Forest
Harvest (October)
Autumn Leaves (November)
Bells (December)