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In no way are these music files to be reproduced, duplicated, or archived (i.e. burnt to CD or other mechanical medium for any use other than personal) without express consent.  All original material on this page is under copyright by the composer, all rights reserved: BMI, New York.  You may listen to as much as you want--if you would like a CD, please send us an email.


Haiku Catharsis (2004) was written for the eighth blackbird ensemble and was commissioned by the American Composers Forum and the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.  It is a set of four miniatures inspired by haiku that represent the seasons.      Duration: ca. 7 minutes

1. Haiku Catharsis: Night
2. Haiku Catharsis: Covered with Flowers
3. Haiku Catharsis: Late Cicadas
4. Haiku Catharsis: Temple Bell


The Catherine Wheel (2002) was written for oboist Katherine Needleman and was commissioned through Astral Artistic Services.  The first performance featured Needleman, Michi Wiancko, violin, Che-Hung Chen, viola, and Clancy Newman, cello.  Program notes can be downloaded here.  Duration: ca. 20 minutes

1. The Catherine Wheel Part I
2. The Catherine Wheel Part II: “Rose Window”
3. The Catherine Wheel Part III


Sonata for Flute and Piano (2002) was commissioned by flutist Jeffrey Khaner and premiered in 2003.  This is a studio recording with flutist Jasmine Nakyung Choi and pianist Nicholas Ong.  

It is set as a traditional three movement sonata, and I was inspired by the idea of writing something lyrical and expressive while still using a modern musical language.  The outer movements drive with rhythmic music while the inner one is basically a dark ballade.  The last movement uses an Argentine folk song that hails back to Europe originally and that I used in my “Autumn Variations” trio.

Flute Sonata I:  Con moto
Flute Sonata II:  Misterioso
Flute Sonata III:  Con moto


Three Portraits of Isabella (2004) was written after my residency in the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston.  It’s really a wonderful place you should check out if you haven’t been.  I actually was a “resident” there, living in the museum.  

These short piano works are based on three different portraits of Mrs. Gardner as they reflect stages in her life from youth to old age.  You can see the portraits and visit the museum site here (the outer movements are on portraits by Sargent and the middle by Zorn).  The piece was written for and premiered by pianist Jeremy Denk. 
Duration: ca. 12 minutes

1. Three Portraits of Isabella: Isabella Stewart Gardner
2. Three Portraits of Isabella: Isabella in Venice
3. Three Portraits of Isabella: Mrs. Gardner in White


Dances of Light (2000) was written with a grant from the Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts to be played on the Schneider Chamber Series (of the NY String Seminar) and on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society series.  The work was commissioned for the Divertimento Trio, which includes Soovin Kim, violin, Michael Tree, violist, and cellist Margo Drakos.  This performance is from another series.  Duration: ca. 18 minutes

1. Dances of Light: Dance of the Seekers
2. Dances of Light: Dances of Perpetual Revelation
3. Dances of Light: Dance of Light


Three Chansons (2008) uses three songs by Guillaume Dufay as a backdrop to the music.  Each song is arranged for cello and piano--some of the music is straightforward arrangement, other parts are with my own interjections and composition woven into it.  The piece started as a commission for the Manhattan School as simple arrangements and then grew into much more. Duration: ca. 12 minutes

1. Three Chansons-Par droit je puis bien complaindre
2. Three Chansons-Virgine Bella
3. Three Chansons-Se la face ay pale


Autumn Variations (2002) was born out of an idea Soovin Kim had to get guitarist Jason Vieux and cellist Efe Baltacigil together for the “Hill and Hollow” music festival in Saranac, New York.  The piece is a set of variations based on a children’s song adapted from Argentina.  The poem and the names of the ten movements can be found here.  Duration: ca. 14 minutes

Autumn Variations


The Clarinet Quintet “Poems from Antiquity” (1998) is an older piece of mine that was first performed in a private home in Philadelphia and first publicly performed at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont.  The piece is inspired out of ancient poetic forms of the Troubadours, and the movements follow suit formally.  

The work was dedicated to my grandmother Irene Busch Serkin after her death a few months before.  In the last movement, all of the players get up one by one and leave the stage as a kind of “Farewell Symphony” for her.  Clarinetist Michael Rusinek premiered the work in Philly and the ensemble at Marlboro included clarinetist Anthony McGill, violinists Ivan Chan and Tim Fain, violist Brian Chen, and cellist Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos.  
Duration: ca. 18 minutes

1. Clarinet Quintet: Villanelle
2. Clarinet Quintet: Sonnet
3. Clarinet Quintet: Monody
4. Clarinet Quintet: Doggerel
5. Clarinet Quintet: Rondeau


Aigaios (2007) (string quartet) was written for my residency at the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival.  The director asked for a piece that would somehow reflect the events from the book “The Perfect Storm” (so much music seems to be about storms...)  Rather than try to program out the whole book, I opted to try to capture the violence of the waves leading up to the moment the Andrea Gale was impaled by water rushing in all around.  This leads to serenity to end the piece using only the open strings of the quartet (maybe the “eye” of the storm, or maybe the serenity of the passing sailors).  The music ends in total contrast to the beginning, as peacefully and quietly as possible.
Duration: ca. 6.5 minutes

Aigaios


Pleiades (2005) was written for oboist Katherine Needleman as a “thank you” and acknowledgment of our fruitful work together.  It was premiered with pianist Amy Klosterman on the “Music From the Great Hall” series in Baltimore and will be featured on Katherine’s debut recording.

I knew I wanted to write a seven movement work of miniatures, so I “googled” the number “7” and found this pertinent stellar constellation.  The Goddesses called “Pleiades” by the ancient Greeks worked especially well given the devastation of hurricanes at that time.  Images from that tragedy were always on my mind then, and the seventh of the Pleiades was a poignant idea for me.  Duration: ca. 14 minutes  

Available at Instant Encore.commailto:Inquiries@davidludwigmusic.com?subject=CDChamber_files/Haiku%20Catharsis%20web%20prog%20notes.docChamber_files/Haiku%20Catharsis%20I.mp3Chamber_files/Haiku%20Catharsis%20II.mp3Chamber_files/Haiku%20Catharsis%20III%202.mp3Chamber_files/Haiku%20Catharsis%20IV.mp3Chamber_files/The%20Catherine%20Wheel%20notes.docChamber_files/The%20Catherine%20Wheel%20I.mp3Chamber_files/The%20Catherine%20Wheel%20II.mp3Chamber_files/The%20Catherine%20Wheel%20III.mp3Chamber_files/Flute%20Sonata%20I%20Con%20moto.mp3Chamber_files/Flute%20Sonata%20II%20Misterioso.mp3Chamber_files/Flute%20Sonata%20III%20Con%20moto.mp3http://www.gardnermuseum.org/Chamber_files/I.%20Isabella%20Stewart%20Gardner.mp3Chamber_files/II.%20Isabella%20in%20Venice.mp3.mp3Chamber_files/III.%20Isabella%20in%20White.mp3.mp3Chamber_files/Dances%20of%20Light%20I.snd.mp3Chamber_files/Dances%20of%20Light%20II.snd.mp3Chamber_files/Dances%20of%20Light%20III.snd.mp3Chamber_files/Three%20Chansons%20I%201.mp3Chamber_files/Three%20Chansons-Virgine%20Bella.mp3Chamber_files/Three%20Chansons-Se%20la%20face%20ay%20pale.mp3Chamber_files/Autumn%20Var%20inner%20page.pdfChamber_files/Autumn%20Variations.mp3.mp3Chamber_files/Clarinet%20Qnt.%20I.mp3Chamber_files/Clarinet%20Qnt.%20II.mp3Chamber_files/Clarinet%20Qnt.%20III.mp3Chamber_files/Clarinet%20Qnt.%20IV.mp3Chamber_files/Clarinet%20Qnt.%20V.mp3Chamber_files/Aigaios.mp3http://www.instantencore.comshapeimage_4_link_0shapeimage_4_link_1shapeimage_4_link_2shapeimage_4_link_3shapeimage_4_link_4shapeimage_4_link_5shapeimage_4_link_6shapeimage_4_link_7shapeimage_4_link_8shapeimage_4_link_9shapeimage_4_link_10shapeimage_4_link_11shapeimage_4_link_12shapeimage_4_link_13shapeimage_4_link_14shapeimage_4_link_15shapeimage_4_link_16shapeimage_4_link_17shapeimage_4_link_18shapeimage_4_link_19shapeimage_4_link_20shapeimage_4_link_21shapeimage_4_link_22shapeimage_4_link_23shapeimage_4_link_24shapeimage_4_link_25shapeimage_4_link_26shapeimage_4_link_27shapeimage_4_link_28shapeimage_4_link_29shapeimage_4_link_30shapeimage_4_link_31