Orchestra works |
Absorption |
| for orchestra - 2222, 2200, timp, perc, strings(2003: 6') |
Confluences |
| 2222, 2000, pno,strings(2007: 6') |
Crazed&Blue |
| a dance cycle for orchestra - 2222, 2220 timp, 2perc, strings(1998: 7'30) |
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Beat driven continuity, lively rhythms, minimalist influences. |
Disturbances |
| three sequential nocturnes for orchestra - 2222, 4220, timp, 2perc, pno, strings(2001: 16') |
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I.Running Late II.Waking from Broken Dreams III.Yet Still Night
Anxiety segues to a waking insight suffused with sadness and clarity, moving to the inescapable realization that night continues. Recurrent sonic punctuations of city life. Urban soundscape reverberating in the late hours of a night's existential moment. The final nocturne opens softly with a lullaby motive that becomes insistent and inconsolable. |
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Listen (MP3) |
Fanfare for a Starry Night |
| brass & perc - 4 hrn, 2 tpt, 2 tbn, 2 euph, 2 tba, timp, vibe(2007: 2'08) |
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short fanfare (audio is a midi realization) |
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Listen (MP3) |
Long Division |
| a tone poem for orchestra - pic, 2222, 4000, timp, 2perc, strings(1997: 13'4) |
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I. Pulses of Distraction II. Empty CornersIII. Pulling Apart
Chromatic, strong tonal centers, neo-romantic and minimalist influences, atmospheric textures and rhythmic pulses without traditional harmonic development. Traces the stages of a separation, progressing through the piece. In Mvt 3, all elements are irrevocably set in motion. |
Shredding Glass |
| for orchestra - 2222, 2021, timp, 2perc, pno, strings(2004: 9'40) |
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The World Trade Center was a predominant emotional and architectural element in my psychological landscape, as I lived and worked in its vicinity for most of my adult life. Shredding Glass began as an immediate cathartic response to the events and images of September 11, 2001.
The persistence of a low tone seemed omnipresent, permeating my consciousness during the days immediately following. This became the emotional source point around which the music arose. Much of the core of this piece was set down in a period of weeks. Yet it was not until several years had passed that I was able to reconcile some moments of private transcendence into my recollections and thus complete the work.
To me this piece represents the essence of an emotional remembrance of how a sense of time and timelessness unfolded while coping with the realization, heartbreak and impact of this catastrophic event. I believe the music transcends the specific to touch the hearts of others who have similarly experienced the devastating consequences of politically motivated aggressions and tragedies. |
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Listen (MP3) |
Still Motion |
| a cycle for orchestra - 2000, 2201, timp, 2perc, strings(1999: 7') |
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Formerly entitled January - a cycle for orchestra.
Premiered: 2/15/01 - Orchestra of the SEM Ensemble; Petr Kotik, Conductor; Brooklyn, NY
The inspiration for Still Motion arises from a combination of sorting through the emotional residue of the year's end and the impatient desire to move ahead with life. It is a mix of edgy energy, reflective sadness and strength of conviction. |
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Listen (MP3) |
Turning Point |
| for chamber orchestra - 2222, 2200, timp, pno, strings(2004: 7'30) |
Waking from Broken Dreams |
| a nocturne for orchestra - 2222, 4000, timp, perc, pno, strings(2000: 5'45) |
Yet Still Night |
| a nocturne for orchestra - 2222, 2200, timp, 2perc, pno, strings(2001: 7') |
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Released on: ERMMedia's CD Masterworks of the New Era–Volume Eleven
Premiered: 2/13/03 - Orchestra of the SEM Ensemble; Petr Kotik, Conductor; Brooklyn, NY. |
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Yet Still Night for orchestra plays out the dichotomy of outward naiveté/underlying sophistication on a larger scale. You first think this is a lullaby, rocking back and forth between D-flat and B-flat in quarter notes that wander around the orchestra. But this is an urban lullaby, and the nocturnal world intrudes in growing chromatic lines and thickening textures.
-- Kyle Gann (Chamber Music, August, 2003) |
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Listen (MP3) |
Chamber works for large ensembles (5 or more) |
Dark Dreams (chamber version) ** |
| eng hrn, cl, bsn, pno, 2 vlns, vla, vc(2001: 6') |
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Listen (MP3) |
Prelude for Winds |
| fl, ob, cl, bsn, 3 hrns(1991: 3'10) |
Resisting Reason ** |
| ob, bsn, vln, vla, vc(1996: 4'25) |
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From Disturbances (chamber version). Emotional resistance to the application of logical reasoning. |
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Listen (MP3) |
Running Late (chamber version) * |
| fl, ob, cl, pno, 2 vlns, vla, vc(2000: 4'40) |
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Listen (MP3) |
Song Alone * |
| fl, cl, vln,vla, vc(1997: 3'40) |
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From Disturbances (chamber version). |
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Listen (MP3) |
Street City |
| fl, cl., vln, vc, pno, perc(1996: 6') |
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Premiered: 11/16/97 - Synchronia, St. Louis, MO.
Street City is an attempt to convey some of the elemental dissonance, repetition and rhythmic pulse of the city street sounds. It is also meant to evoke the cyclical transition of mood as day gives way to quieter night hours, then picking up rhythmically once again as morning approaches. |
Traveling Dreams * |
| ob, cl, vln, vla, vc(1996: 4'30) |
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From Disturbances (chamber version). |
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Listen (MP3) |
Chamber works for small ensembles (fewer than 5) |
Amidst Confusion |
| fl, ob(1995: 3') |
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Premiered: 2/2/97 - Contemporary Music Festival, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.
The interplay of oboe and flute represents an emotional struggle that can not be easily resolved amidst prevailing confusion. |
Jilted Tango (duo) |
| vla, pno (cl, pno; vln, pno)(1999: 5') |
Jilted Tango (trio) |
| fl, vla, pno(1999: 5') |
Moving Through Shadows and Light |
| alt. fl, hrp, vla(1996: 4'48) |
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A passage through an emotional landscape, moving through memories which at moments seem dark and remote, and other times lucid.
(audio is a midi realization) |
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Listen (MP3) |
Reconsidering |
| fl, ob(1995: 2'20) |
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Premiered: 4/28/96 - Row Twelve, Wellfleet, MA
Reconsidering is meant to evoke a contemplative mood... a lingering premonition that something may not be what it seems and must be reconsidered on a deeper level. |
Reflections of a Distant Time |
| ob, cl, hrn, vla(1994: 2'47) |
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Quiet reminiscing for a simplicity and innocence of life, perhaps from another time. |
Slow Round |
| fl, ob, pno(1998: 2'30) |
Tears for Two |
| fl, ob(1999: 2'25) |
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Premiered: 11/12/99 - SCI Conference Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME |
Why Is It? |
| ob, vla, vc(1995: 2') |
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A moment's questioning of an emotional circumstance. |
Winter's Solitude |
| ob, cl, vla, vc(1995: 3'55) |
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Clear, cold light and quiet introspection... two moods of existential contemplation on a winter's day. |
Chamber works for mostly strings |
Conflictions |
| 2 vlns, vla, vc(1997: 3'30) |
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Premiered: 6/12/98 Sirius String Quartet, concert of works, Turtle Bay Music School, NYC.
Reminiscent of children's taunts, not the playfulness but rather the emotional complexity and impact, Conflictions is meant to convey a psychological state - feeling "afflicted" with hurtful conflicts. |
Rhythm Modes ** |
| 2 vlns, vla, vc(1999: 6'18) |
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...Worthington has taken Copland's structural use of rhythm to a further extreme than most composers. She uses it to enliven and articulate, not only a fixed gamut of harmonies, but motives and melodies.
-- Kyle Gann (Chamber Music, August, 2003) |
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Listen (MP3) |
Walking On Wires |
| bsn, 2 vlns, vla, vc(1998: 5'57) |
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Premiered: 6/4/99 Sirius String Quartet, concert of works, Turtle Bay Music School, NYC.
An anxious lament for love lost. The emotional context begins from a point of sadness and feeling that there is no escape from the hurt, then transmutes into edgy feelings of anger against the emotional pain. It takes musical inspiration from the plainsong, Dies Irae. |
World News carnival spin (Chamber) ** |
| piano, strings(2001: 2'30) |
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Listen (MP3) |
Chamber works for voice and instruments |
As A Tear Falls |
| sop, ob, vla, vc, pno(1999: 3'31) |
At Night... ** |
| mezzo sop, cl, pno, vln, vla(2001: 5') |
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Listen (MP3) |
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Text (PDF) |
These days are filled... * |
| sop, pno, vla, vc(2000: 4'40) |
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Belgian soprano, Francoise Vanhecke performs an alternate dramatic vocal interpretation of These days... in Europe on her More Than A Voice concert program and in the opening of the theater piece, Zielewind. |
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In These Days, with words and music by Rain Worthington, the texture is woven inseparably with the color - a most unusual and fascinating technique that allows for subtle, almost spectral shifts and emotional intensity. It is an extraordinary work.
-- New music journalist & reviewer, Mark Greenfest, (Journal of International Alliance of Women in Music, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2004) |
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Listen (MP3) |
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Text (PDF) |
Solo Instrumental Works |
Always Almost |
| solo piano(2005: 4'30) |
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a miniature for solo piano |
Bala Marimba |
| marimba(2007: 3'50) |
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for solo marimba |
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Listen (MP3) |
Dark Dreams |
| piano(2001: 7:05) |
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for solo piano |
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Recorded by Max Lifchitz for North/South Consonance Recordings.
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Hourglass |
| piano(1991: 5:30) |
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for solo piano
(mp3 is a midi realization) |
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Listen (MP3) |
Links |
Belgian soprano Francoise Vanhecke
TheS.E.M. Ensemble & Orchestra
Works by Rain Worthington at New Music Jukebox
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