The Music Of
Christopher Alan Schmitz
About
Dr. Schmitz serves has written extensively for orchestra, band, choir, chamber ensembles and solo instruments. Recent prizes and commissions include the Sammy Nestico Award, Ithaca College International Jazz Composition Contest, Kansas Music Teachers Association, the USAF Airmen of Note, the University of Northern Iowa, and the Mercer Singers, among many others. Christopher has also written original music for two feature films, Dance with the One and Between Kings and Queens, and his compositions continue to be performed by students and professional musicians throughout the United States.
Five Miniatures
Five Miniatures is an attempt to capture, in sound, several picturesque locations around the Mercer University campus in Macon, Georgia. The compositional language features lyrical melodies, occasional rhythmic complexity, and contemporary performance techniques such as double tonguing and multiphonics. In addition, this work blends jazz influenced harmonies with other contemporary organizational structures such as octatonic collections, intervallic development and polychordal harmony.
The five movements are:
1. Prelude 2. Wind Corridor 3. Water Diamonds
4. Night Tower 5. Bear The Bee Alto
The Lilac Dream
The Lilac Dream was composed for the Mercer University Flute Choir in Macon, GA (Kelly Via, director). This work is programmatic, based on an actual dream of the composer about adventure and suspense surrounding an ancient lilac tree and its environs. The Lilac Dream is in ternary form, featuring harmonically rich outer sections and a scherzo-like middle section. Techniques include flutter tongue, glissando, and passages without Vibrato.
