Primer: The Adventures of Stony Brook Soundings

The latest, two-volume release Stony Brook Soundings runs the gamut of modern classical sounds. From minimalism to all-out cacophony, from patriotic to outright alien, the compositions are all original... and all created by Stony Brook University composers.

So here's the Patch guide to Stony Brook Soundings Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. It's challenging music at times, but it's engaging and emotional.

Volume 1 - Escher String Quartet plus Guests

Daniel A. Weymouth: in (all) the time we have left

The best metaphor for this one-movement piece, played by the Esher Quartet and clarinetist Oscar Espina Ruiz, would be of a circus clown taking off his costume. The clamorous cacophony in the beginning is reminiscent of a Charles Ives symphonic piece, with overlapping and frenzied motives, but by the end the group is just repeating a single pitch.

Weymouth is former chair of the Stony Brook University Department of Music.

Max Git Duykers: Glass Blue Cleft

This is a piece for lovers of the string quartet, those amazed by how fiery and how dulcet these four-stringed instruments can range in expression. While the first movement is punchy and march-like, the second movement is slow and sweeping, using jumping intervals in the melody to create the drama. The third movement is faster than the first, relying on repetition and dissonance to build tension.

Duykers is a PhD candidate at Stony Brook.

Ilaria Kaila: Kellojen kumarrus - The Bells Bow Down (In Memorium Hanna Sarvala)

A lush piece, where the string quartet is joined by Jacob Rhodebeck on piano, doesn't rely on as much dissonance as the earlier pieces in the collection, rather, it vacillates between rich, slow sections and agitated tonal high points. The piece often modulates between major and minor chord progressions, creating emotional shifts ranging from bouts of sorrow to feelings of hope. A tremendous piece.

Kaila is a PhD candidate at Stony Brook.

Eugene Drucker: Four Sonnets by Shakespeare

This piece, written by Emerson String Quartet violinist Drucker, is a study in contrast. This time the quartet is joined by bass-baritone Andrew Nolen, who sings four separate sonnets to the spacious, disconnected orchestration that underlies them. That's the contrast, the classic poetry of Shakespeare's Iambic pentameter paired with ambiguity of the music. These are thought pieces, for sure.

Drucker is the founding member of the Emerson String Quartet, which are artists-in-residence at Stony Brook.

Perry Goldstein: Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet

For lovers of jazz (like this writer) it's sometimes strange to hear saxophone played in a classical style, but the instrument, which is often considered the closest sounding to the human voice, is very expressive in this setting. That's true in this piece, as alto saxophonist Kenneth Tse joins the string quartet. The first movement, "Bright and Exuberant," is just that, with whimsical lines reminiscent of laughter. The second movement, "Heartfelt and Singing" evokes a jazzy/folky melody with hints of the blues and pop: It's a little campy. The last movement is dance-like and bright, where the strings and saxophone often play lines in unison. This is by far the least harmonically complex piece of the volume.

Goldstein is a professor of music at Stony Brook.

Volume 2

Sheila Silver: Twilight's Last Gleaming

This poignant, and at times violent, piece is not only a musical representation of war, but a response to it. Played by Gilbert Kalish and Christina Dahl on piano joined by percussionists Eduardo Leandro and Kevin Dufford on percussion, this modern program music composition delivers the imagery promised by its movement titles: War Approaching, Souls Ascending, Peace Pretending. The opening movement switches between small stretches of eerie serenity, and all-out cries of war with its repetitive, dissonant piano melodies. The second movement, however, is a torrent of piano glissandos and chiming bells that's both haunting and ethereal. The last movement is a dissonant, and at times deranged, rendition of both "America the Beautiful" and our nation's anthem, and the social commentary is obvious. It's a titan of a piece.

Silver, Dahl, Leandro, and Kalish are professors of music at Stony Brook.

Tyler Capp: Stranger Variations

This solo violin piece offering variations on the American tune "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" starts out with a simple invocation of the folk melody but quickly abstracts the melody in sweeping phrases full of clashing intervals. The use of pauses give the piece a tempo-less feel towards the middle before transitioning into a bouncing jig. Capp often interjects quick spurts of dissonance into melodic passages, creating a startling effect.

Capp received his master's degree at Stony Brook.

Peter Winkler: Fantasy (for cello)

You'd expect a piece for seven cellos to be resonant, but this piece really shows off the range of the instruments, from bellowing lows to lean, yearning high passages. The piece's first movement is open, melancholy and melodious, with a slow song-like melody setting the mood. The second movement, marked by repetitive chord passages and whirling-dervish-like motives, has a severe, yet dancing atmosphere. The piece's final movement seems to come out of nowhere, a pop-ish, simple and melodic movement that features some incredibly lush chord changes that only seven cellos could play. The piece ranges from battle cry to lullaby. Much fun.

Winkler is a professor of music at Stony Brook.

Daria Semegen: Vignette

A solo piano piece played by Cathy Callis, Vignette starts out sparse and reminiscent of French-school piano pieces, very modal, very dense with plenty of spaces. Around the halfway point, the piece turns choppy and violent, with banging passages making the piano keys sound like they are church bells. The piece then fades into repeated chords, bouncing from high notes to low notes. Very dreamlike.

Semegen is a professor of music at Stony Brook.

Margaret Schedel: The Beautiful Don't Lack the Wound

This piece is played on a taragato, a Hungarian reed instrument that sounds like a cross between a clarinet and a bassoon. Accompanied by various electronic sounds, the composition has a meditative quality. It's at times New Age-y, and at other times evoking a dirge. This isn't music for the novice. The lack of time and chord structures, the harmonics and sustained dissonance, might scare them off. But if given a chance, this thought piece might open a listener up to new ideas about what music can convey ... which includes ambiguity.

Schedel is a professor of music at Stony Brook.