Richard J. Chandler

Composer for Performing Musicians

Piano Solo Compositions

Woman at Piano Studying Richard J. Chandler's 5 Evening Pieces for Piano

5 Evening Pieces for Piano

Each movement, (which may be played as short stand-alone works), is descriptive of how one’s evening might progress: Evening Begins In Evening Begins, the feeling that inspired the piece is transition. Its joyful mood captures the feeling of having just finished one’s work day or school day and the feeling of looking forward to the …

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Sacred Geometry for Chamber Orchestra

Premiered by the Minnesota Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra on January 12th & 13, 2018. This work is inspired by the architecture, visual art and music of late medieval and Renaissance times. Those cultural treasures still awe and edify us. You may hear sounds that hearken to those timeless qualities of proportion, symmetry, harmony and dancing rhythm.  “Abstract geometric architecture is composed of harmonic waves of energy, modes of relationality, melodic forms springing forth from the eternal realm of geometric proportion.”

–   Robert Lawlor   from Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice

5 Evening Pieces for Piano  Each movement, (which may be played as short stand-alone works), is descriptive of how one's evening might progress:

In Evening Begins, the feeling that inspired the piece is transition. Its joyful mood captures the feeling of having just finished one’s work day or school day and the feeling of looking forward to the rest of the evening.  The dance-like rhythmic interplay of bass and treble along with the use of short bursts of silence propel the piece forward to its boisterous ending.

Evening Walk utilizes a repeating pattern until the very end, grounding it with the steady rhythm of walking.  Its constant 5/4 helps musicians to settle into this more unusual meter as easily as taking an evening walk.

Waves Lapping was inspired by watching and listening to the continually varying length of time it took for each wave from the Great Lake, Lake Superior, to wash up the beach and back down into the lake. At the time I observed those waves, they were generally moving at the pace reflected in the varying rhythm of this piece.

In Prayer-like, the pianist uses very close hand positions, which along with liberal use of the pedal, evokes sonorities that are contemplative, haunting and meditative.

The main theme of Sleep Now was written many years ago, when my oldest daughter, who has been an adult for over a decade, was four years old. She had awoken from a bad dream in the middle of the night and was crying. I took her into the living room to calm her down. While sitting with her on the couch, watching a gentle snowfall out the window, this theme and the lyrics of the piece came to me and once she was settled, I wrote them out. I recently found this sketch and added the middle instrumental interlude to complete the piece and this collection.

Sleep Now for Voice

I expanded the piano version, adding more nuance and lines to contrast and support the vocal lyrics. It has been performed many times in recitals.

3 Evening Pieces for Chamber Orchestra

This was premiered on December 18th of 2016 by the Bethlehem Chamber Orchestra of St. Cloud, MN. Evening Begins, Waves of Lake Superior and Prayer-Like are expanded versions of the piano compositions shown above. Increased harmony, counterpoint and orchestral color are featured.

Valley for Solo Saxophone

This solo piece is meditative in quality and has dramatic tension based on 2 contrasting musical ideas that are in dialog with each other. It was premiered at the University of Minnesota Composer's concert on December 5th, 2016

Youthful Dance Duet for Saxophones from DaVinci Transcending Time

Chant Saxophone Duet

Youthful Dance Saxophone Duet

Stately Dance Saxophone Duet

Horn  Dance Saxophone Duet

These alto and baritone saxophone sketches comprise some of the thematic material for a larger work based on the writings of Leonardo DaVinci.

“Wrongfully do men lament the flight of time, accusing it of being too swift, and not perceiving that its period is yet sufficient; but good memory wherewith Nature has endowed us causes everything long past to seem present.”

– Leonardo DaVinci (1452 – 1519)

Dedication Fanfare for Brass Choir and Percussion

The choice of a brass choir, (consisting of 3 trumpets, 3 French horns, 2 trombones and a tuba), as well as timpani drums, tam-tam and cymbals, pays tribute to Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for The Common Man, a work that relates directly to the role of libraries as places where the world’s knowledge may be accessed freely by all of our citizens, irrespective of disabilities or economic status. The instrumentation of brass, tam-tam, cymbals and timpani takes inspiration from the architecture of the new library building, with its generous use of copper and round lines.

The piece resonates with the building’s architecture by utilizing four timpani, in which the instruments themselves are copper and round. Likewise, the tam-tam and cymbals are round and metal. The brass instruments are metal and the shape of their bells is round. The work incorporates metallic sounds through the use of hard sticks played on metal bands.

The Dedication Fanfare for Brass Choir and Percussion was premiered by a group of musicians from the St. Cloud, MN Symphony and faculty and staff from Saint Cloud State University, The College of St. Benedict and St Johns University in Central Minnesota. It was conducted by Dr. Richard Hansen, Director of Bands at SCSU University.

The sheet music is available for sale through MusicChandler Publishing. Contact me to find out more about pricing.