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Music
Catalog of Works (as of 9 January 98)
Choral
- Suite of English Lyrics SSATB, bar. solo
Text: Six English lyrics from the 14th and 15th centuries; three sacred & three secular texts. For small chorus; advanced; ca. 12 min. - Wake Up Children SATB, sop. descant
Text: John Newell; intermediate; ca. 4 min. - Make a joyful noise SATB, organ
Text: Psalm 100; easy; call to worship; ca. 1 1/2 min. - O Lord, if my lips could sing SATB, organ
Text: from a Jewish hymn, 3rd-5th cent. AD. Call to worship; easy; ca. 1 1/2 min. - O Sabbath rest of Galilee SATB, sop. solo
Text: John Greenleaf Whittier; intermediate; ca. 2 min. - Noel SSATB
Text: Elaine Haas; intermediate; ca. 3 min. - Eleven Choral Responses SATB
Easy; for use in church services of all faiths. - Our Father, Who art in heaven SATB
Easy to intermediate; ca. 2 1/2 min. - O Sing Unto The Lord SATB, piano 4 hands
Text: from Psalms 96 & 98; advanced; med. to large choruses; ideal for festivals; ca. 4 1/2 min. - Light Of Heaven SATB, 2 fl., piano, elec. bass
Text: John Newell; advanced; medium to large choruses (easy instrumental parts; suitable in secular and sacred contexts; ca. 12 min. - Kyrie Eleison ATBB advanced; ca. 6 mins.
Vocal
- Four Sacred Songs voice, piano
Text: John Newell & from the Psalms; available for high & med. voice; ca. 10 min. - Poems For Loving baritone, clarinet in A
Text: L.H.; ca. 2 1/2 min. - Audible soprano, percussion solo
Text: L.H.; ca. 10 min.
Solo Works
- Offering organ
- Rhapsody horn, piano
- Companions piano
- Knossos piano
- Aardvark Processions harp
- Prosody percussion
- Quodlibet trumpet, celesta
- Horizontal piano
Chamber Ensemble
- Three Movements string sextet
- Pleiades Starpoint pno, synth, perc
- Lavender Axes fl/picc, cl, ob/eh, bsn, perc, pno
- Rondos Eb clarinet, tpt, tbn, tuba, perc
- Heterophony alto voices, vln, vla, eh
- Context solo winds & strings, perc, celesta, pno
- Text soprano, vln, fl, cl, guitar, perc
- Image, Song, Vision fl, cl, vln, vc
- Song of Compassion 2 violas, perc (1 player), electronic keyboard; ca. 20 min
Orchestra
- Voices 22(eh)3(bcl)2 223 timp, perc(1), stgs
- Emergent Choruses 3 (picc, altofl) 3 (eh) 3 (bcl) 3 (cbn) 3331 timp, perc (2), hp, stgs
- Concerto for Piano and Orchestra 2 (picc), 2 (eh), 2, 2, 4, 2, 3, timp, perc (1 player), piano solo, strings ca. 30 min
Theater
- L’Appassionata (opera in three acts)
Libretto by John Newell, based on the writings of George Sand - The Bacchae voices, oboe, percussion
Incidental music for the play by Euripides - Music For Crazy Jane speaker, viola, harp
Text: William Butler Yeats
Life
Biography
John Newell’s works are noted for their originality, clarity, and expressive power. In his own words, he strives to compose music "whose structure arises from the poetic and musical idea, music in which expressivity and formal integrity become one." He composes for a wide range of media, but recently has turned his attention to vocal and choral writing.
Organizations which have commissioned his works include the Atlantic Sinfonietta, The Bowery Ensemble (New York), the Enid-Phillips Symphony Orchestra (Oklahoma), Monday Evening Concerts (Los Angeles), as well as amateur groups such as the Gateway Regional High School Choir (Huntington, Massachusetts.)
John is also an accomplished pianist and conductor. He founded and conducted the Berkshire County Chamber Orchestra in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. For the past twelve years he has served as music director for the Congregational Church of Worthington, Massachusetts. He is affiliated with Broadcast Music, Inc. and is an artist member of the American Music Center. He publishes his work through Abierto Music.
John was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1949. His earliest musical training was in piano. He attended Duke University, pursuing studies in composition, piano and conducting; he graduated summa cum laude in 1971. John earned an M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts and Ph.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo. While in Buffalo he held the first Edgard Varèse Fellowship in composition. He studied with Iain Hamilton, Mel Powell, and Morton Feldman.
Reviews
Newell’s original score filters through the play (The Bacchae) with considerable power.
Buffalo Courier-Express
...a motionless beauty...as delicate and as pretty a piece for voice and percussion as I can imagine.
The Reader (Chicago)
A peculiar, haunting timbre...The odds are you’ve never heard this sound before.
Buffalo Evening News
Aardvark Processions... entertainingly quirky.
New York Times
Of the newest music given, Newell’s piece Knossos was distinguished by very strong rhythms and a quite haunting mood; its characterization both of place and idea was impressive.
Spectator (Raleigh, NC)
With the composer at the piano, Novak did full justice to the sinuous vocal lines that flowed gently with just a hint of near-eastern inflection.
Berkshire Record (Gt. Barrington, MA)