SMALL ENSEMBLE
I dreamed of life’s fragility (2022)
Flute, Oboe, 2 Guitars, Violin, Violoncello.
A much expanded rendering of my piano nocturne of the same name, here written for the Cygnus Ensemble.
Reverie (2021-2022)
Written for the Cygnus Ensemble: Flute, Oboe, Piano, 2 Guitars, Violin, Violoncello.
Darling Early Morning, a dialogue for 2 guitars (2022)
Premiered in NYC by Oren Fader and Dan Lippel, September, 2022, as part of the Village Trip GuitarFest.
Etude for Violin and Piano (2023)
First of several; ongoing project
String Trio 2 (2019-2023)
Fuller Street Beach in the Mist (2019)
Flute duet
Dance With The Departed (2015)
Trumpet and electronics
Written for Andy Kozar and premiered by him at Spectrum NYC, Jan. 2016
Two for Three (2015)
Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Violin
String Quartet No. 2 (2014)
A Song of Ruth (2012-2013)
Written for loadbang. Baritone voice, bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, electronics. First performance November 2013, Brooklyn, NY. Text freely adapted by Gary Philo from the Book of Ruth, 1st chapter.
Duo for Clarinet and Marimba (2011)
2011. Written for Transient Canvas: Amy Advocat, Clarinets, and Matt Sharrock, Marimba and Percussion. First performance September 27, 2012, Somerville, Mass.
3 Pieces for Violin and Piano (2012)
Premiered June 4, 2012, on the Tribeca New Music Festival, by Mary Rowell, violin, and Geoffrey Burleson, piano
1. Blue City 2. Evening 3. Fling of Spring
I Must Study Politicks and War (2010)
Baritone voice, Trumpet, Trombone, Bass Clarinet
Text by John Adams | Written for loadbang | 1st performance December 2011.
Trombone Quartet (2010-2011)
Written for The Guidonian Hand
1. Leap of Faith 2. Swirl 3. Rumination
Burst 2 (2009)
(alternate version with Clarinet)
Burst (2008)
fl,pno, string quartet
1st performance Oct 6, 2008, Cleveland Chamber Collective, Cleveland State University
Lech Lecha
fl/pno/string quartet. dur. 15 min. Written for the Cleveland Chamber Collective. Available at Amazon.com
Sonata for Viola and Piano
(vla/pno) National Endowment Commission dur. 17 min.
1st performance Jordan Hall, Boston, Massachusetts. Marcus Thompson,
vla; Judy Gordon, pno
Boomerang (1988)
1988 (fl/cl/vln/vla/vc) dur. 13 min. 1st performance Wellesley Composers Conference, Efrain Guigui, conductor
String Trio (1984)
(vln/vla/vc) dur. 10 mins.
1st performance McMillin Theatre, NYC
Gary Philo’s String Trio is a knotty, closely argued and not immediately prepossessing work in two movements . . .
— Tim Page, The New York Times
Killifish
(vln/vla/cb) dur. 11.mins.
Written for Mary Rowell, vln, Marlow
Fisher, vla, Jonathan Storck, cb
Bagatelles and Adagio
(4 percussionists) dur. 11 mins.
1st performance Greenwich House, NYC Charles Descarfino, conductor
Two Songs
(mezzo/pno) dur. 5 min.
1st performance Amy Zorn, mezzo, Amy Reich, pno, Greenwich House, NYC
Spring Scenes
(alto sax/pno) dur. 10 mins. Commisioned by Rick Stone. 1st performance Boston MA. Rick Stone,alto sax, David Bieri, pno.
Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano
(cl/vln/pno) dur. 14 mins. Commissioned by the Harvard-Radcliffe Chamber Ensemble. 1st Performance Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA
Out on Maneuvers
(fl/cl/vln/vc) dur. 10 mins. 1st performance Composers in Red Sneakers,Cambridge, MA
LARGE ENSEMBLE
Nobilis humilis magne martir, for orchestra (2023)
2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, Percussion, Strings
The St Magnus Hymn, or “Nobilis humilis,” is a hymn which celebrates St Magnus of Orkney, and can be dated to at least the thirteenth century, and may be from the twelfth century.
Nocturne for Orchestra (2010 – )
First in a series of pieces for large orchestra.
Five Pieces for String Orchestra (2012 – )
Written for CIAO!, conducted by James Bergin. These pieces were written with players of intermediate abilities in mind.
Spring Music
(for Orchestra) dur. 5.5 minutes 1st performance by the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra, David Stock, conductor, Katowice, Poland. Available at MMC Recordings, and Amazon.com
Spring Music by Gary Philo manages to be showy while avoiding . . . more predictable approaches, opting instead for an unusual juxtaposition of Impressionist and Expressionist writing. Philo’s aforementioned style mix is handled expertly well, somehow managing to let its two approaches coexist smoothly. And the work’s structural sense is both expertly outlined and unusual.
— David Cleary, 21st Century Music
Music for 15 Instruments (1992)
(fl/ob/cl/b.cl/hn/tpt/tbn/b.tbn/1 perc/pno/2vlns/vla/vc/cb) dur 14 mins.
1st performance Tanglewood Music Center, Marin Alsop, conductor
Three Impromptus (1989)
(fl/ob/cl/bsn/hn/tpt/tbn/perc/piano/vln/vla/vc/cb) dur. 9 mins.
1st performance, Wellesley Composers Conference, Efrain Guigui, conductor
A Changing Life
(2/2/2/2,/2/1/1/2perc/hp/strings) dur. 14 mins
1st performance Boston Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Gunther Schuller, conductor Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA.
Three Pieces for Orchestra
(2/2/2/1/1/2/0/0/timp/strings) dur. 10 mins.
Commissioned by the New England Conservatory Youth Orchestra 1st performance New England Conservatory Youth Orchestra, James Bergin, cond.
Two Pieces for Children’s String Orchestra
dur. 6 mins. 1st performance Concord, MA. James Bergin, conductor
Outbursts and Reflections
(2/2/2/2/;4/2/3/1/; 1 perc/;harp/pno/strings) dur. 7 mins.
Commissioned by the Vermont Philharmonic 1st performance Montpelier,
VT.
SOLO
solo guitar
Meditation, Homage à Larry Coryell (2022)
Dan Lippel gave the world premiere of this piece on the Village Trip Guitar Fest, September 14, 2023.
solo strings
Four Pieces for Solo Viola (2020)
Written for James Bergin, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fantasia Capriccio for Solo Violin (2014)
Premiered by Emily Kalish, 8/2014, New York City. Written in honor of Mario Davidovsky’s 80th birthday.
Two Pieces for Solo Violin (2013)
Written for Emily Kalish, who premiered them in October, 2013
1. Lament. 2. I will not be afraid
Fantasia For Violin Solo
dur 9 mins. 1st performance by Mary Rowell, McMillin Theatre, NYC
Sonatina for Viola Solo
Written for Marlow Fisher, viola
Three Dances for Solo Viola
dur. 9 min. 1st performance, Bloomington Indiana. Rebecca Henry, vla.
Black Elk
(viola solo) dur. 5 mins. 1st performance James Bergin
Nocturne for Solo Cello, a meditation
Early Darling Morning
Solo harp
solo piano
Two Nocturnes from the Pandemic (2020)
1. Nocturne in the Age of Covid-19. 2. I Dreamed of Life’s Fragility
Five Impromptus for Piano (2016)
Premiered by Geoff Burleson, 2019
Three Pieces for Piano
1st performance Weill Recital Hall, NYC, Nicholas Underhill. Available on Capstone Records and at Amazon.com
1. Tumble 2. Meditazione 3. Perambulate
Gary Philo’s Three Pieces are compact musings on atmosphere and poetic gesture, with rhythmic surprises, sudden silences and lyrical sighs to keep the movements in arresting motion.
— Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone
Two Pieces for Solo Piano
dur. 11 mins. 1st performance Composers in Red Sneakers. Nicholas Underhill, pno.
Winterset
for Solo Piano
dur. 12 mins. 1st performance New England Conservatory, Nicholas Underhill, pno.
ELECTRONICS
Dance With The Departed (2015)
Trumpet and electronics
Written for Andy Kozar and premiered by him at Spectrum NYC, Jan. 2016
Serenade for a summer evening (2012)
Electronic sounds
Premiered at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York City, November 2012, as part of a concert honoring Mario Davidovsky, sponsored by APNM.
Summers End (1985)
(tape/dancers) dur. 20 mins. Commissioned by the Bicycle Shop Dance Company, Brooklyn, NY. 1st performance at the Ohio Theater, NYC (1984)
Shemayim (1986)
(tape)
dur. 6 mins. 1st performance at the Ohio Theater, NYC