Today I present my original composition, COUNTRY DANCE #3.  I completed this piece in 2005 and scored it for guitar.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

This little piece is the third of three country dances I wrote for the guitar.  They are meditations on the bucolic joy to be found in our natural world. 

Listen at SoundClick 

COUNTRY DANCE #3, Copyright©2005 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, CRY OF THE MORNING LOON.  I completed this piece in 2021 and scored it for English horn.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the printed score: 

Composed for my father on our birthday (we were both born on March 10), this music continues a noticeable trend in my work toward a rather eclectic ethnicism.  Due, in part, to the fabulous world instruments sample library I am fortunate to possess, I am free to explore the many exotic musical techniques and scale patterns that so fascinate me.  Note, however, that I composed this music for the English horn—a well established western instrument!

Listen at SoundClick

CRY OF THE MORNING LOON, Copyright©2021 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, SAVANNAH.  I completed this piece in 1994 and scored it for African instruments.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the printed score:

 In 1994 I was hired to compose a theme for a college telecourse titled, THE AFRICANS.  This is a remix of the low fidelity original, using samples of genuine African instruments!

Drums:

ashiko
kpanlogos
bourarabou
djembe
dondo

Winds:

mijwiz
arghul

Strings:

kora
ngoni

Other Percussion:

balafon
gyil
kalimbas
mbira
sistrum

Synthesizer

Listen at SoundClick

SAVANNAH, Copyright©1994 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, ARABESQUE.  I completed this piece in 2003 and scored it for piano.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

This is another of my compositions for piano.

Listen at SoundClick

ARABESQUE, Copyright©2003 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, THE RINGS OF SATURN.  I completed this piece in 2018 and scored it for synthesizers.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

I composed this music as a Christmas gift for my family.  Given its unearthly sound, I felt a title such as that on which I settled was fitting.

Listen at SoundClick

THE RINGS OF SATURN, Copyright©2018 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, MOTHER AND CHILD.  I completed this piece in 2020 and scored it for soprano (mother), soprano (child), and piano.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

As one who lost Mother early in life, the subject of this most special relationship has always been of heightened importance for me.  While my own memories of Mother are precious and few, I hope that those who listen while reading my father’s inspired words will find renewed appreciation for she who bore thee.

Listen at SoundClick

MOTHER AND CHILD, Copyright©2020 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, A KISS FROM BROTHER.  I completed this piece in 1989 and scored it for violin, celesta, and synthesizer.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

This is a lullaby I wrote for my beloved sister.

Listen at SoundClick
 
A KISS FROM BROTHER, Copyright©1989 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde.  All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, DIRGE.  I completed this song in 2019 and scored it for soprano and guitar.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

This song for soprano voice and guitar is another of my atonal efforts.  A setting of one of my father’s poems, I try to do justice to the ideas and sentiments expressed in these haunting words through use of totally unrelated harmonic progression.  Notice that although the guitar and voice are not bound in harmony, they do share theme and motive.

Listen at SoundClick

DIRGE, Copyright©2019 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde.  All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, APPLESEED JOHN.  I completed this piece in 2001 and scored it for French horn (John), piano, string quartet, harmonica, banjo, steel-string acoustic guitar, and full choir.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

Appleseed John is another of my secular cantatas.  Again set to my father’s words, this piece tells the story of John Chapman “Johnny Appleseed”; an American folk hero from the early 19th century.  This highly condensed tale seeks to illuminate some of John’s most enduring qualities.  Musically, I strove for a rather quaint “American” sound that would be in keeping with the man, his time, and place.

Listen at SoundClick

APPLESEED JOHN, Copyright©2001 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde.  All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, WE ARE THE WAY.  I completed this piece in 2018 and scored it for orchestra and choir.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

Our gift to all who struggle for justice!  WE ARE THE WAY was designed to be a march for freedom from tyranny; a song of solidarity in the face of universally increasing iniquity.  This work is scored for full orchestra and choir with the addition of two snare drums.  May this piece help bring victory over evil!  Remember, the power is OURS!

Listen at SoundCloud

WE ARE THE WAY, Copyright©2018 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde.  All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, SKIPPING.  I completed this piece in 2017 and scored it for guitar.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

One day, while sitting in a local park, I observed a couple of jovial juveniles as they skipped by, giggling as they went.  The vision of those two girls set me thinking on skipping.  It occurred to me that we only seem to engage in such activity when we are very young; a motion I dare guess few adults can even manage!  Children, on the other hand, seem to have an innate ability to move in this way.  Additionally, skipping seems to be a universal expression of childhood joy.  Oh, for a moment of such elation!  In recognition of the scene as well as an attempt to capture some of that joy, I composed this little piece for guitar based on the rhythmic pattern of their gestures.

Listen at SoundClick
Listen at MP3Unsigned

SKIPPING, Copyright©2017 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, THE LIGHT OF THE SON.  I completed this piece in 2018 and scored it for clarinet and guitar.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

In this piece I contemplate my relationship with my beloved father.  I try to express in purely musical terms my feelings about the man who has tirelessly supported me in so many ways while patiently enduring my troubled personality.  Here, I am represented by the clarinet while he by the guitar.

Listen at SoundClick
Listen at MP3Unsigned

THE LIGHT OF THE SON, Copyright©2018 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, WEDDING GIFT.  I completed this piece in 1992 and scored it for viola and cello.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

Many years ago, a violist asked if I would compose a piece of music for use at a wedding; something brief, bright, and of a spirit befitting the occasion.  This little duet for viola and cello was the result of my effort.  For this rather unusual combination, I composed a theme and a couple of variations.

Listen at SoundCloud 

WEDDING GIFT, Copyright©1992 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, SPRING.  I completed this piece in 2007 and scored it for cello.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

I designed this music for solo cello to conjure images of my other favorite season—that of rebirth and new hope, playful young ones with light and happy hearts, floral colors, poly-melodious birdsong and all that inspires the sensitive soul.

Listen at SoundCloud

SPRING, Copyright©2007 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, RENAISSANCE HOLIDAY.  I completed this piece in 1998 and scored it for 3 recorders (alto, tenor, bass), daff, duff, manjeera, and sleigh bells.  Below is a screenshot of the entire printed score:

This is another of my Christmas offerings.  Let the sounds of this modest consort transport you back through the mists of time to a festive occasion somewhere in Renaissance Europe.

Listen at SoundCloud
Listen at MP3Unsigned

RENAISSANCE HOLIDAY, Copyright©1998 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, THE FIRES OF KAMCHATKA.  I completed this piece in 2016 and scored it for balalaika.  Below is a screenshot of the entire autograph score:

This, my first composition for the balalaika, is a meditation on one of my favorite places on Earth—the Kamchatka Peninsula.  Although my feet have never trod the wilds of that wondrous place, my mind’s eye has carried me aloft on wings of blissful imagination!  My title is an allusion to the volcanism of Kamchatka; one of the most brilliant flames in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Listen at SoundClick
Listen at MP3Unsigned
Listen at SoundCloud

THE FIRES OF KAMCHATKA, Copyright©2016 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde. All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, GHOSTS IN A LONELY SEA.  I completed this piece in 2008 and scored it for wind sextet (flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, and French horn).  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

Imagine being a whale who, while on a single breath, dives to the blue-black depths to meet life beneath the waves only to be sung to by GHOSTS IN A LONELY SEA.

Listen at SoundClick
Listen at MP3Unsigned

GHOSTS IN A LONELY SEA, Copyright©2008 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde.  All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, DEATH.  I completed this song in 1990 and scored it for soprano and piano.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

In homage to the undying John Keats, I present my setting of his poem, Death.

Listen at SoundClick
Listen at MP3Unsigned

DEATH, Copyright©1990 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde.  All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, INTO THE TWILIGHT.  I completed this song in 1990 and scored it for soprano and piano.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

Here is another of my early songs.  This setting of a poem by William Butler Yeats is one of several I composed at the time.

Listen at SoundClick
Listen at MP3Unsigned

INTO THE TWILIGHT, Copyright©1990 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde.  All rights reserved

Today I present my original composition, THE BEAST AND THE BUTTERFLY.  I completed this piece in 2006 and scored it for piano.  Below is a screenshot of the title page from the autograph score:

I once watched a Japanese family transform a greasy, garbage covered patch of earth into a small and delicate garden.  It was while watching this family’s struggle to bring a thing of beauty to a street overrun by motor vehicles, trash, and filth that I conceived this work.  I composed this piece using the traditional Japanese IN scale--one of my favorites.

Listen at SoundClick
Listen at MP3Unsigned
Listen at SoundCloud

THE BEAST AND THE BUTTERFLY, Copyright©2006 DamonMusic by Sean Damon Rohde.  All rights reserved