Featured Works
On this page are a few, selected compositions to introduce new listeners to Connor's music. Please reference the Works page for more of Connor's music, or the Contact page to inquire about this music (or any other works)!
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Crossroads for String Orchestra; 10' 00"
Crossroads was written to reflect upon an intersection the composer came across in his own experiences. The bouncing and playful opening alternates and contrasts with the slow and sustained harmonies and the minor mode theme which occur throughout. These elements repeat as to simulate the swirling of ideas in states of contemplation and sometimes stress. Ultimately, one path is chosen, no matter how bittersweet that decision is. |
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One Moment for SATB Choir; 4' 30"
One Moment seeks to observe the world completely frozen in time, allowing us to admire the parts of life that we often overlook: things that are beautiful, peaceful, and often left unmentioned. Lola Ridge’s poem, Interim, describes a conversation between the wind and the corn it often blows by. The two cheerfully wait for a bird to resume its flight amongst the stars in the sky, a moment of action about to unfold but left stationary; it is beautifully captured by time so we may finally acknowledge it. |
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Below the City for Wind Quintet; 9' 00"
Below the City is a musical imagination of Dante’s Inferno, exploring the story from the voyage along the River Styx toward the Sixth Circle of Hell until the arrival at the top of the Eighth Circle. The journey relies on ostinatos which layer together to create a complex soundscape. Some sections are based upon a twelve-tone matrix and others extend from using different sound colors, including tone clusters and considerations for range. The journey ends as uncertain as it began. |
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Essences for Soprano and Piano; 10' 00"
Essences explores four different time periods in one person’s life, beginning with the earliest humors of childhood and moving through romance-driven adolescence, work-driven adulthood, and reflection upon a fulfilled love in late adulthood. This song cycle sets four different poems from four different women poets, utilizing different tonalities and stylistic approaches to paint different sections of life. Originally scored for an alto-register voice, Essences is also scored for a soprano voice. |
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Fragments for Violin and Piano; 8' 30"
Fragments moves back and forth from slow and mournful reflection to bursts of anger and high energy as memories of a broken-hearted person struggle to move on. Each section represents a fragmented memory, emotionally charged, not always realistic, and disconnected as consciousness flows smoothly between different intensities. This work pushes themes, motives, and dynamics to their extreme to paint these intense emotional images to be imagined by those listening. |