Compositions 2 | website

Works for Violin

Frenetic Unfoldings for Solo Violin - 1998

Premiered by Darel Stark at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu on 2/12/2000.

Metamorphosis N° 3 (Just Do It) for Solo Violin - 2001

Premiered by Darel Stark on 11-6-2004 during the composer's 50th birthday party.

Il Coltello nella Piaga (The Slow Knife Twist) for Solo Violin - 2005

(Part 7 of Romantica Passione Suite for Guitar and Violin)

Metamorphosis Nº 11 (Violin Mirrors) for Solo Violin - 2005

Prevalent Ruptured Schisms (Being a lament on the human condition) for Solo Violin - 2009

Premiered by Darel Stark in Honolulu at the Musician’s Union Studio on 8/13/2010.

Symmetry in Motion for Solo Violin – 2013

Petite Suite for Solo Violin - 2023

To Morning
Come Before Winter
Memory, Hither Come
La Tortura dell' Amore
To The Evening Star

Volere for Solo Violin - 2023

Cycling with Caesar (The Great Saint Bernard Pass) for Two Violins - 2024

Works for Guitar

Metamorphosis No. 10 for Solo Guitar - 2004

Nel Giardino della Delezie - (In The Garden of Delights) - 2005

(Part 6 of Romantica Passione Suite for Guitar and Violin)

Guitar Suite No. 1 - Saggese Guitar Suite (Homage to Paganini) – 2006-7

Movements I-IV

Premiered in Honolulu by Christian at The rRed Elephant Cafe on September 22, 2007.

Metamorphosis N° 7 for Two Guitars - 2007

(transcription by Christian Saggese)

Guitar Preludes for 6-String Guitar and 8-String Guitars - 2006-8

Preludi Italiani - No. 1 - The Translucent Robe (Version I and II)
Preludi Italiani - No. 2 - Zio Pesce
Preludi Italiani - No. 3 - The Tai Chi Set
Preludi Italiani - No. 4 - Studio
Preludi Italiani - No. 5 - IM Voices
Preludi Italiani - No. 6 - Nella Distinta Umori
Preludi Italiani - No. 7 - Acoustic Voices (Serenade for Sharon)
Preludi Italiani - No. 8 - I Wish I Could Have Met Joseph Haydn - for two 8-string guitars
Preludi Italiani - No. 9 - Suzi, Do Notes Really Matter? - for two 8-string guitars

Guitar Etudes - 2008-2009

No.1 for 6-String Guitar (The Great Divide) - 2008
No. 2 for Two 10-String Guitars (The Past is the Present) - 2008
No. 3 for Two 10-String Guitars (No Sprinkles Involved) - 2008
No. 4 for Two 10-String Guitars (Post Minimalist Nausea) - 2008
No. 5 for Two 10-String Guitars (The Basic MO) - 2008
No. 6 for Two 10-String Guitars (Sliding to Nirvana) - 2008
No. 7 for Two 10-String Guitars (The City of 100 Spires) - 2008
No. 8 for Two 10-String Guitars (That Old Confident Strut) - 2009
No. 9 for Two 10-String Guitars (What Now?) - 2009

Guitar Etude for 10-String Guitar - That Old Confident Strut - 2009

Fantasia and Semi-Passacaglia for Guitar Solo - 2009

Guitar Etudes for 6-String Guitar - 2008-10 (transcriptions from works for 10 string guitars)

No. 2 - The Past is the Present - 2008
No. 3 - No Sprinkles Involved - 2008
No. 4 - Post Minimalist Nausea - 2010
No. 5 - The Basic MO - 2010
No. 6 - Sliding to Nirvana - 2010
No. 7 - The City of 100 Spires - 2010
No. 8 - That Old Confident Strut - 2010
No. 9 - What Now? - 2010

Guitar Preludes (for six-string guitar) - 2010

(transcriptions from works for two 8-string guitars)

I Wish I Could Have Met Joseph Haydn
Suzi, Do Notes Really Matter?

Guitar Petite Suite No. 1 (Let Freedom Ring) for Guitar Solo - 2014-15

I-VI

Celebrating freedom of expression in everyday life.

Revised June, 2017

Guitar Petite Suite No. 2 - Spring into Thin Air for Guitar Solo – 2017

I-IV with Coda

Celebrating the dance of life through thin air.

Humoresque for Guitar and Small Orchestra - 2018

Music For Solo Guitar - Book I - 2019 (revised 2020)

Dance of the Ambassador Suites Inhabitants (for the ghost of John Fahey)
Preludio Sentimentale
Dramma Giocoso
Humoresque
Impresiones Intimas No. 1
Just For A Lark (Petite Suite)
The Orangutan Shuffle
Impresiones Intimas No. 2
Diamonds on a River of Tears
For Chris

Music For Solo Guitar - Book II - 2020

Zero-Sum Games
The Chase
Giorni della Corona
Duplicitous and Fickle
Hold That Thought
That's an Understatement
The Fates That Hound Us Couldn't Wish Our Love Away
His Gracious Talk Bewitches Me
Just Like I Knew What I Was Doing

Music For Two Guitars - Zero Sum Games - 2020

(a transcription from a solo guitar work of the same name)

Music For Two Guitars - The Chase - 2020

(a transcription from a solo guitar work of the same name)

Guitar Suite No. 2 - 2023

Part 1: The Study

Part 2: The Idea

Part 3: The Creation

Part 4: The Insight

Absorbed From Beginning to End for Solo Guitar - 2024

Chamber Music

Woodwind Quintet No. 1 in 3 Movements - 1998. Revised 2012.

May I Have An Alchemist?
My Dreams Lie Just Above the Horizon
The Transfiguration of Giovanni Baudino

This is John's first chamber piece.

Quartet No. 1 for Clarinet in b-flat, Violin, Cello and Piano (A Worded Grey Enigma) - 2000

It’s Not Discernible
It’s the Only Possibility
Forms of Order
Be Indescribable!
Danseur Kanzuke
Chamber Music Becomes Him

Piano Trio No. 1 for Piano, Violin and Cello - 2001

Movements I-IV

Finale dedicated to the passengers of Flight 93, 9-11-2001.

Revised April, 2012.

Trio Casals premiered this work on Saturday, May 9, 2015 at Philips Autograph Library, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, West Chester, PA. A live performance at Carnegie Hall was held on May 12, 2015

Duet for Violin and Cello - 2022 (2002)

Movements I-IV.

This work was originally composed for violin and double bass in 2002. The composer changed the instrumentation in Feb. 2022.

Trio for Piano, Guitar and Violin - 2002

I-III

Duo46 [Matt Gould, guitarist, and Beth Schneider, violinist] and Nathanael May premiered the 3rd Movement on 7/21/2006 at the Monty del Parterre Amphitheater, Cortona, Italy.

Quartet No. 2 for Clarinet in b-flat, Violin, Cello and Piano - 2003-4. Revised May, 2013.

The Dauntless Journey Part I (Intrepido)
The Dauntless Journey Part II (Tranquillo)
The Dauntless Journey Part III (Viaggio Sentimentale)

This 3-movement work is a continuation of the experiments of Quartet No.1.

Romantica Passione Suite for Guitar and Violin – 2004

· Volere (Desire)

· Un Forte Amore (Tenacious Love)

· Romanzo! (Romance!) - Premiered on 7/17/2006 at the Hotel Oasi, Cortona, Italy, by Duo46.

· Splendido Affare (Splendid Affair) - Premiered on 7/17/2006 at the Hotel Oasi, Cortona, Italy, by Duo46.

· La Tortura dell' Amore (The Torture of Love) - Premiered on 7/21/2006, Monti del Parterre Amphitheater, Cortona, Italy, by Duo 46.

· Il Coltello nella Piaga (The Slow Knife Twist) for Solo Violin - Premiered by Darel Stark at Studio 909, Musician’s Union, in Honolulu on 1/9/2010.

· Nel Giardino Della Delezie (In The Garden of Delights) for Solo Guitar

· Un Giorno Teso (Tension Rules the Day) - Premiered on 7/21/2006 at the Monti del Parterre Amphitheater, Cortona, Italy, by Duo46.

· Eterna Riconciliazione (Eternal Reconciliation)

This music tells a story about romantic love and of all of its emotional entanglements.

Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano (Robust Constructs) - 2005

· With Moderate Determination

· With Elegance and Grace

· With Serious Determination

Trio Xia premiered this work at Orvis Auditorium in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 1, 2005.

Fear of ANGST for Flute, Cello, and Piano - 2006

· Beware

· Beware of Fear

· Beware of Those Who Preach Fear

Burlesque for Trumpet in B-flat and Classical Guitar - 2007

· The Honolulu Stomp

· Baile, Baile Me Hermosa Rosa

· Luca Has a Cadenza

· Life is a Strange Instrument (the most difficult and beautiful when played well)

· Rosa Discovers a Strange Instrument (Finale)

String Quartet No. 1 - 2008

· Historical Facts & Folly

· Nothing Shall Come of This

· Another Political Experiment Gone Wrong

· A Cubist Point of View

· Awaken! Citizens of the World!

· The Great Divide

The One That Got Away for Violin, Guitar and Piano - 2008

This is an instrumental re-working of a song that was not used from the Blake Song-Cycle of 2007.

Moravian Sax in the Afternoon (for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxophone)

(Quartet No. 3) - 2008

Composed for the Erie Saxophone Quartet after a request.

String Quintet No. 1 (for 10-String Guitar and String Quartet) - 2008

· Both Sides of the Divide

· The Boundary Wall

· Divide and Conquer

The Great Divide for String Quintet (for 10-String Guitar and String Quartet) - 2009

Impressions of The Conclave for Bass Quartet (for Bassoon, Bass Clarinet, Baritone Sax and Tuba) - 2009 (Quartet No. 4)

Composed for The Bass Quartet in Sicily after a request.

Chronicles of a Whipped Creamer for Brass Quintet - 2009

A collaboration with Robert Werhman.

Honolulu to Helsinki for Guitar and Piano - 2011

· Animato

· Con moto

· Dolce - (In memory of Michael Burdett)

· Con Passione

· Dolcemente

· Tranquillo - for Solo Piano

· Tender - for Solo Guitar

· (untitled)

· Passionately

String Quartets - 2011 (transcriptions from works for string orchestras)

· Nothing Shall Come of This for String Quartet

· Starry Night for String Quartet

· Let Thy Mind Be Still for String Quartet

· Desiderio for String Quartet

· Honolulu to Helsinki for String Quartet (transcription from a work for piano and guitar)

Celloistic Impressions (Quartet No. 5) - for four cellos - 2012

For the Glendale Philharmonic Orchestra, after a request by the President of the Executive Board, Diane Acosta.

The Genius of the Crowd for flute, oboe, clarinet in b-flat, xylophone, piano, violin and cello - 2012

And It Came to Pass for 2 violins, viola, cello and bass - 2012

Duet for Violin and Piano - 2013

Duet for Flute and Piano - 2013

String Quartet No. 2 (Ruleless Infinity) - 2013

· I.

· II.

· III. The Last Days on Earth Music I

· IV. The Last Days on Earth Music II

· V. The Last Days on Earth Music III

In Your Hour of Need (Your Soul Now Travels the Cosmic Waves) for Flute, Bassoon, Horn in f, Xylophone, Piano and Cello - 2014 (In memory of Bill Dresser)

Piano Trio No. 2 - (Catalogue of Observations) - 2015

· Adherence to Dogma

· Reflections Upon a Velvet Blue Lake

· Frolicking in the Wilderness

· Apophenia

· Are You Much Given to Melodrama?

Sextet for Clarinet in b-flat, Bassoon, Horn in f, Tuba, Piano and Cello (How Many Times?) – 2016-17

· Dark and Brooding - Animato

· Humoresque

· Con Energico Ritmico

· Lento

· Felicemente - Prudente

· Animato

Quintet for Alto Sax, Bassoon, Horn in f, Piano and Violin (Cleo's Boardwalk Strut ) - 2017

Carollo's Baroque Duets for Violin and Cello - 2018 (transcriptions from early solo piano works)

· Victim of His Constructs

· Do You Know Who You Are?

· Minuet I-IV

· It's All in the Genes

· Elusive Truth

The Nomadic Composer for Clarinet in b-flat, Bassoon, Piano, Violin and Cello - 2018

· Change is Home

· Change is Your Teacher

· Being and Dissolve

· Portland Bound

Caffeine and Cortisol for Brass Choir - 2018

Longinus, On Sublimity - for Oboe, Clarinet in b-flat, Bassoon, Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello - 2019

· Great Thoughts

· Noble Diction

· Strong Emotions

String Quartet No. 3 (Quantum Dice) - 2019

· I - Misterioso - God Does Not Play Dice with the Universe

· II - Andantino

· III - Intenso

· IV - Appassionata

· V - Vivace - Lawless Indeterminism and Uncertainty Shall Not Be

The Black Swan Effect for Woodwind Quintet - 2020

Quartet for Tenor Sax, Vibraphone, Piano and Double Bass - (Quartet No. 6) - 2020

Duet for Cello and Piano (We Will Never Witness Another of His Kind) - 2021. Updated 2023.

· I. Con Bravura

· II. Vivace

· III. Intenso

· IV. Delicato, Tristezza, Appassionata, Marcato, Delicato

Premiered on Sept. 28, 2024 at Carnegie Hall. Ovidiu Marinescu, cello and Noreen Cassidy-Polera, piano.

Duet for Violin and Piano (Un Baco Ancorra) - 2021 - 2022

· I. One Last Kiss

· II. The Deep Embrace

· III. The Romp Was a Heavenly Affair

· IV. One Last Embrace

Quartet for Clarinet in b-flat, Violin, Cello and Piano (Classic Beauty Over Surface Novelty) -

(Quartet No. 7) - 2022

· I. Tranquillo, Animato

· II. Dolcemente, Marcato

· III. Con Moto - (May You Live Eternally, My Dear Italy)

· IV. Leggiero, Intenso

In the Here and Now for Flute, Oboe and Cello - 2023

Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Cello and Piano (Beyond Death's Reach)

(Quartet No. 8) - 2023-24

· I. The Dumbing Down of Culture

· II. Manipulative Consumerism

· III. The Reduction of Art to Entertainment

· IV. Art as a Source for Reconciliation's Promise

Quartet No. 9 - 2024

for Classical Guitar, Piano, Violin and Cello

I. Pleasure From Organized Sound

II. The Affinity of Periods

III. The Mechanics of Vigor

IV. Maturity is Certain to Alter

V. Cultivating Talent

VI. Discerning Patterns

VII. Know How to Conduct a Progress

VIII. Making up the History of Taste

IX. Consult Your Appetite About Its Immediate Musical Consumption

Dethroned by History for Oboe, Piano and Cello - 2024

(Artistic Greatness is More Permanent Than Historical Greatness)