COMPOSITIONS

Vocal Music with Chamber Ensemble (3 to 11 players)

The Gods of Winter, for baritone and chamber ensemble (2006) 17'
Commissioned by the Da Capo Chamber Players
Poetry by Dana Gioia
flute/picc., clarinet, horn, 2 violins, cello, perc., piano, baritone solo

“Even in its quietest moments the work had a bare-nerve intensity; Mr. Opalach provided a gripping account….” Steve Smith, The New York Times, February 21, 2008 

Orpheus, A Masque for baritone solo, chamber ensemble and dancers (2003) 26'
Poetry by Stanely Kunitz
Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition for the Earplay Ensemble of San Francisco
flute/picc., clarinet/bcl., violin, cello, piano, percussion, harp, baritone solo, dancers

“Karchin´s 25-minute score was the dramatic heart of the piece.  The music seemed In constant flux, creating strong, richly textured sonorities for strings and woodwinds, lustrous chords for piano, harp and vibraphone, and artfully-deployed sounds from the percussion, which added fullness and interjected brilliant splashes of color; this Orpheus floated on an incandescent fabric of sound.  Dominic Inferrera sang with intelligence and ringing clarity; his brightly focused voice and crisp, clean diction were a pleasure to hear.  Meanwhile choreographer Angela Jones was holding our attention with a series of boldly realized dance episodes.  She was paired with L. Jonathan Collins as the anguished and distraught Orpheus.  Their duets were beautiful to watch, and affecting in their portrayal of the doomed lovers´ plight.” Jules Langert, San Francisco Classical Voice, January 12, 2004

“Louis Karchin is one of the few who has managed a compromise between the avant-garde of the 1960´s and 70´s and the neo-romanticism of the current era.  Yet the coruscating colors of Orpheus do not sound like mushy middle-ground compromises.  Rather, they project a strong, confident personality.  Beguiling and inviting…...” Jack Sullivan, American Record Guide, July/August, 2006

“Ten best” list of 2005, Alex Ross, The Rest is Noise.com
“While it would be wonderful to see this performed with the choreography, Karchin´s vivid scoring allows the listener to imagine quite a dance unfolding.  Poet Stanley Kunitz´s take on the Orpheus story, In the Dark House, which serves as the piece´s text, is a touching and surprisingly fresh rendering of the millennia-old tale.  Christian Carey, Splendid Reviews”

American Visions: Two Songs on Poems of Yevgeny Yevtushenko, for baritone and chamber ensemble (1999) 27´
Heckscher Foundation Prize
flute/picc., clarinet/bcl., violin, cello, piano, percussion, baritone solo

The highlight of the evening came at the conclusion: American Visions, the setting of two poems by the well-known Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko for chamber ensemble with baritone (Dominic Inferrera), led admirably by Karchin. Yevtushenko creates an immediate visceral, graphic poetry that is almost music itself.  Naturally, if one chooses to set these poems, it is important to punctuate and amplify the poetry…. It´s a tough assignment, but Lou handles it perfectly, echoing, in instrumental colors, the multi-colored poetic text. Joseph Pehrson, The New Music Connoisseur, December, 2002 

"A Way Separate..." for soprano and chamber ensemble (1992) 8´
Commissioned by the Hillel Foundation of the University of Rochester
Poetry by Ruth Whitman and Hannah Senesh
flute/picc., clarinet, violin, cello, piano, soprano solo

“Beautiful indeed, with particularly fine integration of the flowing vocal line with the instruments.” Leo Kraft, The New Music Connoisseur

Romulus, A comic opera in one act, based on a play by Alexander Dumas (1990, revised (2006) 70´
Prize winner, National Opera Association 1990 Chamber Opera Competition
soprano, tenor, baritone, and bass soloists & 11 players:
1-0-1-1;1-0-0-0; pno, perc, 2 vln, viola, cello, contrabass

“ The music…..seemed to unfurl in a ceaseless stand of gentle lyricism, filled with timbral variety and punctuated by passages of puckish humor that deftly mirrored the stage action.  Mr. Karchin conducted members of the Washington Square Ensemble in a lively, polished performance…..The performers sang excellently, their clear enunciation a particular boon.  Jesse Klug´s subtle lighting was especially effective when Wolf confessed his passion for Martha near the conclusion.  The briskly paced comedy fell a few minutes short of an hour.  I would have happily stayed to hear it performed again.”  Steve Smith, The New York Times, May 22, 2007

“Backed by the Washington Square Ensemble and an extraordinary cast, Karchin´s new chamber opera debuted to great success.”  Christina Necula, Classical Singer Magazine, October, 2007

Songs of Distance and Light, for soprano and chamber ensemble (1988) 19´
Poetry by Elizabeth Bishop and Jennifer Rose
fl/picc, oboe, bass cl, perc, piano, vln, vla, vc, soprano solo

“One of the signal new music events of this admittedly young year….Over a 17-minute span, the Eastman-trained composer avoids most of the pitfalls of contemporary writing for the voice, as he envelops his setting of three poems within a chamber orchestra fabric of coruscating beauty.  One feels his instinctive and profound reaction to Bishop´s imagery and rhythms….In Songs of Distance and Light, the musical line really does swell and flow and halt in deference to Bishop´s extraordinary poems. The exotic orchestration has that same canny voluptuousness of sound you will find in Ravel works for similar forces, yet the metallic urgency of the opening pages bespeaks a modern sensibility.  Heroic struggle, acceptance of loss and refuge in memory seem the successive moods of the singer in the three poems.” Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner, March 7, 1989

Brazen and beautiful….Mark Stryler, The Detroit Free Press

Karchin is nothing if not fearless.  John Story, Fanfare, July-August, 1997

Songs of John Keats for soprano and chamber ensemble (1984) 10´
flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, soprano solo

Karchin´s settings of the poetry of Keats are his most recent displays of a striking conception of text setting…   The poetry interacts with musical material in an unprecedented fusion. —Citation to the composer from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1985.

Song Cycles: voice and piano

Roethke Songs (2004) for soprano and piano 7'
Seeking Renewal, A Light Breather, Her Time

“The songs carry a lot of emotional weight with modesty….a thoroughly developed aesthetic…..”   American Record Guide, May 2007 

Four Songs (2001-2003) for soprano and piano 17'
(Compilation of Carmen de Boheme, Meditation, Interlude, To the Sun)

Prize-winner, National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Composition Competition, 2004

Deux Poèmes de Mallarmé (2001) for soprano and piano 9´
Salut, Sainte

“The poetry of Mallarmé is elusive at best, but Louis Karchin´s elucidation in the program notes made the composer´s intention quite clear.  Setting such complex poetry to music is quite a challenge, but Mr. Karchin´s expressiveness carried the day.” Leo Kraft, The New Music Connoisseur, Dec. 2004

Five Songs on Poems of Sue Standing (1985) for soprano and piano 25´

Individual Songs: Voice and piano

Matrix and Dream (2004) for soprano and piano 5'
Poetry by Paul Auster

“Each score was for voice and a single instrument.  Mr. Karchin, using the conventional piano accompaniment in Matrix and Dream, created two worlds: the vocal line, from start of finish, conveyed the fleeting imagery of the text with an arclike gracefulness, while the piano began more brashly and lost its dissonant edges before the final lines.” Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, Sept. 14, 2004

Louis Karchin´s complex yet tender setting of Matrix and Dream, an elegiac vision of childhood, might become the most popular of the group.  It was excellently performed by pianist Stephen Gosling and soprano Lucy Shelton.”  Russell Platt, The New York Observer

Plaint (2004) for soprano and piano 3'
Poetry by Theodore Roethke

To the Sun (2003) for soprano and piano 3'
Orphic Hymn (circa. 300 AD)

“Ecstatic paganism…” Jack Sullivan, American Record Guide

Carmen de Boheme (2002) for soprano and piano 6'
Poetry by Hart Crane

”The most charming song, Carmen de Boheme, is an affectionate homage to Bizet´s Habenera…”  Jack Sullivan American Record Guide
“Its Hart Crane poem is an evocative portrayal of dance, with a sinister, portentous underpinning: the juxtaposition is reflected in Karchin´s sensitive setting.” Christian Carey, Splendid Reviews

“The high spirited text by Hart Crane met its match in the music of Mr. Karchin, in which oblique references to the famous opera pointed up the vivacious quality of the music.”  Leo Kraft, The New Music Connoisseur, Dec. 2004

Memory (2002) for baritone and piano 3'
Poetry by Theodore Roethke

Echoes (2002) for baritone and piano 3'
Poetry by Hart Crane

Interlude (2002) for soprano or tenor and piano 3'
Poetry by Theodore Roethke

Meditation (2001) for soprano or tenor and piano 5'
Poetry by Theodore Roethke

“A dark but hopeful rumination on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.” Paul Griffiths, The New York Times

My Children Grew (2000) for soprano or tenor and piano 4'
Poetry by Yehuda Amichai

“We must give Lou the highest of compliments; he entirely disappeared. The text was so expertly set that one was totally absorbed in the in the dramatic presentation and poem, and the music was so integrated with this that it became only heard by the subconscious….” .Joseph Pehrson, The New Music Connoisseur

Orchestra/Chamber Orchestra Works

The Gods of Winter (2006) for baritone and orchestra 17'
Poetry by Dana Gioia
2 (2nd doubling Picc.)-2-2-2-Cbsn; 4-2-3-1; Timp.-Perc. (3); strings, baritone solo

Chesapeake Festival Overture (2006) 12'
Picc-2-2-Eng. Hn.-2-B. Cl.-2-Cbsn; 4-2-3-1; Timp.-Perc. (3), strings

Commissioned by the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University for the Chesapeake Symphony and the Alba Music Festival (Italy).

American Visions: Two Songs on Poems of Yevgeny Yevtushenko for baritone and orchestra (1999) 27´
Picc-2-2-2-Bcl.-2-Cbsn; 4-2-3-1; Timp.-Perc. (3); harp; strings, baritone solo

Rhapsody for Orchestra (1996) 19´
Picc.-2-2-2-2-Cbsn; 4-2-3-1; Perc. (4); strings

Commissioned by the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University for the Louisville Orchestra
“Intriguing investigations into how one harmonic context grew out of another.” Andrew Adler, Louisville Courier-Journal

Songs of John Keats for soprano and chamber orchestra (1984) 10´
2 (Picc.)-2-2-3 (3 = Cbsn); 1-1-0-0; Perc. (2), hp; strings, soprano solo

Instrumental Chamber Works (1-8 Players)

Processions for organ (2008) 7´
Commissioned by Carson Cooman

Three Epigrams for piano (2008) 10´
Celebration, Expressions, Upheavals

Commissioned by the Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova

Rhapsody for violin and piano (2006) 12´

Commissioned by the Institute and Festival for Contemporary Performance through the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University

Ghost Waltz for piano (2002) 3'

Voyages for alto saxophone and piano (2001) 18´

“Using piano registers both above and below the sax, and sometimes doubling pitches in the same register, Karchin carefully makes a music that fuses the two instruments in a new sound color, no mean feat.” Joseph Pehrson, The New Music Connoisseur

“Taimur Sullivan was outstanding in Voyages, his melodies phrased as if this were an old and cherished classic, his virtuosity supreme.” Paul Griffiths, The New York Times, Sept. 30, 2002

Fanfare for Marty for piano (2001) 2´
on the occasion of Martin Boykan´s 70th Birthday

Quartet for Percussion (2000) 29´

Commissioned by the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation of the Library of Congress for the Talujon Percussion Quartet

“Idiomatic, expressive music that sounds as if it must be a pleasure for the performers to learn and play…. Arrivals on big resonant vibraphone chords built around fifths are a memorable experience.  The composer´s program notes are a helpful and thoughtful companion to the recording.”  American Record Guide, May, 2007

Fanfare/Pavane for solo flute (2000) 6'

Saraband/Variation for solo guitar (1999) 4'

“Revisiting the old dance from in a style at once both austere and sumptuous.”  Paul Griffiths, The New York Times, Nov. 12, 1999

Cascades for piano (1997) 8´

“Draws upon the Impressionist era for its sound spectrum, the opening bars distinctly in the world of Debussy……the darting sprays of water [later] taking the music in very differing directions, at times crashing down in a moment of musical dissonance, but more frequently it is playful and of luminous quality.” David Denton, Fanfare, Jan. 2001  

Rustic Dances (1995) 9´
violin, clarinet and marimba

“Laura Frautschi, Gray Gorczyca and Robert Schultz had a nice romp with the unique kinds of trills and tremolos this combination invites, not scanting the piece´s firm this-follows-that narrative strengths.” Richard Buell, Boston Globe, March 29, 1999

“Rhythmically it is very strong, the sound colors multifarious, each instrument starting an idea that is taken up and expanded upon by the other two. There appear to be have been so many ideas impinging on Karchin´s thought process, with Jewish, Latin American, and Hungarian traditional music playing a role…..David Denton, Fanfare, Jan. 2001

“Best of Boston,” Richard Dyer, Boston Globe, Dec. 2000

“Louis Karchin´s economic, nicely paced Rustic Dances showed a folksy, barn dancing-fiddling heart beating beneath its thoroughly contemporary exterior.” David Cleary, The New Music Connoisseur 

Sonata da Camera (1995) 12´
violin and piano

“An outpouring of emotion that takes Karchin back to thematic and melodic material [with] the development of the material clearly defined.” David Denton, Fanfare, Jan. 2001

String Quartet No. 2 1995 (10´)

“A series of fascinating cameos based on a single motive heard in the first measure. By turns the music is aggressive, ruminative….” David Denton, Fanfare, Jan. 2001 

Ricercare 1992 (7´)
for solo violin

Galactic Folds for chamber ensemble (1992) 20´
flute/picc, clarinet, violin, cello, piano

“Galactic Folds, for a mixed quintet using Schoenberg´s Pierrot Lunaire ensemble, is to my ears the real find of this disc. Twenty minutes of rushing, furious energy divided into two movements, the music never lets up for more than a few seconds in its forward rush.  The miniature cadenzas for the winds in the first movement come as moments when the players are so full of life they must break forth from the ensemble.  The Finale has a wonderful, clockwork fury that abates briefly for an ethereal interlude before the final rush to the finish.”  John Story, Fanfare, July, 1997

String Quartet (1991) 26´

Sonata for Violoncello and Piano (1990) 21´

“The new work was a Sonata for Violoncello and Piano by Louis Karchin.  It is a substantial, three- movement addition to the repertory, with a kind of fearless eloquence in its gestures.”   Andrew Porter, The New Yorker, April 9, 1990

“ The Violoncello Sonata is especially impressive in its rhythmic panache, intensity, variety of attack and pacing.”  Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press, July, 27, 1997

“The dominant characteristic of Louis Karchin´s music is energy.  Even in the very infrequent moments of repose, there is the obvious desire to be moving--building in the background, waiting for the moment to burst forth and sweep all before-- that recalls Beethoven…..  The Beethoven connection is the most obvious in the Cello Sonata of 1989, which is modeled after Beethoven´s Third [Sonata for Cello].  Like its model, the work lacks a slow movement, using a Scherzo to bridge between a sonata-form first movement and a vigorous, extended Finale.” John Story, Fanfare, July, 1997

Canzona and Elegy for solo violin (1988) 6´

Caprice for piano (1984) 2´

Three Miniatures for piano (1983) 3´

Viola Variations (1981) 11´
Viola and Piano

Duo for violin and cello (1981) 13´
Viola and Piano

Capriccio for Violin and Seven Instruments (1977) 11´
Flute, Oboe, Bass clarinet, Percussion, Piano, Viola, Bass, Solo Violin

First Prize, New Music Consort Competition, 1981

“Already reveals a deft sense of timing and economy of gesture…Clear textures that project a strong harmonic profile.  James Primosch, High Performance Review

Children´s Suite for piano (1969) 5´