Composer
Nicholas Scarim
Opera
Scarim Sumidagawa (c) 1980 NPR part one.mp3Sumidagawa (an Opera) part one
NPR broadcast of the Opera Company of Philadelphia. A new edition of Nicholas Scarim's opera is now available. The opera was workshopped at Yale's Composer/Librettist Conference (Scarim was both, in this instance) and premiered by the Opera Company of Philadelphia in 1980. The premiere took place on a modular stage set designed by Isamu Noguchi, and the production was staged and choreographed by Saeko Ichinohe.
Buy the score <here>
Symphonies
Scarim Symph no 2.mp3Symphony #2
Soft timpani rolls lead into an expansive adagio which begins this single movement work in five sections. Duration: about twenty-two minutes. Scored for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone and tuba, with harp, percussion and strings
The score is available <here>
For performance agreements and parts, write to sheetmusic2000@gmail.com
Scarim Symphony no3.mp3Symphony #3
The symphony is in three movements. Scored for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones and a tuba, with percussion and strings.
Buy the score <here>
For performance agreements and parts, write to sheetmusic2000@gmail.com
Symphony #4 (2023)
Symphony no4 2023.mp3Score available soon
Contact sheetmusic2000@gmail.com
Seasons ALL.mp3Scarim Symphony #1 "The Seasons"
In four movements (of course) Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall.
Score available <here>
Casey at the Bat for Orchestra and Narrator
(Right: Poster from the 1927 silent film starring Wallace Beery.)
"It looked extremely rocky for the Mudville Nine that day.
The score stood two to four, with but one inning left to play.
So when Cooney died at second, and Burrows did the same
A pallor wreathed the features of the patrons of the game..."
.
Scored for 1-1-1-1; 1-1-1-1; piano; percussion and strings. An excellent fundraiser showpiece when paired with a celebrity narrator.
Buy the score <here>
Casey at the Bat (c) N Scarim 09.mp3
For Children
The Tiger of Chungshan, an opera for children and family audiences.
Scarim's opera is now available in a spiral bound piano/vocal edition.
Over the years, The Tiger has been performed by regional opera companies and university opera departments from California to New York. The half-hour work has been a hit with school-touring productions and special family performances.
Synopsis:
In a forest, three hunters are boasting about what they will do with their trophies. They spot a tiger, and give chase. Nearby, a young student named Chang is walking in the same woods, admiring the spring greenery. The tiger rushes up to Chang, and begs to hide in his traveling bag until the hunters are gone.
Even after Chang has saved his life, the ungrateful tiger nevertheless wants to eat the child. Chang points out this ingratitude, and convinces the tiger to submit to a test: they will ask three elders if this is fair.
They first come upon some old fruit trees, then some old farm animals. Chang twice presents his case, but each time these old characters say, "Ah - it's the way of the world, youngster."
Finally, they meet an old man coming along the road. After hearing Chang's story, he says to the tiger, "This is a difficult case. Perhaps you should give me a demonstration of what happened..."
Cast of five: soprano, two mezzo, a child soprano and a baritone as the Tiger. 30 minutes.
The score is available <here> You can listen to the overture below:
Scarim Tiger (c) 1980 a Overture.mp3The Tiger of Chungshan (Overture)
Vocal music
4 the Learn'd Astronomer NR.mp3The Learn'd Astronomer (Whitman)
sample from "40 Songs"
Spanning more than thirty years of art songs by Scarim, this collection gathers most of the shorter songs into a single volume. Settings of poems by Shakespeare, Keats, Blake, Hesse, Whitman, Nietzsche and many more. Most are for voice and piano, although there is a selection of songs for 3-part a cappella ensemble, based on Native American poems.
Buy the book <here>
Chamber Music
Scarim PianoTrio all 2022.mp3Piano Trio #1 subtitled "To Brooklyn Bridge"
The three movements have epigraphs from the Hart Crane poem.
ViolinSonatamvt4(c)Scarim1980.mp3Violin Sonata #1
Excerpt: 4th movement
The Adagietto (first movement) begins with the interval of a minor third, which will be a prominent melodic interval throughout the four movements. The second movement is titled "Waltz" - in the place of what would often have been the Minuet movement in earlier times. The third movement is titled "Blues" - but its form is more complex than a repeating twelve bar progression. In the final, fourth movement the descending minor third and the three chords from the waltz are developed with jagged, jazzy rhythms.
Buy the score <here>
The Garden at Night
Woodwind Quintet and Narrator
This piece was written for family concerts. It's scored for a standard woodwind quintet of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon and includes a narrator. This video was created from ink paintings by Jennifer Ross. Versions are now available for brass quintet and string quintet. Write to sheetmusic2000@gmail.com for more info.
To buy the score <click here>
Piano Sonata #2
Piano Sonata 2 Scarim1996 MMills.mp3Showing the composer's penchant for weaving together fugues, cantabile melodies and furiously driving rhythmic passages, this single-movement work was written in 1996.
Purchase the sheet music <here>
Hagoromo (The Cloak of Feathers) a Chamber Ballet
for Flute, Piano, Percussion and String Quintet
The Hagoromo is the feathered kimono worn by tennin, spiritual beings found in Japanese Buddhism.
Synopsis: A fisherman is walking with his companions at night when he finds the Hagoromo, the magical feather-mantle of a tennin (an aerial spirit or angel) hanging on a bough. The tennin sees him taking it and demands its return—she cannot return to Heaven without it. The fisherman argues with her, and finally promises to return it, if she will show him her dance or part of it. She accepts his offer. After demonstrating and dancing with him, the tennin disappears like a mountain slowly enveloped in mist. The fisherman attempts the dance again on his own, but can remember none of it.
ALL Robe of Feathers 2024.mp3Score available soon. Write to sheetmusic2000@gmail.com
