DISCOGRAPHY
These are commercially released recordings of some of my contemporary classical music compositions. The catalog links in the Multi-Composer section give the album title and title of my composition(s) on the album.
Solo Albums
Richard E Brown - Voices of the Night and Other Works for Orchestra
Richard E Brown - The Gift of the Magi - A Chamber Opera in 1 Act
Richard E Brown - Trios & Sonatinas - Chamber Works for Piano, Strings, and Horn
Multi-Composer Albums
Celestial Voices - featuring Kyrie Eleison and Nunc Dimittis
Tapestry of Voices - featuring The Torment of Medea
Orchestral Masters, Vol. 8 - featuring Serenata for Strings
Heavy Pedal, Vol. 2 - featuring Six Chorale Preludes on Favorite Hymn Tunes
Dashing, Vol 3 - featuring A New World of Justice - The Greatest Gift Siciliano for Christmas Eve - Gesu Bambino
Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming
A Grand Journey - featuring Piano Trio No. 1 and Piano Trio No. 2
Woven in Time - featuring Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra
Legends and Light, Vol. 2 - featuring Voices of the Night
Inviting Worlds, Vol. 1 - featuring Expansions for Orchestra
Inviting Worlds, Vol. 2 - featuring Paisano Suite
Bowed Colors - featuring Sonatina for Viola and Piano
Pinnacle, Vol. 3 - featuring Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano
A Grand Journey, Vol. 2 - featuring Sonatina for Cello and Piano
RICHARD E BROWN
VOICES OF THE NIGHT
AND OTHER WORKS FOR ORCHESTRA
Featuring
VOICES OF THE NIGHT: A NOCTURNAL FANTASY FOR ORCHESTRA
CONCERTO FOR CLARINET AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
PAISANO SUITE EXPANSIONS FOR ORCHESTRA
With VOICES OF NIGHT, composer Richard E Brown introduces a formidable set of works to American orchestral repertoire. His lush orchestration gives his works depth and texture, while individual instruments cut through to create musical narratives that whisk listeners through lyrical passages and dancelike rhythms. While his pieces thrive on the suspenseful and dramatic, they are by no means a pure emotional onslaught—for every build and crescendo, Brown returns to calmness and simplicity. His ability to wrest control of the orchestra from rafter-shaking crests to gentle melodies provides each piece with breathing room, making them all the more powerful.
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RICHARD E BROWN
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
A CHAMBER OPERA IN 1 ACT
Composer Richard E Brown and Navona Records present THE GIFT OF THE MAGI, a chamber opera in one act that tells the beloved story — first published by O. Henry in 1905 — of a young married couple who, despite being very poor, sacrifice their most cherished possessions to demonstrate their love for one another. This chamber opera adds even greater breadth to the composer’s output, which has also included works for concert band and orchestra, instrumental solos and ensembles, church music, piano solos, and scores for ballet, opera, and musical theater. The virtuosic performances heard on THE GIFT OF THE MAGI lend a moving emotional dimension to this heartbreaking yet ultimately uplifting story of love and sacrifice.
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RICHARD E BROWN
TRIOS & SONATINAS
CHAMBER WORKS FOR PIANO, STRINGS, AND HORN
Featuring
PIANO TRIO No. 1 - KOREANA PIANO TRIO No. 2 - PASTORAL
SONATINA FOR VIOLA AND PIANO SONATINA FOR CELLO AND PIANO
TRIO FOR VIOLIN, HORN, AND PIANO
If there is one thing that is important to Richard E Brown, it’s clarity; it would be impossible to listen to any of his compositions without finding one’s emotions immediately and intuitively seized, no explanations necessary. Brown’s music is at once neoclassical and aesthetic, and his selection of TRIOS & SONATINAS makes for a perfect introduction.
Aforementioned clarity is also the secret ingredient which allows Brown to breezily and naturally unite polar opposites: the Western classical piano trio with Korean folk themes, the simple sonatina form with musical complexity, and the frail violin and resounding horn as equals in another trio. Simplicity is supposedly the ultimate form of sophistication, and TRIOS & SONATINAS makes a strong point indeed.
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CELESTIAL VOICES
SACRED CHORAL WORKS
Featuring
KYRIE ELEISON and NUNC DIMITTIS
Ethereal, uplifting, and deeply impactful throughout. The works on CELESTIAL VOICES check these boxes and more. Featuring sacred choral works from several contemporary composers, this offering from Navona Records is a musical exploration into the divine that’s ready to be experienced in both stereo and Dolby Atmos immersive audio formats.
Modern harmonies and rhythmic freedom, new settings of famous hymns, fragments of plainchant that highlight contemporary topics, and more are expressed with clarity and spirit by The Kühn Choir of Prague in this release, who are joined by supportive instrumentalists at various points in the program.
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TAPESTRY OF VOICES
CONTEMPORARY VOCAL WORKS
Featuring
THE TORMENT OF MEDEA: A MONODRAMA FOR SOPRANO AND ORCHESTRA
TAPESTRY OF VOICES from Navona Records showcases the versatility and elegance of the human voice woven with grand orchestral statements, colorful choral arrangements, and intimate settings with piano. Eight contemporary composers offer settings of poetry and stories from various cultures throughout human history, from Africa to Europe, North America, and beyond. Threading modern takes on Greek mythology, meditations on concepts of loss, mortality, and more, TAPESTRY OF VOICES is exactly as its title suggests — an intricate and artistic convergence of ideas that’s sure to entrance those who experience it.
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ORCHESTRAL MASTERS, Vol. 8
NEW WORKS FOR ORCHESTRA
Featuring
SERENATA FOR STRINGS
Another stunning volume of works from composers from around the world.
Martins Vortex Cantabilis is a powerful and colorful setting of a chant written by Alfonso X, the king of Castile in the 13th century. Following this is the gorgeously colored and atmospheric Blue Fire of Wav Leung William So.Nardi’s Upon An Ocean is an expressive and tender depiction of the sea coming into storm. Geng Li’s work A Slow Piece for String Orchestra “January 2020” is a darkly passionate rumination on the world and the manner in which humans impose upon and fight against nature. Marshall Jones’ Paramnesis is about distorted and lost memories and this becomes a compositional approach for this spectacularly colored and dramatic orchestral essay. Richard E Brown’s Serenata for Strings is cast in five movements: Prologue, Scherzo, Nocturne, Tarantella and Epilogue. Inward and emotional, this multi-movement work is a powerful statement from a composer of depth and substance. Ivana Vojnović’s Sinfonietta is a four movement work striking a lighter, more ebullient tone and full of energy, optimism and delightful color.
Listen to these tremendously diverse and talented composers for their remarkably resourceful and inventive use of the tremendous orchestral resource that is the Brno Philharmonic.
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HEAVY PEDAL, Vol. 2
WORKS FOR ORGAN
Featuring
SIX CHORALE PRELUDES ON FAVORITE HYMN TUNES
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The aptly-titled HEAVY PEDAL Vol. 2 from Navona Records is the second installment of an organ-centric series of albums. Featuring the music of composers Christopher Hoh, Deon Price, Richard E Brown, and John Rommereim, the collection lives up to its name; these organ works are some of the most powerful that classical music has to offer. From Hoh’s Concertino Corona, inspired by the hardships and seeds of hope from COVID-19, to Brown’s Six Chorale Preludes on Favorite Hymn Tunes, which were composed using Brown’s encyclopedic understanding of historical hymns, HEAVY PEDAL Vol. 2 brings the organ down from the choir loft to allow all listeners a greater appreciation of this incredibly dynamic instrument.
$12.50 USD includes shipping
DASHING, Vol. 3
EVEN MORE SOUNDS OF THE SEASON
Featuring
A NEW WORLD OF JUSTICE - THE GREATEST GIFT (Original Compositions for SATB Choir and Piano)
SICILIANO FOR CHRISTMAS EVE - GESU BAMBINO LO, HOW A ROSE E'RE BLOOMING
(Arrangements of Familiar Carols for Small Brass Ensembles)
Navona Records presents DASHING Vol. 3, a festive assortment of new works inspired by the signature sounds and staples of the holiday season. Comprising stories, nods to classic holiday tunes, and an underlying current of wistful nostalgia, this installment of the DASHING series keeps the spirit of holiday music alive with new compositions and arrangements of well-known favorites. Brought to life by a number of orchestras, chamber ensembles, and choirs, the works of new and returning composers to the series are sure to ignite the charm and congeniality of the holiday season, highlighting the many facets that the bright break of winter can bring.
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A GRAND JOURNEY
WORKS FOR PIANO TRIO & SOLO PIANO
Featuring
PIANO TRIO No. 1 - KOREANA and PIANO TRIO No. 2 - PASTORAL
Inspired by traditional melodies and cultural flavors, A GRAND JOURNEY gives us contemporary chamber works by Richard E. Brown, Ovidiu Marinescu, and Mark G. Simon. Performed by internationally acclaimed Trio Casals, these distinct works immerse listeners in varying motifs drawn from diverse cultures, simulating a journey of melodic Korean folk patterns, Greek mythological icons, Irish fiddling, tango, and sensations garnered from the Black Sea and English countryside.
The composers draw upon a wealth of technical knowledge and established forms to bring their musical visions to life. Brown’s Trio No. 1 applies ideas from pentatonic Korean folk songs to strictly crafted chaconne, scherzo, and fugue forms, while Trio No. 2 follows a looser bookended construction with a pastoral sound. Marinescu’s piece, The Journey, refers both to cultural sources and the composer’s own inner journey as he blends classical form, clocklike repetition, tango rhythms, and fiddle tunes to express his ideas. Simon’s Caucasus Sonata is a hair-raising journey of the soul through rock and hard places, demanding virtuosity and stamina from the performer.
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WOVEN IN TIME
CONTEMPORARY ORCHESTRAL WORKS
Featuring
CONCERTO FOR CLARINET AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
An eclectic collection of cultural themes, WOVEN IN TIME is grounded in connections made through distant timestamps. Each piece weaves culture and ideas of the past with a modern approach to composition, revitalizing and repurposing the popular culture and literature of yesterday into contemporary music for our enjoyment today.
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LEGENDS AND LIGHT, Vol. 2
NEW WORKS FOR ORCHESTRA
Featuring
VOICES OF THE NIGHT: A NOCTURNAL FANTASY FOR ORCHESTRA
LEGENDS AND LIGHT Vol. 2 from Navona Records leaves no stone unturned. From the vast expansiveness of the open sea to the microscopic particles of our world’s chemical makeup, this follow-up to 2018’s LEGENDS AND LIGHT is an ambitious collection of new works for large ensemble performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Brno Philharmonic. In this album, seven composers offer their insights into the components of our world through music, with works highlighting cultures, locations, forces of nature, and human life. While many of the pieces are arranged for orchestral ensembles, listeners will also find Scottish Great Highland bagpipes and Irish Uilleann pipes featured on the album, offering a deeply rewarding listening experience.
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INVITING WORLDS, Vol. 1
NEW WORKS FOR LARGE ENSEMBLE
Featuring
EXPANSIONS FOR ORCHESTRA
From the mysterious magic of our darkest corners to the exuberant atmosphere of Carnaval, infinite possibilities lay within INVITING WORLDS from Navona Records. The musical dimensions of several composers are explored by the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Zagreb Festival Orchestra, and the National Moravian-Silesian Theater Choir in this dynamic journey, offering insight into new realms through imaginative approaches to composition. Even in far away lands, close-to-home concepts are explored in thought-provoking soundscapes, showcasing the rhythmic dexterity and textural nuance of today’s orchestras across a wide breadth of compositional styles.
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INVITING WORLDS, Vol. 2
NEW WORKS FOR LARGE ENSEMBLE
Featuring
PAISANO SUITE
Hot on the heels of its first edition, INVITING WORLDS Vol. 2 follows in the footsteps of its predecessor with the rhythmic dexterity and textural nuance of today’s orchestras paired with a new roster of composers. New sounds and expressions burst with emotion and uplift us through dark days, navigating uncertainty and delivering us to tranquil resolution. From the frenetic energy and hair raising harmony of Chasse Noir to the soothing solemnity of When Quiet Comes, INVITING WORLDS VOL 2 delivers a colorful palette of orchestral virtuosity sure to please any listener who lends an ear.
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BOWED COLORS
Solo and Chamber Works
Peter Sulski, Viola
Featuring
SONATINA FOR VIOLA AND PIANO
British-American violist Peter Sulski demonstrates his instrument's true expressive potential on BOWED COLORS from Navona Records. Sulski, who was a member of the London Symphony Orchestra for seven years, has published seminal solo viola recordings of works by Telemann, J. S. Bach, and Hindemith. Combining Sulski's signature sound with the works of five composers, BOWED COLORS delivers an exquisite selection of contemporary solo viola pieces that range from the neoclassical to the just barely tonal, all tightly knit together by Sulski's sublime bow control and finesse as a performer.
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PINNACLE, Vol. 3
Contemporary Chamber Works
Featuring
TRIO FOR VIOLIN, HORN, AND PIANO
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Navona Records presents PINNACLE Vol. 3, a collection of contemporary chamber works by composers Alla Elana Cohen, Andrew Schneider, Dušan Bavdek, and Richard E Brown that highlight the melodic, emotive, and dramatic styles offered by today’s chamber music. This diverse assortment of repertoire spans numerous influences and orchestrations, delivering a range of sounds from somber and moving to sprightly and energetic. Leveraging raw thematic material and colorful musical portraits, the composers and performers in this edition of PINNACLE keep the fire burning while bringing a fresh and unique tone to the series.
$12.50 USD includes shipping
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A GRAND JOURNEY, Vol. 2
Works for Piano, Violin, & Cello
Featuring
SONATINA FOR CELLO AND PIANO
With music echoing themes of persistence in the face of adversity, calls for reflection and attention on acts of injustice, and more, A GRAND JOURNEY VOL. 2 delivers resounding chamber music from a diverse range of contemporary composers. Performed by the critically-acclaimed Trio Casals, this Navona Records release offers a variety of sounds, from traditional classical forms to jazz-infused rhythms, mixed meters, and a deeply-moving piece for solo cello.
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My composition Soliloquy and Rondo for Flute and Piano has been recorded by flute star Lindsey Goodman and is scheduled for release in September 2024 on the album In the Company of Music by Navona Records.
Navona Records has also invited a number of composers, including me, to each compose a new 5-minute work for violin and orchestra to be recorded by Italian virtuoso Davide Alogna (playing a historic Stradivarius violin) with the London Symphony Orchestra. My contribution to this project, which I completed last October, is named Fire Dance and is scheduled to be recorded in June.
My Korean Dances for Orchestra nos. 1 - 4 are also scheduled to be recorded in June by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Stay tuned!!