Drum Taps: Full recording posted on Soundcloud.com

I have posted the complete recording of the May 15, 2012 premiere of Drum Taps: Nine Poems on Themes of War at the website “Soundcloud.” Please share this post with anyone who is interested- conductors, audience members, anyone interested in contemporary classical music, anyone who agrees that classical music can actually make a difference in the world by stirring emotions, thoughts and discussions about serious topics, like our species’ addiction to war…

Here is the link to the audio files (mp3) of the nine movements (in 10 files- one movement has two halves.)

http://soundcloud.com/gregory-youtz/sets/drum-taps

Here are the full texts.

Drum Taps full texts

Here is a link to a short video interview with myself and the conductor about the piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9byvIsxJgqQ

Here is a press release with some description of the piece and its premiere.

Drum Taps -press release

Drum Taps at Pacific Lutheran University

I have been out of the country studying gamelan in Indonesia (Bali and Java) for much of the summer, and only now am returning to listen to the recording of my big premiere in May at PLU: Drum Taps: Nine Poems on Themes of War. The good news: the recording confirms what I remembered- it was a superb and powerful performance of what I consider my most important piece. Many thanks to the wonderful performers- professional and students alike!

I will post here a 12 minute compilation (out of a 60 minute piece) of excerpts masterfully selected and edited by my colleague Jeffrey Bell-Hanson who conducted the premiere as director of the PLU University Symphony Orchestra. While it provides just a sample of each movement, it gives a very good sense of what the piece is about, what sorts of musical language it uses, and the very dramatic nature of the composition.

There is a single excerpt from each of the nine movements, so you can count them to know where you are in the overall flow. I will post the entire recording somewhere soon so those of you who wish to spend an hour hearing the whole thing, can…