Bag of Tricks was written in July of 2025. The work serves as a brief satirical commentary on the current U.S. political climate–where we see the patterns of history repeating. Dust is blown off the old tricks of consolidating power as institutions stand immobilized. In the music, waltzing quotations of Julius Fučík’s Entrance of the Gladiators (the most infamous example of clown music) are paired with fragments of The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa in a wild fever dream. A wide range of compositional techniques and tricks are used to pull the material around and deform it, resulting in a chaotic haze of sound. In music and in politics, the difference between a magician and a clown is simply a matter of getting away with the trick.
Listen: Coming soon.
Purchase:
Bag of Tricks Score and Parts
$19.00
Available as a PDF download after purchasing. (33 pages)