Hymn to the Night
In 1984, I was directing a small amateur mixed chorus in Atlanta, Georgia. Wanting to take advantage of the opportunity
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Works by Robert Cunningham
A Fugue for Oboe and Piano
The finale of my Sonata for Oboe and Piano is a playful, energetic rondo in D minor, where the predominantly
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The Story of the Adagio
March 21, 1985 was the tricentennial of the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach. On that day I completed my Adagio
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Nocturnal Conversation
One of the chief tools of an effective composer is contrapuntal imitation. In my Nocturne for Woodwind Quartet, segments of
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Melody as Organism
An effective melody is like a living organism. It develops through stages, each stage growing organically out of earlier stages.
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On the Other Hand
Piano fingering is in my opinion very personal. Pianists vary considerably in hand size, flexibility, and technical skills, and these
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Revising Piano Sonata No. 3
The original version of my Piano Sonata No. 3, composed in 1987, was the last significant work for which I
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Harmonic Motion in Piano Sonata No. 4
In the archetypical classical sonata-allegro movement, the exposition moves from tonic to dominant (often via the mediant). The development is
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The Origin of Themes (Piano Sonata No. 4)
My Piano Sonata No. 4 is a single-movement work, a little over 26 minutes in length, in sonata-allegro form. Within
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7 Fun Facts about Prelude No. 7
1. Within my Nine Preludes for Piano Solo, Prelude No. 7 is symmetrically opposite the other scherzo-like prelude, No. 3,
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Prelude Sets and the Circle of Fifths
The Circle of Fifths is usually used to illustrate the keys associated with key signatures, with increasing numbers of
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The Structure of Romance
The romance genre is by nature lyrical, and the two themes in my Romance for Oboe and Piano both fit
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Vibrations of Sympathy
The violin was the first instrument I studied formally, and I took my first lessons around the time of my
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The Forgotten Nocturne
Many of my listeners are familiar by now with my two piano nocturnes, both of which can be heard on
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Vincenzo Galilei and the Lament
I composed my Lament for Flute and Piano in 1991 but did not attempt to get it performed at the
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