Tag: inspired by landscape

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Point Reyes from Chimney Rock (2014)

Orchestra (piccolo, flute, 2 oboes, clarinet in Bb, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, 3 percussion, harp, strings). 7 mins.

Commissioned by the New York University Symphony. An orchestral tone poem inspired by the coastal landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area where I was born and raised, this piece takes its title from a woodblock print by contemporary artist Tom Killion. Continue reading “Point Reyes from Chimney Rock (2014)”

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Horizon (2013)

Cello. 7 1/2 mins.

Live performance by Matthew Smith, cello of Juventas New Music Ensemble:

Short film featuring Callie Lyons, dancer, and Fjóla Evans, cello:

Perusal Score

View perusal score.

Performance score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.

Program Note

Horizon was composed in 2013 for the occasion of Parrish Art Museum’s one-year anniversary in its new location in Water Mill, NY.  This work celebrates and reflects the aesthetic quality of the museum’s building and the surrounding landscape of the East End of Long Island, , using negative space in music to reflect the vastness of a flat horizon line.

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Performance History
  • Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill NY. Karlos Rodriguez, cello: 11/09/13. Richard Vaudrey, cello: 11/10/13.
  • Recorded on-site in public parks by Fjola Evans for short dance film. New York NY, February 2014.
  • Louise King, cello. Cello Dreaming Australian tour: The Cooroora Institute, Cooroy (9/09/16), Horizon Festival at University Sunshine Coast Art Gallery in Sippy Downs (9/10/16), and Lift Gallery in Maleny (9/11/16).
  • The Clark Art Institute, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Matthew Smith, cello, Williamstown, MA, 7/16/23.
  • ASTA National Conference, Mira Frisch, cello; Kentucky International Convention Center, Louisville, KY, 3/21/24.

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The Faraway Nearby: Georgia O’Keeffe and The New Mexico Landscape (2010)

Video with flute, clarinet, piano, violin, cello.  10 mins.

(The music in this work is also the first movement of Into nowhere).


Video and music inspired by the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe. Filmed on location in New Mexico, with original animations and motion graphics. Over 19,000 views on YouTube. Continue reading “The Faraway Nearby: Georgia O’Keeffe and The New Mexico Landscape (2010)”

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Trees (2009/10)

Four C flutes, alto flute, and bass flute. 7 mins.
Arrangement for two oboes and harpsichord. 7 mins.

Trees was originally scored for six-part flute choir, commissioned by the San Francisco State University Flute Choir, which premiered the first movement in 2009 as part of a program of music by American composers. The work was later arranged for two oboes and harpsichord. Continue reading “Trees (2009/10)”