Works by Ben Yarmolinsky
Theater Works
Music Appreciation (2024)
A full-length musical theater piece centered on a college music appreciation class, with book and lyrics by the composer. For ten singing actors and chorus.
The Trial of Anna (2022) (90’)
A documentary opera, based on the trial transcript of New Jersey vs. Anna Stubblefield. For six soloists and chorus of twelve jurors, with piano accompaniment.
The Constitution: a secular oratorio (2005, rev.2022) (100’)
A setting of large portions of the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments, for SATB chorus and soloists, with chamber orchestra. Also available as piano-vocal score.
A Marriage Cantata (2010) (20’)
A setting for mezzo, baritone and piano of nine poems on the themes of marriage, love and aging by Edward Lear, Donald Hall, Muriel Rukeyser, Ogden Nash, Billy Collins, William Carlos Williams and William Shakespeare. Commissioned by Robert and Jean Ashton for their 50th anniversary.
Clarence & Anita (1995, rev. 2010) (90’)
A "docu-opera" in two acts based on the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings. Libretto adapted by the composer from the official transcript of the Judiciary Committee hearings. Scored for twelve singers and chamber ensemble, clarinet/saxophone, guitar, keyboard, bass and percussion.
A Brief Encounter (1995) (12')
A comic chamber musical for three singer/actors and piano, with book and lyrics by the composer.
The Life of Me (1993, rev. 2023) (20')
A chamber musical for baritone, mezzo and chamber ensemble (flute/clarinet, piano, harp, 'cello and percussion), with book and lyrics by the composer.
April 15th Blues, CRI #1040 (1999) (30’)
A musical theater piece about taxes. For soprano, baritone and automated voice (the 1040 tax form), accompanied by violin, ‘cello, piano and percussion.
Amendments (1992) (12’)
A cantata for solo baritone and piano setting post-Civil War Constitutional amendments. Arranged for chorus and incorporated into The Constitution in 2005.
The Subject (1991) (50')
A psychiatric opera for mezzo-soprano, baritone and tenor, with keyboard accompaniment. Libretto by Charles Bernstein.
The Lenny Paschen Show (1992) (50’)
A late-night television talk show opera (companion to Blind Witness News) for SATB soloists and five-piece band. Libretto by Charles Bernstein.
Blind Witness News (1990, rev. 2006) (30’)
An operatic parody of the television news. For SATB soloists and piano. Libretto by Charles Bernstein.
The Bill of Rights (1988) (25')
For SATB soloists and chorus with piano. Revised and incorporated into The Constitution in 2005.
Blanche (1991) (60')
Chamber opera based on Balzac's short story Le Péché Véniel (The Venial Sin). Libretto by the composer. For mezzo-soprano, baritone and tenor, with accompaniment for woodwind quintet and harpsichord.
Alice (1981, rev. 2005) (50')
Musical theater piece based on Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - '81. Performed as a puppet show at the American School of Tangier, the composer conducting a student ensemble, Fall '81. New version revised and arranged for violin, cello, piano and percussion in 2005.
Film Scores, Incidental Music, and Orchestrations
Streetcar Suite (20’)
Incidental music for “A Streetcar Named Desire” for trumpet, violin and piano. Commissioned by and presented at the American School of Tangier, June 2004.
Going Home (40’)
(With Joel Hamburger), Score for a documentary film about women in prison, directed by Mark Benjamin. Premiere Sept. 20, ’02. Laemmle Theater, Los Angeles. Shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination, Nov. ’02, broadcast on Cinemax, Sept. ’03.
Suite for Tangier (20’)
Incidental music linking twelve scenes from twelve plays. For oboe, violin, guitar and cello. Commissioned and presented by the American School of Tangier. Premiered June 2000, in Tangier.
Saint Joan (20’)
Incidental music for the play by George Bernard Shaw. For harp, organ and electronics. Commissioned by the American School of Tangier. Premiered June 1998, in Tangier.
The Big Mirror (40')
(Film score) For string quartet, flutes, guitar, percussion and piano- '88. Recorded in New York, winter '88, the composer conducting. (Score commissioned and ultimately not used by the director Moumen Smihi.)
"44" or “Les Récits de la Nuit” (20')
(Film score) for flute, violin, clarinet, piano and guitar. Recorded in Paris, ensemble conducted by the composer. Directed by Moumen Smihi. Released 1985.
Genevieve de Brabant (20')
An orchestration for seven instruments (L’Histoire du Soldat ensemble) of Erik Satie's puppet opera-'86. Performed with the Penny Jones Puppet Company at Bargemusic, NYC, Summer '86.
Eggs (4’)
(Animated short) 16mm, 1977 Animation by Ruth Hayes.
Vocal Works
CHORAL MUSIC
Newport Cantata (2024) (12’)
A setting of the correspondence between George Washington and the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, for SATB choir and soloists with piano accompaniment.
Follow the Leader (2023) (5’)
An SATB a cappella fugue about fugues.
Twelve Rounds (20')
Canonic settings of poems by A.R. Ammons, William Blake, Robert Frost, Rabbi Hillel, Samuel Menashe, Charles Simic, Wallace Stevens and Ben Yarmolinsky for SATB chorus, with piano accompaniment.
Kaddish (2002) (6’)
A setting of the mourner’s Kaddish prayer for baritone or mezzo soloist, chorus, strings and harp.
The Star-Spangled Banner (3’)
An arrangement of the national anthem for SATB chorus, with or without piano accompaniment.
Psalms for Jerusalem (1998, rev. 2023) (25')
Eight psalm settings for SATB chorus and soloists with flute, oboe, harp, organ, cello and percussion. Revised in 2023.
SONGS
From Ashbery to Zukofsky (In progress)
Settings of poems for solo voice accompanied by piano or guitar (listed alphabetically by poet):
John Ashbery - No Longer Very Clear
Charles Bernstein - Don’t Get Me Wrong, Wherever Angels Go, O Heart of Mine, Shenandoah, Endless Destination, Love is Like Love, All the Whiskey in Heaven, Fare Thee Well (also see operas)
Wendell Berry - (see Berry Songs)
William Blake - (see Songs of Experience)
Paul Bowles - (see Bowles Songs)
Basil Bunting - Briggflats Coda
Lewis Carroll - (see Alice)
Billy Collins - Endangered, Forgetfulness, Litany, Vade Mecum
ee cummings - in just-spring
Babette Deutsch - Damnation, Hope, “The Laurels Are All Cut,” To Napoleon, in an Evil Time (also see Animal Songs)
Emily Dickinson - Evening Comes
Ray DiPalma - (see DiPalma Songs)
Federico García Lorca - (see Cante Jondo)
Paul Goodman - Rain in Spring (see American Songs)
Edward Gorey - The Doubtful Guest, The Sinking Spell
Donald Hall - The Impossible Marriage (see Marriage Cantata)
Oliver Herford - The Swan
Edward Lear - The Jumblies, The Owl & the Pussycat
Federico Garcia Lorca - (See Cante Jondo)
Brad Leithauser - Hundreds of Fireflies
Judith Malina - Song
Samuel Menashe - (See Menashe Songs)
Ogden Nash - I Do, I Will, I Have (see A Marriage Cantata)
Leonard Nathan - A Reading of History (also see Nathan Songs)
William Pillin - She Set Him Free
Theodore Roethke - The Sloth
Muriel Rukeyser - Myth (see Marriage Cantata)
James Schuyler - Salute
William Shakespeare - (see Shakespeare Songs, A Marriage Cantata) Sonnet 130
James Sherry - She’ll Be Comin’ Round
Wallace Stevens - (see Stevens Songs)
Dylan Thomas - In My Craft
Walt Whitman - To You (see American Songs)
William Carlos Williams - Marriage (see Marriage Cantata)
Elinor Wylie - Little Elegy (see American Songs)
Ben Yarmolinsky - Occasional Songs (see In Lieu of Flowers) and many others
William Butler Yeats - (see Cast a Cold Eye)
Louis Zukofsky - Song of Degrees
Song Cycles, Groups and Collections
American Songs (10’)
Songs on poems by Babette Deutsch, Judith Malina, Walt Whitman, ee cummings and Paul Goodman.
Animal Songs (10')
Song cycle on six poems by Babette Deutsch, for medium voice and seven instruments: clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, violin, bass and percussion. Also available in piano version.
Berry Songs (10’)
Four songs on poems by Wendell Berry.
Bowles Songs (15')
Song cycle on seven poems by Paul Bowles for medium voice and piano.
Cante Jondo (12')
Nine songs on poems by Federico García Lorca, for mezzo, guitar and hand percussion.
Cast a Cold Eye (12’)
Six poems by William Butler Yeats set for medium voice and guitar or piano.
Di Palma Songs (10’)
Six songs by Ray di Palma for medium voice and guitar.
Frost Songs (12’)
Song cycle on six poems by Robert Frost for medium voice and guitar (or piano). Recorded on CD “Late Valentines.”
In Lieu of Flowers (80’)
An album of 32 occasional songs, written, sung and played by the composer.
Menashe Songs (50’)
Song cycle on poems by Samuel Menashe for voice and piano or guitar. Recorded for chamber ensemble under the title “Paradise.”
Nathan Songs (12')
Song cycle on five poems by Leonard Nathan, for medium voice, string quartet and clarinet- '86, (revised '88). Arranged for piano and premiered by mezzo-soprano Mary Ann Hart in 2001.
Shakespeare Songs (10’)
Five songs from Shakespeare plays set for voice & guitar with flute obligato.
Songs of Experience (12’)
Seven songs on poems by William Blake set for medium voice and piano.
Schubert Songs (15’)
Song cycle on six poems by David Schubert.
Stevens Songs (30’)
Song cycle on twelve poems by Wallace Stevens.
Orchestral Music
Concerto for guitar & orchestra (22’)
Concerto in three movements for classical guitar and chamber orchestra.
Blues for a Dead Princess (7’)
Movement for orchestra. Commissioned by the American Composers Forum for Saint Ann’s School Orchestra. Revised in the summer of 2001.
Clockwork for Orchestra (7’)
A symphonic overture (unperformed).
Chamber Music
Songs and Dances for Flute and Guitar (2024) (60’)
Arrangements and original compositions for flute and guitar. To be recorded in 2024.
Pentagrams (18’)
Trio for flute, clarinet and piano. Commissioned by the Palisades Virtuosi.
New York Minutes (6’)
Duo for guitar and piano, later arranged for the Zigzag Quartet with added bass and percussion.
Twinkle Variations (8’)
Twelve variations on “Twinkle, twinkle” for violin, cello and piano.
French Suite (24’)
Suite in the Baroque style for cello and harpsichord or piano. Commissioned by the Simpson-Spieth Duo.
The Power of One (13’)
Suite in five movements for unaccompanied cello.
Klezmer Wedding Music (10’)
Five movements for clarinet, trumpet, trombone, piano and bass. Premiered by the Klezmer Conservatory Band. Commissioned for the wedding of Michelle Menken and Joshua Crain, March 10th, ’01.
Suite for Tangier (20’)
Thirteen short movements for oboe, violin, cello and guitar. Commissioned by the American School of Tangier for its 50th anniversary.
Ballpark Variations (10’)
A set of variations for clarinet, cello and piano, with optional narration.
Suite for Flute & Guitar (12')
Five movements for flute and guitar.
Piano Quartet (15')
A four-movement work for violin, viola, 'cello and piano. Commissioned by Saint Ann's school with a grant from Meet the Composer's New Music for Schools.
Brotherhoods (12')
Three dance movements based on Moroccan Sufi trance music for two oboes, percussion quartet and cello. Commissioned by the Talujon Percussion Quartet.
Dark Eyes Variations (10')
Variations on the eponymous Russian melody for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, 'cello, and piano.
Violin Sonata (15')
Three movements for violin and piano.
Funfair (5')
For brass quartet- '80, (revised '86). First performed at Bargemusic, New York City, August 1980.
Vocalise (5')
For solo clarinet. Premiered at Harvard Group for New Music concert, Fall '78.
Guitar Music
American Sky (50’)
Arrangements of 13 American folk and popular songs.
The Yarmolinsky Variations (45’)
Variations on American popular songs and on works by Sor and Yarmolinsky
Playing with the Big Boys (50’)
Reconceptions of compositions by Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Ellington and others.
Album for the Young (and Not-So-Young) (50’)
Arrangements and reconceptions of pieces from Schumann’s “Album für die Jugend, Bartok’s For Children, and Stravinsky’s “Pour les Cinq Doigts,” including “Farewell Variations”on an original theme.
Two Duets for Two Guitars (10’)
Judentanz, Variations on Jamaica Farewell
Guitar Sonata (22’)
Sonata in four movements.
We Shall Overcome (10’)
Variations for solo guitar on the eponymous spiritual.
The Star-Spangled Banner (4’)
An arrangement of the national anthem for solo guitar. Revised 2023.
Suite (12’)
Five movements for solo guitar.
Wedding Variations (5')
Variations on “Going to the Chapel.”
Mobiles (6')
For solo guitar- '79, (revised '89).
Piano & Organ Music
Hannah’s Suite: A Musical Menagerie (10’)
A set of eight pedagogical piano pieces.
Chaconne (13')
For piano solo. Revised in 2023, to be recorded by Marija Ilic.
Sonic Icons (10')
Musical portraits for solo piano: Chopin in Majorca, Monk, B.A.C.H., Chico. Igor in Paris added in 2023.
Five Easier Pieces (10')
(Four of the five movements published by G. Schirmer, Inc. as Four Pieces for PIano, Fall '92).
Broadway Suite (12')
Song Without Words, Blues, Rag, Polka, The Boogie Man.
Passacaglia and Fugue (5')
For two manual organ with pedals. (Also available for piano)
Nine Pieces (20')
For piano 4-hands. Commissioned by Anne & Sig Abeles.
All of the above music is published by Ben Yar Productions, unless otherwise noted.