The Threshold by David Thomas Roberts was composed in the winter of 2011 and is dedicated to the composer's stepdaughter, Jessie Badrous.
Rhame (2010-2011) from the suite MAP DREAMS, by David Thomas Roberts. Of this piece, the composer writes, 'Rhame' is named for the town in southwestern North Dakota. Like many Great Plains villages, it embodies the great dreaminess and limitless inwardness I associate with that vast region. These qualities are given a particularly brooding and dramatic twist in the piece, 'Rhame'. Sheet music available.
Returning (2010) from the suite MAP DREAMS, by David Thomas Roberts. Videotaped at a concert in Walnut Creek, CA on May 7, 2011.
Intermezzo No. 1 by David Thomas Roberts (2009-2010). Videotaped at a concert in Walnut Creek, CA on May 7, 2011.
Early Memory by David Thomas Roberts (2011). This is the world premier of this work, which the composer has described as 'dark, prickly, probing and forthrightly unsettling.' The performance took place at Grace Presbyterian Church in Walnut Creek, California on March 18, 2011.
Roberto Clemente (1979). Of David Thomas Roberts' best-known piece, the composer wrote the following for his recording from American Landscapes 'Roberto Clemente, the legendary right fielder of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico in 1934 and died on New Year's Eve, 1972 off the coast of his native island in a plane that never reached the Nicaraguan earthquake victims to whom it was carrying supplies. Although familiar with Clemente during his career, I was no more mindful of him than of some other outstanding ballplayers. It was the film about him shown during the 1979 World Series that transformed my image of Clemente into a myth to be recalled with affection. Incisively moved by this poetic series of glimpses of his career and the circumstances of his death, I had decided by the end of the film that there must be a ragtime composition for Clemente, a piece evocative of the man as I had viewed him via the documentary. I have referred to Roberto Clemente as a 'folk elegy' and a 'country funeral'. Marked 'warmly and solemnly,' it is a rag forthrightly typifying the plaintiveness -- the gentle anguish, even -- that I have always associated with the lyrical medium of ragtime. Sheet music available.
The following videos feature David Thomas Roberts performing original compositions from the CD Discovery (2005), along with various selections of his original mixed media artwork.
Discovery (2004), the title cut from Discovery (2005), by David Thomas Roberts. Commissioned by Ann Edwards in tribute to the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery. Sheet music available.
Chorale No. 2 (1989) from Discovery (2005) by David Thomas Roberts.
Chorale-Prelude (1989) from Discovery (2005) by David Thomas Roberts.
The following videos are from David Thomas Roberts' performance at Nippori Sunny Hall in Tokyo, November 2, 2006 during a concert tour of Japan.
Toulouse Street from the suite "New Orleans Streets" (1981-85), by David Thomas Roberts. New Orleans Streets was released on the Solo Art label in 1992.
Through the Bottomlands (1980), by David Thomas Roberts. Of Roberts' four commercial recordings of "Through the Bottomlands", the one from
American Landscapes (Viridiana, 1995) is most recent. The piece is published in the folio
Ragtime Compositions Vol.1.
Maria Antonieta Pons. Though not a ragtime work, "Maria Antonieta Pons" was included on the CD
15 Ragtime Compositions (Pianomania, 1993). The piece is published in the folio
Ragtime Compositions Vol. 2.
