All music published by Allos Documents/ASCAP unless otherwise noted. Please visit individual Ensembles, Solo, and Recordings pages for additional recording samples of original works.

Music for THE RENGA ENSEMBLE
Formed in 2013, The Renga Ensemble is one of James Falzone's signature ensembles. A sextet for clarinets and saxophones, the group features Falzone's compositions, blending notated and improvised elements, as featured on the highly regarded 2015 release, The Room Is.

“James Falzone’s “The Room Is” functions on many levels, but unity and diversity govern them all in near perfect balance, in both sonic and aesthetic terms. Here, as with Duke Ellington or Bill Dixon’s pioneering works, we have the perfect symbiosis of musical and poetic impulses in compositions that encapsulate multiple eras while carving out a space for themselves outside of any one epoch. This is Falzone’s boldest statement to date.”

— Marc Medwin, Dusted

Samples from The Room Is (Allos Documents 010) by James Falzone's Renga Ensemble. Release date: February 24, 2015. Learn more at www.allosmusica.org

James Falzone: Bb and Eb clarinets Ken Vandermark: Bb clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone Keefe Jackson: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, contra Bb bass clarinet Jason Stein: bass clarinet Dave Rempis: Bb clarinet, contra Eb alto clarinet Ned Rothenberg: Bb clarinet, alto saxophone

“This CD is the most pleasure you can get legally in 2015. It’s wonderful music from one of our most ingenious composers: James Falzone’s settings for a clarinet sextet, restless music full of creative energy. ”

— John Litweiler, Point of Departure

BUTTERFLY OR FALLING LEAF, 2014, for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano
Commissioned by the MOMENTA Dance Company and set to choreography of Sarah Cullen Fuller. Restaged in 2015 at Loyola University of Chicago.

Commissioned by MOMENTA Dance Company in fall 2013 with choreogrpahy by Sarah Fuller. James Falzone: composer & clarinet Ellen McSweeney: violin Elizabeth Weamer: cello Thomas Holmes: piano Recorded by Mikhail Fiksel at Loyola University Chicago on November 8, 2014. Inspired by THE DANCER by Philip Larkin, 1943 Butterfly Or falling leaf, Which ought I to imitate In my dancing? And if she were to admit The world weaved by her feet Is leafless, is incomplete? And if she abandoned it, Broke the pivoted dance, Set loose the audience? Then would the moon go raving, The moon, the anchorless Moon go swerving Down at the earth for a catastrophic kiss.

Choreography: Sarah Cullen Fuller Music: "Butterfly" or "Falling Leaf," James Falzone 2013 (ASCAP) Sound Engineer: Mikhail Fiksel Lighting and Set Design: Lee Keenan Scenic Painter: Meghan Erxleben Costume Design: Alex Meadows Rehearsal Assistant: Emily Paul Original score and choreography commissioned by MOMENTA Dance Company and premiered in 2013.

James Falzone's In a World of One Color . . . the Sound of Wind for large ensemble Recorded live at Constellation, Chicago 31 August 2014 James Falzone: conductor Ellen McSweeney: violin Jen Clare Paulson: viola Sara Sitzer: cello Amanda Bailey: violin Lilianna Wosko: cello Jeff Greene: bass Aimee Biasiello: viola Zach Moore: bass Shot by Ryan Nanni, edited by James Falzone.

IN A WORLD OF ONE COLOR . . . THE SOUND OF WIND, 2014, for large ensemble
Commissioned by The Chicago Composers Orchestra and premiered in the Garfield Park Conservatory in January, 2014. Subsequently performed in Boston, Seattle, and Berlin.

I LOVE BEAUTY TRUTH WISDOM
for solo piano, 2007
Written as a "miniature" and featuring just 100 notes, this short work was premiered at the 2007 Chicago Miniaturist Ensemble inaugural concert. This recording, Michael Monroe, Gordon College, March 2014.

Click on image for a sample of this score.

SEMA
for 2 clarinets, 2006
This duet explores Middle Eastern modes and timbre. James Falzone and Brad Brickner, clarinets.

Sample: Click image to view PDF of first 6 pages of this piece.

Instrumental/Chamber