* Audio Samples Now Available! (those with asterisk)

Musical Masque (for the Seasons) *

Music for Winds, Piano, and Percussion *

Sonata for Trumpet and Organ *

American Journey *

String Quartet No. 1 *

Concerto for Tuba and Percussion *

Lament for Two Trombones

Primitive Modern *

Lost Dreams and Rainy Days

Three Sketches for Orchestra

Christmas Medley for Brass Septet *

Amazing Grace

Freedom's Hope *

The Long Dream

Intrada

They're Playing our Song

Musical Masque (for the Seasons)

Musical Masque (for the Seasons) is a musical work set to the text of a James Whitcomb Riley poem entitled "Masque of the Seasons."  The piece is meant to reflect the imagery of the Whitcomb Riley poem.  It can be performed with text read from the poem read between movements.  It was commissioned and first performed by the Peaceful Valley Chamber Players in 2007.  The piece is scored for string quartet, trombone, and percussion.

Program Notes

Text for the Poem

The following player has synthesized excerpts of Musical Masque (for the Seasons) from the opening and the season Fall.

Music for Winds, Piano, and Percussion

Music for Winds, Piano, and Percussion was commissioned by and dedicated to the Indianapolis Chamber Winds, Darin Sorley, Music Director, and the Indianapolis Symphonic Band, Inc., Bob Phillips, Founder.  It is scored for flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, trumpet, piano, and percussion.  This three-movement work is fourteen minutes long, and each movement has its own separate identity.  It was first performed on October 19, 2006.

Program Notes

The following player has one sample from each movement.  The music is synthesized.

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Sonata for Trumpet and Organ

Daniel Golando, 2nd Trumpet with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra,  commissioned Sonata for Trumpet and Organ in 2004 for the natural trumpet in D.  This work was completed in August of 2005 and was first performed on June 24, 2007 at the Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis.  The work was also featured on a concert on February 17, 2008 entitled Pipedreams Live!  This work was strictly written to be playable on the natural trumpet, but works equally well on a modern day trumpet.

Program Notes

The following excerpts of Dan Golando and Heather Hinton are from the first two movements of Sonata for Trumpet and Organ and are used with their permission.  They were taped during a church service, so unfortunately, there is a lot of background noise.  The third movement had so much background noise, we chose not to present it here.  We hope to have some better samples to present in the future.

American Journey

This piece was commissioned by the Greensburg Junior High School 8th Grade Band of 2006 by its director, Nick Parcell, a former student of Mr. Beckel's at DePauw University.  It is approximately 4:48 minutes in length.

The following synthesized excerpt is from the end of the piece.

String Quartet No. 1

This string quartet was commissioned by the New Century Quartet in 2005 and its first performance occurred at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center at the University of Indianapolis campus on April 4, 2005.

About the Work, Word Version, Acrobat PDF

The following samples, one from each movement, were recorded at the above concert and are used with permission.

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Concerto for Tuba and Percussion

This work was commissioned by and dedicated to The Percussion Plus Project ensemble in residence at DePauw University, Dr. Amy Lynn Barber, founder and director.  The premier was February 18, 2003 at DePauw University, and featured Velvet Brown as tuba soloist.  

The concerto is a 15-minute work in 3 movements and is written for 3 percussion and tuba.

The following tracks were recorded by Velvet Brown.  The CD (CD694) is copyright 2007 Crystal Records, Inc. and is used by permission.  Unauthorized duplication is illegal.

Lament for Two Trombones

This work for two trombones and piano is dedicated to the victims of the September 11, 2001 tragedy in New York and Washington, D.C. 

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Primitive Modern

"Primitive Modern" was commissioned by Kent Leslie, the Indiana Arts Commission, and the International Horn Society.  This work is for French Horn solo and recorded CD, which includes electronic and percussion sounds.  The work has an optional percussion part to allow the piece to be performed with live percussion.  Two different CD's accompany this publication, allowing the performer to work with or without live percussion.  It is nine minutes in length.

About the Work, Word Version, Acrobat PDF

The following tracks were recorded by Hard Cor Music, Inc. copyright 2007, and are used by permission.  Kent Leslie is the artist and the CD is entitled "With every leaf a miracle."

Lost Dreams and Rainy Days

This ballad for full orchestra is a reflective piece that uses a "rain tape" as sound effect through parts of the piece.  It is actually the middle movement of "Three Sketches for Orchestra", but stands very well on its own.  It has been performed by the Columbus, IN orchestra under the direction of Arkady Orlovsky, by the Victoria Symphony conducted by Darryl One, and the Tacoma Symphony.

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Three Sketches for Orchestra

This is one of Jim's earliest works and is in three movements as follows:

Duration – Approximately 14 minutes

The orchestration is for full winds and strings, 3 percussion, tympani, harp, jazz piano, electric bass, and drum set. 

The piece has some jazzy sections in it and requires jazz solo trombone work.

This work was performed by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Omaha Symphony.

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Christmas Medley for Brass Septet

This work is an arrangement of Carols such as "We Three Kings" and "The First Noel" for 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 horn, and 1 tuba.

It has been performed by brass players from the Indianapolis Symphony, the Oklahoma Symphony, Julliard, Indiana University, and has been recorded by players from the Indianapolis Chamber Brass.

The following excerpts are from a CD released in 1994 by the Chamber Brass Choir under the direction of Thomas Akins, entitled Christmas Joy. They are used with permission.

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace is a very versatile piece that can be played with full orchestra alone, with choir or solo voice or both, or can be used as a sing-along.  The composer is not aware of all the performances, but it has been played by the Indianapolis Symphony and by the Boston Symphony for a tour to Japan.

Inquiries about performance of this work should be directed to Jim Beckel.

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Freedom's Hope

This piece is for brass quintet and was commissioned by the Keynote Brass, who recorded the work on their CD entitled "Reflections", released in 1996.  A copy of the CD, filled with Indiana-based compositions and arrangements for brass, is available by contacting the Keynote Brass using the highlighted link.

It is a lively, uplifting, and fun piece to play and would be a great addition to any brass chamber concert.

The following player has two samples from the above mentioned CD and is used with permission.