James Scott Balentine

Biography

Composer by character and performer by temperament, James Scott Balentine (Jim to those who know him) is as complex as his music; that is, moderately enigmatic yet engaging. Jim’s compositions are fun and interesting to play, intriguing to the listener, and crafted in a personal language influenced by ethnic dance, jazz and folk idioms, tonal as well as atonal and serial techniques.

His catalog includes music written for soloists and ensembles from many parts of the United States, Belgium, France, and the UK, all incorporating the personality, technique, and musical character of the performers in some way. Jim’s fondness for wordplay and poetry finds its way into many of his works as phonetic motifs, alliterative program notes, a poetic prologue, or formal musical structures designed around names, prosody, and other linguistic elements that infuse his music with a sense of theater, from dramatic to playful. He is the recipient of awards, commissions and grants from the Barlow Endowment, the American Music Center, the Krost Foundation, the Artist Foundation of San Antonio, Cactus Pear Music Festival, ASCAP, the Opera Guild of San Antonio, the College Band Director's National Association, Musical Offerings, King William Winds, Hemisphere Quartet, Trio Con Brio, Duo Con Fuoco, KUT-FM radio, Claribel Clarinet Choir, soloists Robert Walzel (clarinet), Matthew Dunne (guitar), Ron Wilkins (trombone), Richard Smith (piano), and Roger Steptoe (piano). His music is published by Cimarron Music, Hal Leonard (Southern Music), and Guildhian Music.

 

ACE Publications

29 title(s)
Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
James Scott Balentine Asking a Shadow to Dance (for Quartet) Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano
James Scott Balentine Asking a Shadow to Dance (for Trio) Clarinet, Viola, and Piano
James Scott Balentine Bill's Shadow Solo Flugelhorn, Jazz Combo, and String Quartet
Flugelhorn, Clarinet, Piano, Double Bass, Drum Kit, 2 Violins, Viola, and Cello
James Scott Balentine Charlie Effect Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, and Piano
James Scott Balentine Dùn Èideann Blogh Solo Clarinet, Solo Bassoon, and Chamber Orchestra
1111 - 1110 - 2 perc, pno - solo cl, solo bsn - strings
James Scott Balentine Five Spirituals Baritone and Cello
James Scott Balentine Fragments of Time and Place SSATBB Chorus
James Scott Balentine Ghost of Eric Dolphy Clarinet Sextet
Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinets, Bass Clarinet
James Scott Balentine Il y a des Fleurs Soprano, Flugelhorn, Clarinet, Jazz Combo, and String Quartet
Soprano, Flugelhorn, Clarinet, Guitar, Bass, Piano, Percussion (Drum Set & Bongos), 2 Violins, Viola, Cello
James Scott Balentine Les Quatre Coins Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Piano
James Scott Balentine Liberty Bar Percussion Duo
James Scott Balentine March, Strathspey, and Reel Clarinet and Piano
James Scott Balentine Monk, through a glass darkly Clarinet Sextet
Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinets, Bass Clarinet
James Scott Balentine Nine Wild, Exotic Dances Clarinet and Piano
James Scott Balentine Piano Sonata No. 1 - "Smith" Solo Piano
James Scott Balentine Piano Sonata No. 2 - "Steptoe" Solo Piano
James Scott Balentine Present Children's Chorus (SA), Mixed Chorus (Adults SATB), Piano
James Scott Balentine Red Poppy & the Yellow Rose Wind Ensemble
picc, 2 fl, 2 ob, Eb cl, 3 Bb cl, bcl, 2 asax, tsax, bar sax, 2 bsn, 4 Bb tpt, 4 hrn, 2 tbn, btbn, euph, tba, 3 perc
James Scott Balentine ...said the Storyteller to the Devil... Violin
James Scott Balentine Serenata Flute, English Horn, and Guitar
James Scott Balentine Strange Loops Clarinet and Bassoon
James Scott Balentine Tempest Songs Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Cello, and Piano
James Scott Balentine the river remembers Brass Quintet
James Scott Balentine Three Billy Goats Gruff Narrator, Double Bass, and String Quartet
James Scott Balentine Three Spirituals Clarinet Sextet
Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinets, Bass Clarinet

Additional Works