My first composition was an operetta for four voices and guitar: My mother, my father, my brother and I. It was for marionettes which I had made, and we performed it in our basement for my schoolmates. It was 1964 and I had yet to hear or see a real operetta. My junior-high music teacher gave me private lessons in music studies. She was a gospel organist. I continued writing short choral pieces and duets for harmonica and guitar. My father spent 1/2 hour every night after dinner playing these duets with me. Then I studied every book on orchestration I could get my hands on. My high school library had a score and recording of The Flying Dutchman and Mathis der Mahler. I listened to them over and over. In college, I was introduced to Wozzek and a another general music teacher took an interest. He wanted me to study the ragas of classical Indian music. He was the principal oboist for the New York Philharmonic. I changed my major from theater to comparative languages and finally to biology. I studied the complete Carcassi method for classical guitar. In grad school, studying botany, I became known for my ability to copy music and was employed by marching bands during football season for their half-time shows.

I never completed my botanical studies and joined Local 802 as a music copyist and made my living as such for half-a-dozen years. The Salvation Army played from my scores on street corners. A large scale symphony which had taken several months to prepare was performed at the United Nations. My own composition for symphonic band—Canti Svizzeri—received a perfomance in Switzerland which was broadcast live over public radio. I had my fifteen minutes. I still write little pieces for this–and–that just because it amuses me. Why not?

On this page I present about 1/3 of all the pieces written to date. Most of the pieces composed since 2000 do not have opus numbers.

We have over 400 videos: here are some featuring John reading his poetry

• Books by John and René
• The Graveyard Memorial Project
• Show People (a silent film project)
• 300 Days in Switzerland (our newest collaboration)
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439: Sonata Melodica mvt. III (clarinet and bassoon, 1968)

438: Sonata Melodica mvt. II (clarinet and bassoon, 1968)

437: Sonata Melodica mvt. I (clarinet and bassoon, 1968)

433: s'Langwieser Lied (harpsichord, 2018)

432: The Forest of No Return (for six percussion players, 2018)

431: Noon Flame (Op.90 for five piano players with artwork by Paul Gaugin)

418: Soap Songs (Op.106 for three piano players)

417: Sonatina Op.19 "To Pastures New" (percussion ensemble, 1977)

400: Stairway to Forever (harp, 1973)

399: Nothing Lost (op.96 for piano, 1996)

397: Opus 69 "Partita" for piano (On a woodcut by Urs Graf)

396: Salome (op.28 for two harps, after Vivaldi)

395: ERNI Lithograph a/p (op.77 for harpsichord, guitar & harp) Part 3 of 3.

394: ERNI Lithograph 112/190 (op.77 for harpsichord, guitar & harp) Part 2 of 3.

393: ERNI Lithograph 32/95 (op.77 for harpsichord, guitar & harp) Part 1 of 3.

392: Tricky Girls! (op.42 for piano and animation, 1985)

391: Narcissus (mixed ensemble, 2018)

345: The Nose Of a Beast (flute and piano)

338: Village Dances, Spreitenbach (op.14 for piano)

331: Secret Snow (paintings by Albrecht Dürer) (for two pianos)

329: Snow Day with John Singer Sargent's "in Switzerland" (op.94 for harp)

328: Fantasia on Saint Nicholas in Four Parts and Epilogue (op.76)

326: Four Noels on paintings by Segantini (for flute and harp)

323: Fancy That! (op.10 for piano and bass written in 1972)

309: Canti Svizzeri (op.88 for symphonic band, 1990 premiere performance broadcast on Swiss Public Radio)

279: A Brief Affair (Toccata No.5) (piano solo)

278: Toccata for Glenn Gould (piano solo)

276: Dea r Aunt Lau ra (piano solo)

274: Toccata No.2 (piano solo)

262: Masquerade with Napoleon at the Pinacoteca di Brera

259: A Christmas Song for my brother Roy

258: Cat Dreams (dedicated to sleeping cats everywhere)

257: Rest, Rest (a Christmas song for my mother)

256: I can't be Santa Claus anymore

254: Uncle John's Bells (percussion)

190: Nostalgic Dance No.4 (on location at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh)

178: Scherzo at Liliuokalani Gardens (on location in Hilo, Hawaii)

176: The Cold Spell (harmonium)

172: Hot in Hilo (Hawaiian mele and hula, Op.72 percussion ensemble 1993)

171: The Howling Ages / Jack London (op.58 for harpsichord)

167: Boogie Doggie (Walking the Mop Hounds in Hauppauge) (piano)

165: Observations on Nathan Hale (op.50 for piano solo)

158: the faculty of walking (op.23 for flute and bassoon)

125: pitted like a honeycomb (op.23 for flute and bassoon)

113: as a ship with sails and ropes (op.23 flute and bassoon)

99: kind of earth boring drill (op.23 flute and bassoon)

88: Fantasia on Max & Moritz (symphonic band transcribed for organ)

48: united with glue (op.23 flute and bassoon)

47: tsuga mertensiana (op.23 flute and bassoon)

46: Chamber Concert (flute and harp)

45: Magnificat (op.65 for piano, 1992)

44: Hot Under the Collar (piano)

43: Walking the Kilauea Iki Crater (Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii)

40: A View of the Enemy (op.91 for marimba ensemble)

39: Konane (Stones) (three guitars)

38: Puerto Rico Suite (two pianos)

37: Solitude (op.20, flute and harp, 1977)

36: Looking at Hawai'i (two pianos)

35: Looking at Big Island (piano solo)

34: Clouds: Toccata for Piano (op.47 for piano)

33: Hurly-Burly Life (accordion)

32: Braving the Wild Surf of Puerto Rico's north shore (mixed ensemble)

31: A Romp through Old San Juan in Puerto Rico (mixed ensemble)

30: Lament Music for Good Friday (op.37 for organ)

29: Exploring the Forts of Old San Juan (mixed ensemble)

28: A Lark at El Yunque (mixed ensemble)

27: It Takes Two (playing with stones on location at Lapakahi, Big Island)

26: Learning to Surf (on locationat Playa Isla Verde in Puerto Rico)

22: Scherzo on the Rocks (on location at Daubensee, Switzerland)

21: Scherzo on a Stump (on location in Geneva, Switzerlandc)

20: Scherzo on a Swiss Alp

8: The Eccentric Dance of Drumming in a Maui Bamboo Grove (on location in Hawaii)

7: The Eccentric Dance at the Montauk Point Lighthouse (on location on Long Island)

6: The Eccentric Dance of The Walking Dunes (on location on Long Island)

5: The Eccentric Dance of The Boboli Threesome (on location in Florence, Italy)

4: The Eccentric Dance at Shoshone Point (on location at the Grand Canyon)

3: Grand Canyon Orchestral Interlude