Bio 

David Sosnowski is an American composer and pianist, born in Connecticut in 1952.

Official Website: www.DavidSosnowski.com

David Sosnowski's Music:

Primarily an orchestral composer, Sosnowski's works are characterized by strongly delineated stylistic treatments with innovative use of orchestration and color, and an emphasis on texture and clarity of expression. A key element of style is the integration of the piano in many of the works in a manner which blends its role across the boundaries of orchestal instrument and soloist. Intricate, lyrical woodwind passages, heroic brass treatments, and opulent string and ensemble writing are also hallmarks.

Though harmonically and rhythmically modern in sound, Sosnowski's orchestral compositions nonetheless evoke strong ties to neo-Romanticism and the broader heritage of classical music. Later works also frequently incorporate a strong Jazz influence, with characteristically fluid and expressive virtuosic trumpet and piano elements.

Technically, beneath often shimmering exteriors, the works are tightly integrated, concentrated examples of form and structure, usually based entirely on short thematic elements from the introductory measures; yet they remain consistently evocative, expressive and melodic. The use of color, texture, and ensemble as components of structure and form also emerge in later pieces, further distinguishing the emphasis on unity, flow and cohesion in composition.

Major works by Sosnowski include Symphony No 4.: Quantum Rapture, comprising three movements: I. The Realization of Light, II. The Emergence of Time, and III. The Discourse of Stars. The work was written across three years (2006–2008) and draws on modern conceptions in quantum physics for its philosophical basis. Individual movements may also be performed separately, as each is self-contained.

Beyond the Event Horizon: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2008) likewise finds its foundations in modern physics, exploring mankind's relationship to the cosmos in the context of an analogy to unfolding discovery. Influences of composers in the traditions of Alban Berg, Krzysztof Penderecki and Witold Lutoslawski are readily evident in this work.

Other works by Sosnowski for symphony orchestra include A Woman of Windswept Years, Quarks, Ascension, Discomposure While At Prayer, A Delectation of Woolgathering, Ruminations on Providence, The Departure of Rosa Parks (dedicated in memory of civil rights activist Rosa Parks), Damaged Beauty (adagio for violin and strings), Entanglement, Lucifer and Gandhi (for piano and symphony orchestra), Devil's Sea, Spheres, Persistence of Vision, The Dance, and Revelation.

Sosnowski is also well known for contributions to modern piano literature, most notably Piano Sonata #7 (subtitled "And Light Upon Them"), an extended philosophical work with five movements. Occasional pieces like the concisely witty Three Gaseous Preludes for Piano and the innovative woodwind quintet, Ingredients in a Sauce, also underscore the composer's lighter side.

More recent experimental work with smaller ensembles explores the realms of algorithmic composition, minimalist music and stochasticism, in extension and elaboration of concepts of John Cage, Morton Subotnick, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Philip Glass and others.

Sosnowski's Kuiper's Trousers: Stochastic Fantasia No. 1 (piano, vibraphone, strings, bells and mixed natural and electronic percussion) combines all three traditions into what the composer describes as "algorithmic stochastic minimalism". Sublime Delta: Stochastic Fantasia No. 2 (piano, vibraphone, bells and mixed percussion) adds elements designed to resonate with human brain states (delta wave rhythms), extending the scope of composition by the inclusion of subliminal influences. Rotations: Stochastic Fantasia No. 3 completes the series, refining the concepts of the earlier two pieces.

Sosnowski studied with Terrence Greenawalt, David Barnett, Gundaris Poné, Harry Dart, Earl Sauerwein, Irene Schneidmann and Howard Rovics, amongst other notables; primarily at the University of Bridgeport, where he received a degree in music composition in 1975.

Sosnowski's published works include Beyond the Event Horizon, A Woman of Windswept Years, The Discourse of Stars, The Emergence of Time, The Realization of Light, Catherine In Winter, Ruminations on Providence, And Light Upon Them (Piano Sonata #7), South Mountain, Ascension, Ingredients in a Sauce , Three Gaseous Preludes for Piano, Quarks, Discomposure While At Prayer, The Departure of Rosa Parks, Lucifer and Gandhi, Weather Coming In, A Delectation Of Woolgathering, Damaged Beauty, Entanglement, Devil's Sea, Spheres, Persistence of Vision, Revelation, incidental meditation soundscapes, improvisations, various piano pieces and others.

A discography of Sosnowski's work includes recordings of Symphony No. 4: Quantum Rapture (2008) and Beyond the Event Horizon: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2008).

Additional Background:

Sosnowski lives in Connecticut, and is the founder, CEO and Chief Programmer of CodeBrain InterNET Group and OEC Corp.  Founded in 1976 as a consultancy in the then nascent information technology industry, OEC Corp. pioneered the use of computer-based mainframe and mini computer technologies in many industrial and scientific research and development, test and measurement, and manufacturing applications.  When the first personal computers arrived, OEC Corp. was likewise an early adopter for similar applications.  Later, in the 1990's, OEC Corp became one of the first internet-centric software development companies and the operator of a number of the oldest and most respected technical resource websites on the internet (CodeBrain.com, and numerous others).  Under the CodeBrain aegis, OEC Corp. also became one of the premier early innovators of fundamental JAVA and other web applications, many of which remain in service today.

Additionally, Sosnowski privately operates a software consultancy advising industry soundware makers on technical, development and marketing issues, as well as serving as musical editor and writer regarding technical and historical content. OEC Corp. and Sosnowski also developed the Sosnowski Synthesizer, a software music synthesizer in the tradition of the electronic hardware instruments of Robert Moog.

Sosnowski serves as mentor and teacher to numerous new voices in music composition; and has occasionally contributed science fiction short stories (notably to Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine). His favorite fruit is cherries.


Updated: 07.13.2012