Dennis J. McShane, M.D.
Harmonious Classical Music for the 21st Century
Welcome to my website highlighting my classical music compositions. As the tag line of my website states: “Harmonious Classical Music for the 21st Century," I have chosen to focus my compositional efforts on the forms and structures of traditional classical styles of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Neo-Romantic eras from Bach through Rachmaninoff. All my compositions are based on diatonic and chromatic scale tonal melodies with underlying harmonic progressions and use of contrapuntal techniques as appropriate to the work at hand.
Just like youth and fine wine, progress and maturity in the realm of musical thought evolves from a suitable aging process through persistence, perspective and interchange with others. While I began formal compositional studies in 2010, the input and encouragement of my teachers and mentors: Richard Altenbach, Jerry Grant, and Marc Evanstein have guided my growth as a neophyte composer. I am grateful for their time, patience and persistence at honing and polishing my compositional skills.
My favorite composers include Johann Sebastian Bach (the godfather of all composers that came after him for his influence on their works); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Franz Joseph Haydn; Frederic Chopin; Ludwig van Beethoven; Franz Schubert; Felix Mendelssohn; Johannes Brahms; Antonin Dvorak; Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikovsky; and Sergei Rachmaninoff. The tonal styles and harmonies employed by these individuals have provided inspiration in terms of my own creations. While musical compositions and
forms continue to evolve in the Western musical tradition (from polyphonic, tonal and atonal) and styles (Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, Neo-classical, 12-tone, minimalist, etc.), I prefer the sonorities and
harmonies of the tonal periods of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries for my inspiration and focus.
While the piano remains my main instrument for composition, I am familiar with the violin (having taken lessons for 2 years in high school) and the fact that my father was an Irish fiddler and my mother studied piano for 15 years and violin for 7. While I have written mostly for piano solo or other keyboard instruments (e.g., harpsichord), I continue to explore and produce compositions for strings, organ, harpsichord, orchestra, and voice, among others.
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My compositional work process includes development of melodies that usually occur in my head (oftentimes at 2 in the morning), or with “noodling at the piano”. Like many composers in the past who “heard melodies in specific keys, I usually “hear melodies” in my head either in the key of F Major or D minor. I subsequently transpose them to other keys that convey the synesthetic and tonal qualities that I am seeking to fully express in the harmonies and contrapuntal melodies in their development. As may be noted on several of the compositions, the date ranges of many compositions span several months if not a year or more from inception to completion. Like most composers (except Mozart or Haydn) full blown works were developed over varying lengths of time (e.g., Beethoven worked on the first movement of his Fifth Symphony for 13 years before he was satisfied with it). I often work on more than one piece at a time to allow the works to mature like fine wines and cheeses. Several compositions are still undergoing this “maturation process” including a Symphony Op. 60, a set of four-part Chorale Etudes Op. 36 and a String Quartet Op. 25.
Initially, I notated my compositional thoughts through Sibelius software and currently employ Musescore for this function. Acoustical rendering is accomplished through Logic Pro X by Para-Sight Records digital studio
under sound Engineer Paul Kraushaar to create mastered audio recordings of my works. Several compositions have been performed and recorded live (Fugue in D minor Op. 2; the Songs from the Algonquin Op. 3; Elégie Pathétique Op. 19; Andante Cantabile Op. 29; and Chaconne for String Quartet Op. 31). A premier of the Fugue in D minor Op. 16 for Orchestra was performed live in Grass Valley by In Concert Sierra on September 17, 2017. In this website compilation, these live performances are indicated by the word “Live” enclosed in parentheses next to their titles. Once master recordings have been completed, they are then available on my website to download available as downloadable audio files through an audio service such as “CD Baby” or “Amazon” or “iTunes” when completed. I have made
sheet music PDF renditions of these compositions available through the website by request for those interested in giving them a play.
I welcome your feedback if you have stumbled on this website. My goal is to constantly hone my compositional skills and listener feedback is part of this maturation ring process. You can send me an email through the
Contact tab on this website. If you like what you hear, check back periodically as I will be adding several works that are being completed, as well as when downloadable audio and sheet music become available.