A B O U T T H I S S I T E Some texts by great poets and authors contain words which are coarse, offensive, vulgar or profane, such as one reads sometimes in the short epigrams of Johann Wolfgang Goethe or as one finds in some fine work of E. E. Cummings, Ezra Pound and James Edwin Campbell. Those who wish not to read such texts should avoid them; each of these is clearly marked with the sign --  .
For many years now, I have composed as a sidelight to the other paths down which my life has led me. In my studies, many composers, living and dead alike, have offered lessons which I take most earnestly to heart. Among them, the admirable American, Charles Ives, had worked in business and published his own songs as well as helped promote the works of others, because his life work afforded him the comforts such that composition need not have been for him a "living wage." Additionally, many authors, living and dead, have offered lessons worth more than I could repay. E. E. Cummings' example of pursuing his art in spite of what others, to include rather foolish publishers who rejected his works over years, might have thought and said to him, is a worthy lesson. Art is not about success; art is about documenting one's efforts in some form, music being as elusive a form as any art, for it exists when scores are turned into the ephemeral moments of a performance and then evaporate again into simple potentialities. For that, composers are beholden to performers for a portion of their art, and it is to performers and for performers that I have chosen to pursue my own artistic aims. Therefore, over time and as additional works, old an new, are engraved, some will be made available for free, while others will be assigned to a publisher, but all will be documented over time as best I am able to do, with sincere thanks to all who might have some interest in what I herein do and have done before.
The banner above appears on all pages and functions quite as does a site map. Under each topic in the banner is a set of additional links for further pages, with the Author's Alphabetical Index index being found as a link in each song page. This current page and the introductory page are portals to the home page, which is a blank banner with no links beneath, and once left, it can only be returned to by signing on to the site anew. For navigation from an interior page, the graphic  returns one to a previous page; the graphic  returns one to the top of a page. The graphic  is self explanatory.
Moving the cursor over almost all titles and other links will identify each link, the cursor changing as each link is noted to  . All titles of works in the lists of song titles are links. Most titles are links, though not underlined, in the manner of many other web sites. Moving the cursor over topics in the banner above will illustrate this.
When an excerpt from a work is available for an MP3 audio demo, click on  . File sizes are noted for additional indication about download times based on your Internet connection.
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The site is essentially in black and white, without the graphic sophistication of so many web sites. It is meant to convey deep and broad content, and the choice of "grayscale" graphics is meant to highlight the musical materials and the information which supports that music. While there are pictures of individuals, the authors and performers whom I reference, the site is not meant to be sophisticated in terms of graphics and design. It is about content, not style. and especially about work-in-progress.
Some scores are available as free PDF downloads, though of course copyright rights for paid performances and recordings are reserved; web pages and links to such scores are marked with a green "dot" graphic --  . There are both the free version of the Adobe Acrobat reader and other such PDF readers available to read and print these scores. Music marked with bold black numbers such as YR1539 indicate scores currently or soon to be available from Yelton Rhodes Music, Los Angeles. Additional scores will be made available and new scores added, as the site is and will remain my "work in progress." Click on  to download scores. New engravings of older works will also be added as time permits. Downloading any score indicates your agreement to abide by all the relevant copyright laws.
Contact information for myself, my agents and publisher are found through "Miscellany" in the banner above, or by clicking HERE. Any email correspondence addressed to me must have the title of a work, score or article found in this site or it will be treated a spam. Biographical information and a small summary of some press material may also be found through "Miscellany."
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