A first look at my flute quartet

Here is the first look at one of the sketches I have been working on for my flute quartet.  I realize the image is light.  However, if you click on the image you can see the full size image.  It becomes a little easier to read.  My sketches are done in pencil.  I will consider trying to darken the sketch before scanning it, but I don't want to take time away from the compositional process.

This is the sketch I referred to in my last posting, the one I wasn't sure how to develop.  I am going to spend some time today composing and maybe this time I'll figure it out.

Mental barricades

Sometimes it happens, I start working out an idea and I do not know where to go next.  I start over thinking the music.  That is what happened today as I sat down to continue working on my flute quartet.  There are a variety of reasons as to why this happens to me.  I can subconsciously put too much pressure on myself... this happens during times when I especially like a passage.  Sometimes, albeit vary rarely, the music just cannot be developed.  However, it seems that most of the time the mental barricades happen because I am mentally distracted and I can not focus 100% on the composition.  This was the case today.

While this is frustrating, I think that I handled it well.  When I realized that I was not going to be able to develop the sketch, I decided to put it aside and work on something else.  I started sketching other ideas for flute quartet.  In a sense, I pretended to start over.  I wiped the slate clean and tried something else.  In fact, I did it twice.  Of course, I am not saying that I am not going to continue with the original sketch.  I think it still has value and I will go back to it.

Composing is not always a linear process.  Sometimes ideas and sketches that come first are not always the beginning.   Sometimes when I work on multiple ideas, I find that they work together and are different parts of the same piece.  The point is that composers need to keep an open mind.  When I am writing a piece, I am constantly thinking about where the music wants to go and not about where I want the music to go.  Some would argue that this is the same thing since I am the one creating the music.  I think that music has a direction it wants to go.  I am helping to lead it in that direction.  Ultimately, I am in control of the piece, but I do not always force it to do what I want.

Listening Journal: October 20-26, 2008

I thought it would be a good idea to start posting the music that I listen to each week.  My intent is to post this weekly journal on Sundays or Mondays.  The journal fills two needs: 1. It will show you the music I am listening to and give insight to my influences.  2. This will "keep me honest" in my listening activities.  Listening is an important part of understanding.  As Aaron Copland wrote in What to Listen for in Music, "The key to understanding of new music is repeated hearings." (page 150)

The order in which the pieces are listed, is the order in which I listened to the pieces.  Here is my listening journal for October 20th-26th:

Pascal Dusapin - La Melancholia (1991) "opératorio" for solo voices, chorus, winds, orchestra and tape

Magnus Lindberg - Chorale (2002) for orchestra

Alfred Schnittke - Stille Musik (1979) for violin and cello

Joseph Dangerfield - The Waves Roll on, Thundering and Shimmering for large ensemble

Kaija Saariaho - Mirrors (1998) for flute and cello

Kaija Saariaho - Verblendungen (1984) for orchestra and tape

Enhancing the potentially monochromatic

One of the creative "problems" in composing for a group like a flute quartet is the ensemble itself.  With minor exception this is a homogenous ensemble.  The sound quality and color is very similar from top to bottom.  I am used to composing for ensembles with contrasting colors.  I like to have a veritable palette of colors inherent in the ensemble to draw from.  It is not to say that an ensemble such as a flute quartet is monochromatic.  There is a color palette there, I just need to be creative and draw it out.  I believe that this is the first time I have come across this issue since I composed my trombone quartet in 1999.

I know that this is a good challenge for me.  One of my primary interests as a composer is using tone color and drawing upon diverse sounds.  My challenge is to get creative and really figure out what the flute can do.  What techniques are there that really make this instrument special?  I don't think that trying to compose a flute quartet without digging in and exploring techniques and performance styles would allow me to create the piece that I want.

I also need to remind myself of basic elements that can add another layer of color and interest to the music: articulations.  As a composer there are times when this element becomes an afterthought and I include them in the score to add interest.  I think I should challenge myself to focus on some articulations and compose parts of this piece with that as a primary feature.

The Struggles

Today was a particularly rough day composing for me.  I only spent about an hour and a half working and I don't feel like I accomplished much.  I spent a lot of time working with the material that I thought would be useful.  I would come up with a motive or idea and try to develop it or take it a part.  However, my efforts did not bear much fruit.

In spite of all of this, towards the end of my session, I think I may have sketched something of use.  I'll need to work with it for a while and see what happens.  Right now, all I will say is that I like the concept, I am not sure I found all the right notes yet.

I think I need to focus on listening more.  I do put on a lot of music, but I do not always listen intently to the music.  I need to put my headphones on more often and just sit and listen.  As a matter of fact, as I am writing this I am listening to Kaija Saariaho's Verblendungen for tape and orchestra.  Yes, I do have my headphones on.

It's been a while since I've worked on a new piece.  The struggles are frustrating, but it is a part of every composer's life.

An opportunity unfolds

I was trading emails with Sarah Morris, a flautist, whom I met this summer at the 6th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music in San Francisco.  I had sent her a copy of the score for a solo flute piece I composed back in 2003, Not With, but Not Alone.  Well, through the course of our "conversation" Sarah mentioned that she plays in the flute choir at UC Santa Cruz.  I expressed interest in possibly composing a piece for that group.  Sarah sent me the contact information of the director of the ensemble, Greer Ellison.

On Sunday, I wrote to Professor Ellison asking if she is looking for new music.  I expressed interest in composing a piece for her group.  I received an enthusiastic reply.  Long story short, I will be working on a commission for the UCSC flute choir.  This works well for my plans.  As I mentioned in my previous post, some of the ideas I am working on seem to be appropriate for the flute.  Also, this is exciting because I know this piece will be performed at least once and possibly a few times.

Shaking the rust off

It has been a while since I have composed anything.  Actually, it has been since April (this year, of course).  The last piece I composed was a solo cello piece for my wife for our wedding on May 24, 2008.  I have not thought much about composing since then.  My life has been crazy since the beginning of May.  Now that things are finally getting settled, I want to compose.

So I sat down today to compose.  The beginning of a new work is always exciting.  However this time it is even more exciting.  I have a completely blank slate.  I do not have a specific piece that I need to write.  I do not have an unfinished composition that I feel compelled to finish.  This time I can do what I want.  As exciting as this is, it makes me a little more indecisive.  I tend to bounce back and forth between instruments and ensembles for which to compose.  

After about 10-15 minutes of being indecisive, I decided to look at my file folder filled with old sketches and pieces that never happened.  I did this for no other reason then to start thinking about music.  I started to play through some of these sketches and I tried improvising and expanding some musical ideas that caught my ear.  I actually played some things that I really liked and of course there were some really bad things.

I got some things sketched out, without any specific instruments and then I ran out of time.  I had to go to work.  Thinking about the sketches I played with today, I do have some thoughts about instrumentation, but nothing I want to mention yet.  Except this piece will include flute.  Some of the sketches and ideas just seem to be well suited for the flute.

I really was not worried about output today.  I wanted to ease myself back into composing.  I want to enjoy the process.  I do not want to pressure myself into writing a certain piece or rush into making decisions.  Today was all about shaking the rust off.

The purpose of this blog...

I have decided to create this blog as an attempt to journal my compositional process.  On Saturday, October 18, 2008 I will begin a new piece of music.  Details of the piece have yet to be decided.  These are the some of the things that I will chronicle.  I will attempt to scan and post images of the sketches I create in order to further illustrate the compositional process.

It is my hope that the blog entries will occur a minimum of 3 times a week.  I will make a serious effort to post to this blog every day that I work on this piece.  I will attempt to scan and post images of sketches and other related materials to the compositional process.  Not all post will be of the composition I am working on.  There will be days in which the blog post will focus on compositional related activities, such as readings, recordings I listen to or concerts I attend.  All activities will have a direct bearing on the compositional process.

It is my hope to bring insight into the compositional processes of the modern composer.  Please keep in mind that most of the processes are unique to my compositions; however there are processes and techniques that a lot of composers use as well.

Brian