Rehearsal Blog: Shadows of Dreams - May 28, 2009

My wife and I made the 2-1/2 hour trek from Modesto to Santa Cruz for a rehearsal of my flute quartet Shadows of Dreams.  I really did not know what to expect from the ensemble.  The are a wide range of abilities and levels in the group.  I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised that by the end of the rehearsal the group was playing together as a cohesive unit.  I could tell that they are excited about performing my piece.

I was warned in advance by Greer Ellison, the ensemble director, that the tempos were going to be taken faster than indicated.  The tempos were being performed by about 20 beats.  Of course as the composer I was hesitant at such a dramatic change, but I figured that if it was going to give me a better performance, then it would be fine.  I would rather have a good performance at a faster tempo then a mediocre performance at the slower tempo.

When I arrived, Greer and the ensemble were excited to meet me.  I have to admit that this was the first time I came to a rehearsal as a "guest artist."  I was flattered by how nice everyone was and how receptive they were to my comments.

Like most rehearsals this one started off rough.  The ensemble did not have time to warm up and that was apparent.  After a while the group started to get better.  Balance and intonation were problematic at times, but that is the case with most young performers.  The group has been working with a student conductor.  Which is good because there are some timing issues that would be difficult for a young ensemble without a conductor.  Unfortunately, the conductor had to leave half way through the rehearsal.  At that point Greer took over the conducting duties.

While she was conducting, Greer inadvertently took the tempos slower than they had been rehearsing.  It was at this point when everything seemed to click.  Phrasing became smoother and the mood and feeling of the piece started to show through.  The students even commented on how they started to understand the piece better.

I wish there were one or two more rehearsals before the concert on June 2nd.  That is always the way.  Hopefully the group will communicate with the conductor about slowing the tempo before the dress rehearsal.  I am confident that they will do a good job with my piece.  I am looking forward to the concert.  I am also looking forward to possibly working with Greer on future projects.

Dream Cycle

In previous posts I mentioned that I am now working on the 3rd song for Dream Cycle for alto voice and piano.  I wanted to take the opportunity to give some background about the piece.

This piece began in 2002.  After I completed my master's thesis I needed something else to work on.  In a conversation I had with my friend Nicole Davis it was suggested that I compose some songs for her.  We decided on the following texts:

A Dream by Edgar Allen Poe

Echo by Christina Georgina Rossetti

Mutability by Percy Bysshe Shelley

A Dream was composed in Spring 2002.  Echo composed in Spring 2006 was completed on May 26, 2006.  Now it is Spring 2009 and I have started on Mutability.  I have a couple other texts in mind for more songs.  It all depends on how this one goes and how the cycle shapes up as to whether or not I compose more songs.  Either way, I will finally finish my Dream Cycle.

Working out the introduction

I spent some time today working on the introduction to the 3rd song of Dream Cycle.  The text I am using is Mutability by Percy Bysshe Shelley.  I have been stuck on the idea that I need to compose a song with a faster tempo.  The first song, A Dream, has a tempo of a quarter note = 56.  The next song, Echo, has a tempo of a quarter note = 68.  I tried working on some ideas with a tempo of approximately a quarter note = 108.  I could not envision how I would be able to develop these sketches.  

I ended up slowing the tempo down a bit to a quarter note = 90 and I was able to do more with the sketches.  I was able to compose the introduction to this song.  It took me a while to settle on the order of the ideas.  I tried the fragments out in different combinations to see which I liked the best.  My next task is to push forward and work on the vocal part.  I envision the melody using slower rhythmic values, sitting on top of the quicker moving accompaniment.

Shadows of Dreams: Composing the Final Section

Sketch page 5-1

Final Score page 7

Final Score page 8

Tomorrow, May 28th, I am invited to attend the final rehearsal for Shadows of Dreams at U.C. Santa Cruz.  So today I will spend some time looking at my score and notes.  I need to prepare to work with the ensemble tomorrow.  As I was looking at my notes I came across my initial sketch for the final section of the piece (Sketch page 5-1, above).  My goal for the finale was to combine the various melodies and themes into a distinct and cohesive unit.

The sketch consists of 3 staff systems.  The first is the opening alto flute melody (untransposed, measures 1-8).  The second system contains the melody from the 3rd section (measures 102-11) in the 2nd flute.  The 1st flute counterpoint from measure 103 is added to fill the rests.  This 2nd  flute melody is transposed down a half-step so that the two melodies will blend together.

The third system is the first attempt at combining the two melodies.  This happens to be the way it appears in the score beginning at measure 120.  The primary difference is that the 1st flute plays the melody, from the 3rd section, up an octave.  Measure 135 brings that melody back to the 2nd flute in the original octave and the combination of the two melodies is expanded to bring the piece to a more natural close.

I provided the final copy of the notated score illustrate how the sketches come together.  This section of the sketch score spans 4 pages due to various edits and deletions.

Listening Journal: May 18-24, 2009

Glenn Glasow Memorial Concert - May 18, 2009

Jean McKinley - Arise My Love, and Come Away (2007) for soprano, viola and piano

John Hildago - Three Rivers (2006) for string quartet

Frank La Rocca - Veni Sancte Spiritum (2001) for soprano, clarinet, 2 violins, viola and cello

Brian Bice - Glimpses of the Moon (2001) for violin

Giancarlo Aquilanti - String Quartet No. 3 (2008)

George Crumb - Lux Aeterna (1971) for soprano, bass flute/soprano recorder, sitar and percussion (2 players)

Joseph Dangerfield - Zdravoye Zreniye (2002) for large chamber ensemble

Brett Dean - Komarov's Fall (2006) for orchestra

Witold Lutoslawski - Jeux Vénitiens (1961) for chamber orchestra

Allan Blank - Bicinium (1974) for clarinet and bassoon

Robert Newell - Spirals (1976) for mezzo soprano and percussion

Stuart Smith - Faces (1974) for clarinet and oboe

Change of direction

As I sat in the audience at the Glenn Glasow concert on May 18, 2009, I read the bio I sent to Jeff Miller.  I read something, a statement, that has been on my bio for at least the past five years, but probably longer.

"Other recent compositional projects are Off you go... a large scale, multi-movement composition for flute, cello and percussion and Dream Cycle for alto voice and piano, written for Nicole Davis." 

"Dream Cycle for alto voice and piano, written for Nicole Davis." is the statement to which I am referring here.  When I read that again I thought to myself, "I really need to finish that piece."  This thought has stayed with me for a few days.

I began working on Dream Cycle in 2002 while I was a student at Bowling Green State University.  During the 2001-02 school year I met Nicole.  She was a student in a class for which I was the graduate assistant.  We became friends during that time.  When I finished my master's thesis Obscured Ruminations for bass trombone and chamber orchestra I needed something else to compose.  I still had about a month and a half before the end of the school year and I was still taking lessons from Elainie Lillios.  In talking with Nicole the idea of writing some songs for her came up.  I figured why not, it would be fun.  Well, here we are 7 years later and only 2 songs have been composed.  Even then the 2 songs were composed about 5 years apart.  Nicole and I had agreed on at least 3 texts.  I am thinking the whole cycle will consist of up to 5 songs.  It just depends on how I feel about the cycle after I finish the original 3 songs.

During intermission of the concert I was talking with David Stein my former music history professor who is now retired.  He asked me if I have written any choral music.  To date, I have not, but I am now thinking about it.  In away to me this is also indirect encouragement to finish Dream Cycle.  Maybe this will lead me to compose my first choral work.

I have decided to put the brass quintet aside for now.  I do have some great ideas for the piece, but I think that I need to focus my energy on the song cycle.  This is far overdue and something that I am determined to complete. 

Performance blog: Seventh Annual Glenn Glasow Memorial Concert - May 18, 2009

This past Monday, May 18th, was the Seventh Annual Glenn Glasow Memorial Concert at California State University, East Bay (Hayward Campus).  The annual Glenn Glasow concert is the CSUEB faculty and alumni composers concert.  At this concert Philip Santos performed my piece Glimpses of the Moon (2001) for violin.  This was my first non-Festival of Contemporary Music performance in a few years.  This was also my first acoustic performance at a concert since the 4th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music on August 24, 2006, where Richard Lee masterfully performed my solo bass trombone piece, Incursion (2002).  My cello piece Romance (2008) was performed at my wedding last year, but that was not a concert.

I first learned about the performance on March 5, 2009 when my former instructor, now friend, Jeffery Miller emailed me to tell me about the inclusion of my piece on the concert.  Needless to say I was excited for the opportunity to have this piece performed again.  This was only the second performance of the entire piece.  The first took place on April 3, 2004 at the SCI National Student Conference.  Régine J. MontésBarrow performed my piece that day.  The performance was decent, but I felt that she did not understand the concept of the piece.  As a result the phrasing was wrong and she did not give the piece a direction.  While I was glad to have Régine's performance, I wanted to have this piece performed again to get a better quality performance.  In addition, I received my Bachelor of Arts in Music from CSU East Bay (then CSU Hayward) so this performance was a chance for me to return to my alma mater and show them what I have been up to.

This concert was an amazing experience.  There was a lot of great music and awesome performances that night.  Also on the program was Arise My Love, and Come Away by Jean McKinley, Three Rivers by John Hildago, Veni Sancte Spiritus by Frank La Rocca and String Quartet no. 3 by Giancarlo Aquilanti.

Philip Santos did a wonderful job with my piece.  It is a very difficult piece to put together and perform.  He did a masterful job doing so.  I am fortunate that he has agreed to perform this piece again on August 22 at the 7th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music.  He and I will have the opportunity to work some more on this piece together and the performance will be even better.

I have to say that I was honored to be apart of this concert.  I want to express my deepest gratitude and thanks to Jeffery Miller, Frank La Rocca and Composer's, Inc. for including me in this concert and for putting on an amazing show.  To have my music performed alongside these other works is truly a blessing.

Listening Journal: May 11-17, 2009

Toru Takemitsu - Garden Rain (1974) for nine brass instruments

Olivier Messiaen - Catalogue d'Oiseaux: Book 4 - VII. La Rousserolle effervatte (1956-58) for piano

Olivier Messiaen - Catalogue d'Oiseaux: Book 5 - VIII. L'Alouette calandrelle & IX. La Bouscarle (1956-58) for piano

Olivier Messiaen - Catalogue d'Oiseaux: Book 6 - X. Le Merle de roche (1956-58) for piano

Witold Lutoslawski - Chain No. 3 (1986) for orchestra

Michael Tilson Thomas - Street Song (1988) for brass quintet

The listening process

As the readers of my blog know, I like to post a listening journal. This journal is not much more than a listing of pieces I have listened to during a specific week. I recently read an interview with Mauricio Kagel in the Richard Dufallo book Trackings. Kagel made some comments about listening that has made me think about my listening process.

The first comment was about the type of listening people do (or do not do).

"I have noticed that nobody really listens to music in a very concentrated manner, not even those who think of themselves as professionals."

Basically there are two types of listening: active and passive. I realize that most of the listening I do is passive. I will put music on as I am doing chores or even while writing in my blog. However, there are pieces that I will sit down and just listen and try to absorb the music and understand it.

Some will have you believe (university professors for example) that active listening only happens when you have the score in front of you so you can see and hear the piece. I think what Kagel goes on to say helps to contradict that point of view.

"Our listening, in fact, is like the cicadic motions of our eyes, which locust-like jump around. We listen to music, but at the same time we are preoccupied with our inner world, perhaps with very trite things, the university, travel, eating."

Here Kagel is not just talking about the everyday life getting in the way of listening. He is talking about distractions taking our attention away from the music. To me, the score is a prime example of a distraction from listening to music. Often the listener will get caught up in the details of the score and they will forget that the music has progressed past the point at which they are looking. Then the listener jumps ahead to the point where the music is playing, leaving a hole in that partcular listening of the piece.

I do not condemn a person for listening to the music with a score. I believe it does more good than harm. However, I think that the first couple of times someone listens to a piece should be done without a score. Music is meant to be listened to, to be absorbed aurally. One should have some familiarity with the music before taking it to the next level.

Developing the introduction

I focused my composition time yesterday on developing the introductory material I sketched out last week. Right now I have the quintet divided into two groups:

Group A: Trumpet 1 & Trombone
Group B: Trumpet 2, Horn & Tuba

This is for no other reason than the figuration I am developing is two-voiced (Group A). I am offsetting this with complementing figuration in Group B.

This figuration is fanfare-like, using dotted rhythms and oscillating between a couple of notes, however I do not intend to write a fanfare to open this piece. This to me would be cliche and uninspired. (Keep in mind this is in regards to my piece.) While working on this figuration today I began to realize that it has some Messiaen-like qualities. In particular I am thinking about some of his works that utilize bird calls and bird songs like Catalogue d'Oiseaux.

I am going to go back and listen to some of the pieces in Catalogue d'Oiseaux. (As a matter of fact I am listening to the 4th book as I type this post.) I want to pay particular attention to how he develops the bird-like figuration. While I am not trying to imitate Messiaen in this piece, I think learning how he develops, transitions into and out of, and handles the material would be a benefit.

Listening Journal: May 4-10, 2009

Since I have started work on a brass quintet, much of the listening I have done has been of brass music.  This is done to immerse me back into brass music.

Eugene Bozza - Sonatine (1951) for brass quintet

Leos Janacek - Allegretto from Sinfonietta (1926) arranged for brass sextet and percussion

Fleeting Visions - CD 

Arthur Gottschalk - Sonatina Casada (2001) for flute and clarinet

John A. Carollo - Romantica Passione: from Suite for guitar and violin (2005)

James Scully - Hop, Skip and Jump (2001) for clarinet

Allen Strange - Another Fine Mess (2007) for soprano saxophone and electronics

John Bilotta - Gen'ei no Mai (2002) for flute and clarinet

Jamie Leigh Sampson - Frozen Landscape (2004) for bassoon

John Bilotta - Fire in Spring (2005) for flute and oboe

Jay C. Batzner - Pioneer X (2003) for trumpet

Malcolm Arnold - Quintet (1960) for brass quintet

Victor Ewald - Quintet No. 1 (1890) for brass quintet

Ingolf Dahl - Music for Brass Instruments (1944) for brass sextet

Ludwig Maurer - Three Pieces (1870) for brass quintet

Morley Calvert - Suite from the Montregian Hills (1961) for brass quintet

Quotes from Stravinsky

When I first learned about Igor Stravinsky as an undergrad, I learned about his three compositional periods, about his masterworks and about his musical philosophies.  I was taught that Stravinsky was against serial music.  He did not believe in twelve tone rows as a basis for creating music.  As I furthered my musical studies, I learned that people's beliefs are not always black and white.  In undergrad music history they try to distill the information and compartmentalize it so that there are clear distinctions.  Theoretically it makes for easier learning.

As I read different texts on music I am always amazed to see some of the quotes by composers or to read bits of information that sheds light on the compositional process of composers.  Currently, I am reading Trackings: Composers Speak with Richard Dufallo, compiled by Richard Dufallo.  In his second narrative, before the interview with Ned Rorem, Dufallo talks about his encounters with Stravinsky.  There are a couple of quotes, from Stravinsky, that I wanted to share.  I find them interesting and true, to an extent.  These quotes also contrast a bit to what I previously knew about Stravinsky.  Both of these quotes date from the late-1950s.

"The rules and restrictions of serial writing differ little from the rigidity of the great contrapuntal schools of old."

"Masterworks aside, it seems to me the new music will be serial."

Return to an old friend

Today I was finally afforded the opportunity to sit down and begin work on my brass quintet.  I have started to look at a page of sketches for brass that I created in early 2007.  After about 15-20 minutes I realized that I am stumbling out of the gate.

This is the first piece that I have tried to compose for brass since my Fanfare for Progress in 2001.  This piece is actually dates 2005 in my catalog because I did a quick revision for my doctoral recital.  Even then, that piece was only two and a half to three minutes long.  So this piece will actually be my first substantial work for a brass group since 2000 when I composed Three Miniatures for 5 tubas.

I think I need to remind myself what brass instruments are like.  I cannot treat them the same way I would string or woodwind instruments.  While I have written for brass in either a mixed ensemble or solo context, I believe that composing for a brass group is different.

I am going to listen to different brass quintet pieces and other brass music to get the sound back into my head.  This will not be too difficult as I am a former (and future?) brass player, so I do have familiarity with the instruments.  It is just going to take some time and all will be well.