Listening Journal: August 23-29, 2010

Hilary Hahn - Paganini and Spohr Violin Concertos - CD
  Hilary Hahn, violin, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Eiji Oue, conductor
   Nicolo Paganini - Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, op. 6 (1817)
   Louis Spohr - Violin Concerto No. 8 in A minor, op. 47 "in modo di scena cantante" (1816)

György Ligeti - György Ligeti Edition, volume 4: Vocal Works - CD
   Nonsense Madrigals (1988-93)
   Mysteries of the Macabre (1991)
   Aventures (1962)
   Nouvelles Aventures (1962-65)
   Der Sommer (1989)
   Három Weöres-dal (1946-47)
   Öt Arany-dal (1952)
   Négy lakodalmi tánc (1950)

Samuel Adler - String Quartet No. 7 (1981)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Adagio for Violin and Orchestra in E major K. 261 (1776) Itzhak Perlman, violin, Weiner Philharmoniker, James Lavine, conductor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Rondo for Violin and Orchestra in C major K. 373 (1781) Itzhak Perlman, violin, Weiner Philharmoniker, James Lavine, conductor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Rondo for Violin and Orchestra in B-flat major K. 261a (1776) Itzhak Perlman, violin, Weiner Philharmoniker, James Lavine, conductor

Dual Atmosphères

I found this article which I wrote as a note on my Facebook page on Thursday, September 25, 2008.  I thought that I would share it here. I have made some minor edits to the original note.

It's interesting. Tonight I sat down to listen to Ligeti's Atmosphères. I looked in my collection and found that I own three different recordings of this piece. Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, conductor. New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, conductor. Berliner Philharmoniker, Jonathan Nott, conductor.  Atmosphères is a nine-minute piece for orchestra. This piece is based on a series of tone clusters that transform over time. In this piece Ligeti abandoned the traditional conventions of melody, rhythm and harmonic progression. Instead progression is made through the use of micropolyphony, which is complex interwoven textures.

I started off by listening to the Abbado recording. As I was listening, I read the liner notes for the Bernstein recording. I was shocked to find that it was a short recording. The length of this recording is 6:59, at least two minutes shorter than the other recordings I have heard. So I listened the Bernstein's version of the piece. Not only is this recording short, but it feels rushed. This is odd to me because the piece is composed as a static piece. There is no rhythmic or melodic motif. How can a piece composed around the principle of stasis feel rushed?

I wonder if Ligeti ever heard Bernstein's recording? If so, what did he think of it? Personally, I do not like this recording. It feels wrong. I do not think he captured the essence and the intent of Ligeti's piece.

Treasure Hunting

One of the things I like to do is go to Rasputins, a local record store that sells a lot of new and used CDs, and see what kind of treasure I can find.  I could spend hours looking through the used CD sections trying to find things that I might want at a low price.  This past Thursday was a particularly good day to go to Rasputins.  I was looking at though the "closeout" section for classical CDs and I actually found four CDs I wanted.  What make it even better is that the "closeout" CDs are priced at $1.95 or $2.95 each and they were "buy three get one free."  Below I have listed the CDs I bought.  Overall, I am happy with my purchase.

Michael Daugherty - Metropolis Symphony - Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Astor Piazzolla - Hommage à Piazzola - Gidon Kremer, violin and others
Piano Music of John Adams and Terry Riley - Gloria Cheng-Cochran, piano
Florencio Asenjo - Orchestral Works - Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic

Fixing the diagrammatic sketch

On Thursday I spent my composing time fixing the diagrammatic sketch for Time in Memoriam.  For the most part this required me to shrink the sound walls in the first section to half the duration.  I opted to keep the sections between the three sound walls at about the same duration.  I did not think it was necessary to change them.  These adjustments have taken at least one minute off the duration, though it is probably closer to a minute and a half.

Now that I have made the corrections, I have to say that the sketch looks right.  I am not saying that the original sketch looked wrong, rather it looked awkward.  In hindsight I kept thinking in the back of my head that something was not right.  At the time I just could not put my finger on it.

Listening Journal: August 16-22, 2010

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in B-flat major K. 207 (1773) Itzhak Perlman, violin, Vienna Philharmonic, James Lavine, conductor

György Ligeti - György Ligeti Edition, volume 3: Works for Piano - CD
  Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
   Piano Études - Book 1 (1985)
   Piano Études - Book 2 (1988-94)
   Musica Ricercata (1951-53)
   Piano Études - from Book 3
     XV. White on White (1995)

Olivier Messiaen - Et Exspecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum - CD
  The Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez, conductor
   Chronochromie (1959-60) for orchestra
   La Ville d'en haut (1987) for wind, brass, piano and percussion
   Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum (1964) for wind, brass and percussion

Kaija Saariaho - Terrestre (2002) for flute, percussion, harp, violin and cello

Whoops, my bad!

It is funny.  Numbers have a way of obscuring themselves in my head.  I realized the other day that sections of the diagrammatic sketch I have been working on are proportionally wrong.  The opening sound walls in the low brass and percussion are twice as long as they need to be.  These walls are made of four pulses that last two measures each.  This makes eight measures.  Eight is the number I had in my head when I went to figure out the approximate duration of these sound walls.  I had reminded myself not to forget to double the number of measures as each pulse is two measures long.  So that is what I did.  I counted these walls as sixteen measures and at the tempo indicated each would be about forty-five seconds.

As I continued to work on the sketch I began to become concerned that the piece would get to be way too long.  So I looked back and began to time the sections in the opening.  The sound walls came out to twenty to twenty-five seconds each.  I was confused.  I looked back at the sketch and realized what the mistake was.  I factored each of these sections for sixteen measures instead of eight measures, which they really are.

To deal with this there are three options.  I can start the whole sketch over.  I can re-sketch the opening or the parts that are currently "correct" in proportion.  I can leave it alone and make notes on the sketch about the proportions.  I do not like this last option.  To me this will give the sketch an accordion-like feel.  This sketch is designed in part to be relatively proportional.  Variations where time is doubled would alter my intention for this type of sketch.

I need to look at the sketch as it is and decide how much work there would be to redo the whole thing.  Fortunately I was only about one-third of the way done so I do not think it would be too much of a set back to rework the whole sketch.

Goodbye to an amazing cat

Yesterday afternoon my cat, Fozzie, passed away.  Though we will never know with one-hundred percent certainty, we believe that he lost his fight with Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP).  FIP is a rare, terminal disease that can affect cats young and old.

I will never forget the way in which Fozzie would run to the door to greet me when I got home from work.  Nor the hours he would spend on my lap as I watched TV or a movie.  I will always remember the way he would lick my head at 4:00 a.m. to try to get me up.

Fozzie was a great cat with one of the best personalities I had ever seen in a cat.  I love you boy.  Mommy and I are truly going to miss you.

Working the Fourth Movement

I began revising what will be the fourth movement of Trackings No. 2 about a week ago.  I skipped working on what will be the third movement as I did not have a clear idea of how to reshape that sketch to include piano.  (Though I do have a few ideas now.)  Also, I thought that this would be an easier movement to work on.  I am thinking now that I was wrong.  I have been really digging in to this movement so that the piano is more than merely a double of the cello and bass or an accompanimental outline of the melodies.

The aspect that was giving me the most trouble was the oscillation I wanted in the piano through the first eighteen or so measures.  Yesterday I finally had a breakthrough with that element.  The great thing about this oscillation is that I creates a different character when transferred into the cello and bass parts as a pizzicato.  I was just messing around with the MIDI patches when I switched it to pizzicato strings and I really like it.  I thought that that would be great as the accompaniment to the piano melody later in the movement,  Now that I have worked this out, I just need to rework some of the phrasing, do a few other edits and enter the dynamics and expressions.  Most of which I have already written out.

Listening Habits

Over the past year as I have posted my listening journals I have noticed that I do listen to a wide variety of music.  However, I feel like sometimes I almost go out of my way to listen to a lot of different things.  I am trying to not listen to the same pieces or composers over and over.  This was a pitfall of mine prior to creating the journal.

Another thing I have noticed about my listening habits is that I do not listen to many complete albums.  This was due in part to me not making enough time to sit and listen to an album.  About a month ago I decided that I would make time and listen to at least one album on my days off from work (about two each week).  With this in mind I thought that at least one of those CDs each week would be from the same composer so that I would end up listening to all of the compositions for which I have recordings of by that composer.  I have started with György Ligeti since I have all but one of the György Ligeti Edition from Sony Classical and all of The Ligeti Project on Teldec.  The great thing about these two collections is that there is no overlap of pieces.

Charting the form

In a previous post I talked about how a I made a plan for the form of Time and Memoriam.  I wanted to outline the form in this post.  The basic form for this piece will be rounded binary: A B A'.  Each A section will be of a moderate tempo with a fairly constant pulse underneath.  The B section will be a contrasting, fast movement, likely in a compound meter (i.e. 6/8 or 9/8).

Each section of Time in Memoriam will have its own form.  The first A section will be a binary form: a b.  The plan is for the "a" section to be at a driving, yet moderate, pulse.  The thematic material will consist of motivic ideas that will develop into melodic material in the "b" section.  In the "b" section time will not be as pulse driven.  The primary thematic material will be melodic.  The overall tempo will remain relatively the same.

The B section of the piece will be a seven-part rondo: c d c1 e c2 d c3.  Each occurrence of the "c" section will consist of the same or similar melodic material, but will be played by different instrument groups.  The exception is section c3.  In this section the thematic material will be performed by all of the instruments that played the primary material in c, c1 and c2.

Section A' marks the return of the material in the A section.  In stead of doing a literal recapitulation, A' will start with the material from the "b" section.  Time in Memoriam will conclude with the return of the pulse driven "a" section.

This is the current formal plan for Time in Memoriam.  As I compose this piece the plan could change.  It all depends on how the music develops over time.

Sculpting and Moulding

The composition process for Trackings No. 2 has been quite different than most other pieces of mine.  This is due to the fact that I am starting with sketches of a "failed" piece and revising and expanding it by adding piano.  By no means am I merely adding the piano and redistributing the principle and accompanimental materials.  Actually, I have been adding layers creating at times more intricate counterpoint.  I have also been adding measures where appropriate for phrasing or other purposes and cutting measures for sections that do not work or fit the scope of the movement.

In Trackings No. 2 my goal is to compose a series of short movements.  Each movement no longer than two minutes.  This is a challenge for me as each movement will have a beginning and an end.  There is little room for development in a piece like this.  I am more accustomed to writing music that develops of time creating a journey.  I can see this type of piece as an analog to an author writing short stories rather than full-length novels.

In addition to the short movement format the other challenge, mentioned earlier, is starting with an older sketch.  There are times in which I feel as if I am sculpting a piece rather than composing it.  A sculptor starts with a lump of clay or a block of stone and reshapes it into the form of his or her vision.  In my case the sketches for Birches is my lump of clay.

I like this analogy.  It goes to show that there are many cross relations between the arts.  What makes this instance a little more interesting is that Trackings No. 2 is a collaborative work with photographer Micheal Vickers, yet another facet in the cross-relation between the arts.

Listening Journal: August 9-15, 2010

Samuel Barber - Cello Sonata, op. 6 (1937) for cello and piano

Kryzstof Penderecki - String Quartet No. 2 (1968)

Kryzstof Penderecki - Prelude for Solo Clarinet (1959)

Joseph Schwantner - The Music of Joseph Schwantner - CD

   Velocities (1990) for marimba

   Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra (1995)

   New Morning for the World: "Daybreak of Freedom" (1982) for narrator and orchestra

Witold Lutoslawski - Two Children's Songs (1948) for soprano and orchestra

The Core Ensemble - Bending the Light - CD

  music for cello, piano and percussion

   Dan Welcher - Tsunami (1991)

   Judith Shatin - 1492 (1992)

   Marjorie Merryman - Bending the Light (1989)

   Ross Bauer - Tributaries (1992)

   Peter Lieuwen - Nocturne (1993)

   Marilyn Shrude - A Window Always Open on the Sea (1990)

Frank Ticheli - Postcard (1991) for wind ensemble

Samuel Barber - Excursions, op. 20 (1945) for piano

Samuel Barber - Summer Music, op. 31 (1953) for woodwind quintet

Samuel Barber - Canzone, op. 38a (1959) for flute and piano

Ron Nelson - Passacaglia (1992) for wind ensemble

György Ligeti - György Ligeti Edition, volume 2: A Cappella Choral Works - CD

   Égszaka (1955)

   Reggel (1955)

   Idegen földön (1945-46)

   Magány (1946)

   Két kánon (1952)

   Betlehemi királyok (1946)

   Bújdosó (1946)

   Lux Aeterna (1966)

   Lakodalmas (1950)

   Inaltelki nóták (1953)

   Matraszentimrei dalok (1955)

   Pápainé (1953)

   Drei Phantasien nach Friedrich Hölderlin (1982)

   Magyar Etüdók (1983)

   Haj, ifjúság! (1952)

   Húsvét (1946)

   Hortobágy (1952)

   Magos kosziklának (1946)

   Kállai kettos (1952)

Witold Lutoslawski - Mi-Parti (1976) for orchestra

Dmitri Shostakovich - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in A minor, op. 77 (1947) Hilary Hahn, violin and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Marek Janowski, conductor

Composing Session: August 14, 2010

Yesterday, I began working on expanding the fourth movement of Trackings No. 2.  I moved to the fourth movement from the second because I need to take a close look at the third movement before I can work on it.  I may need to reconsider some of the techniques I use in that movement.  I felt that my time is better served right now working on the fourth movement as I have a good idea of how to expand and revise this movement.

The primary melodic ideas are composed in 4/4 meter.  However, instead of the typical eighth note groupings of four groups of two, I use the grouping 3+3+2.  This grouping allows for an asymmetrical feel within a symmetrical meter.  Most of what I was able to accomplish on this movement was making editorial notes for what I intend for the piano to do on the original cello and double bass sketch.  In the next day or two I plan on incorporating these edits into the score.

The main thing I worked on yesterday was the diagrammatic sketch for Time in Memoriam.  I began by reviewing my notes for the types of elements I wanted to include within each section of the form.  After adding a few more notes, I began to sketch the shapes and colors for the first two-and-a-half to three minutes of the piece.  Eventually I will go into more details about this type of sketch, but suffice it to say that these shapes and colors will help me to identify which instruments will be playing where and for approximately how long.  When I created this type of sketch for Obscured Ruminations, it gave me a complete picture of how I wanted the piece to unfold.  I thought that it would benefit me to do this type of sketch for this piece.  So far I think it has as I am beginning to get a clear idea of the scope of this piece.

Collecting my thoughts

There are a lot of different ideas running around in my head for Time in Memoriam.  At times these thoughts and ideas become overwhelming because I am unable to write to write some of them down and sometimes I just do not know where to begin.  Instead of jumping in and composing the piece, I thought that it would be a good idea for me to step back and try to get a clear picture of the scope of the piece before zooming in and focussing on the actual music.

On Thursday I decided to approach this piece in a manner similar to that which I used in composing my Master's Thesis, Obscured Ruminations.  First off I considered form.  What type of form do I want to use?  The potential proportions of each section.  After that I thought about the structure of each section of the form.  Do I want to use specific forms within the larger form?

After the issues of form were decided I started to make notes about what types of things I wanted to include in each section of the form.  Mostly, these notes are in general terms, though there are a few specific ideas which I already had in mind.

All of this leads up to my next step, which I will work on a bit today.  I am going to make a diagrammatic sketch of the piece.  This sketch is going to be a graphic representation of the contour, density, texture and color of the piece.  This was something that I did before composing Obscured Ruminations and it really helped me to understand the overall scope of the piece before taking on the sometimes daunting task of composing a large ensemble piece.

So far the outline I have created for Time in Memoriam works for me.  I now have a good idea of the scope of the piece.  As I create the diagrammatic sketch, the piece will come into focus allowing me to be able to understand the concepts of the piece and how it will unfold over time.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today would have been my father's, Thomas Gordon Bice Jr., 65th birthday.  Unfortunately he passed away back in 1993, just before my senior year in high school.  In 1999 I completed my third composition.  This was a piece for wind ensemble entitled, Homage.  This was my first attempt, and a pretty successful one, at writing a large ensemble piece.  Homage was composed in the memory of my father.  In honor of this day I am thinking that I will listen to both performances I have had of Homage.  A small tribute to a man who still has a profound impact on my life.

Concert #2 of the 8th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music

On Saturday, August 7th the second concert of the 8th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music took place.  This concert featured seven pieces, four of which were acoustic pieces and three were for instrument and electronics.  This was the first year in which we programmed three such pieces in one concert.  Actually, prior to this year we had programmed only one instrument and electronics piece total.  The setup for this concert provided a different set of challenges than we were used to, but we were able to get through each of these without many problems.

The acoustic pieces provided a wide variety of styles of music.  The first piece on the program was Paul Hembree's Passion for soprano, clarinet, percussion and double bass.  The concert ended with the final scene of John Bilotta's chamber opera Trifles.  I feel that this was our most ambitious program on the Festival yet.  All of the music was wonderfully performed and in spite of our best efforts the concert came off smooth and professional.  I am excited to see what next year brings!

Listening Journal: August 2-8, 2010

Witold Lutoslawski - Six Children's Songs (1947) for voice and instruments
John Adams - Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986) for wind ensemble, arranged by Lawrence Odom
Einojuhani Rautavaara - Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (2000)
Einojuhani Rautavaara - Symphony No. 8, "The Journey" (1999)

Festival of Contemporary Music - Concert #2
   Paul Hembree - Passion (2009) for soprano, clarinet, percussion and double bass
   Peter Lane - Aeromancer (2008) for bassoon and electronics
   Helena Michelson - Romance (2008) for alto flute and piano
   Jean Ahn - Berkeley Arirang (2007) for piano and electronics
   Bruce Bennett - Translucent Night (2008) for trumpet and electronics
   Hubert Ho - Meccanico (2010) for piano
   John Bilotta - Trifles, Final Scene (2010) for chamber opera

FCM 8 - Concert #2 - Tonight

The 8th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music conludes tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the Community Music Center in San Francisco. Tickets are just $10 general/$5 student, senior and ARTSCard. The Community Music Center is located at 544 Capp Street, SF, CA.

Tonight’s Program:
Paul Hembree – Passion for soprano, clarinet, percussion and bass
Peter Lane – Aeromancer for bassoon and electronics
Helena Michelson – Romance for alto flute and piano
Jean Ahn – Berkeley Arirang for piano and electronics

INTERMISSION

Bruce Bennett – Translucent Night for trumpet and electronics
Hubert Ho – Meccanico for piano
John Bilotta – Trifles, Final Scene a chamber opera

New Piece for Another Ensemble

Recently I began sketching my next piece for wind ensemble.  The piece is called Time in Memoriam.  I am composing this piece for Lee Morrison and the high school wind ensemble at the New World School for the Arts in Miami, Florida.  I have known Lee for about ten years since we were graduate students at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.  I had first proposed the idea of composing a piece for his ensemble just after I had approached Adam Noel about writing a piece for his band.

I am excited about this new project because the wind ensemble at the New World School for the Arts is an advanced group.  This will provide a new set of challenges for me.  I do have some interesting ideas for this piece and I am looking forward to developing them and composing this piece.

8th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music - Concert #2

Tomorrow, August 7th, the Festival of Contemporary Music concludes with a concert at 8:00 p.m. at the San Francisco Community Music Center, 544 Capp Street.  This program will feature a variety of music in both acoustic and electroacoustic genres.  Tickets are only $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors.  For more information please visit: www.newmusicforum.com

Program #2
Paul Hembree - Passion for soprano, clarinet, percussion and double bass
Peter Lane - Aeromancer for bassoon and electronics
Jean Ahn - Berkeley Arirang for piano and electronics
Bruce Bennett - Translucent Night for trumpet and electronics
Helena Michelson - Romance for alto flute and piano
Hubert Ho - Meccanico for piano
John Bilotta - Trifles, Final Scene for chamber opera

Listening Journal: July 26-August 1, 2010

Johann Sebastian Bach - Concerto for Violin, Strings and Continuo in A minor BWV 1041 (1730) Hilary Hahn, violin, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Jeffrey Kahane, conductor
Aaron Copland - Billy the Kid (1938) for orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas
Camille Saint-Säens - Concerto No. 3 for Violin and Orchestra in B minor, op. 61 (1880) Cho-Liang Liu, violin, Philharmonia Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

Arnold Schoenberg - Serenade and Five Pieces for Orchestra - CD
   Serenade, op. 24 (1927) for baritone and seven instruments
   Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16 (1909)
   Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, op. 41 (1942) for string quartet, piano and narrator

Iannis Xenakis - A Portrait - CD #3
   Rebonds B (1988) for percussion
   Anaktoria (1969) for octet
   Dox Orkh (1991) for violin and orchestra
   Phlegra (1975) for eleven instruments
   Nuits (1968) for mixed chorus
   Psappha (1975) for percussion
   Rebonds B (1988) for percussion

Witold Lutoslawski - Partita for Violin and Orchestra (1988)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No. 1 in E-flat major K. 16 (1764)
Claude Debussy - La Mer (1905) for orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner

György Ligeti - Live in Paris, October 17, 2009 - CD
   Chamber Concerto (1970) for thirteen instruments
   Aventures (1962) for voices and chamber ensemble
   Nouvelles Aventures (1965) for voices and mixed ensemble

Frank La Rocca - String Trio (1981)
Samuel Adler - String Quartet No. 3 (1965)
Kaija Saariaho - Jardin Secret II (1986) for harpsichord and tape

Composing Session: July 31, 2010

Yesterday I was able to do something that I have not done in over a month.  I was able to devote a large block of time to composing.  Typically I can spend two maybe three hours at the most composing on a day when I am off work.  Yesterday, however, I spent at least five hours composing.  During that time I was able to complete the goals that I had set for myself.

As I outlined in a previous post I completed the sketch for the second movement, titled Drifting, of Trackings No. 2.  I had also adjusted the harmonies of a section of the first movement.  This was the last "big" thing I needed to do for that movement.  So that movement is now complete.  The primary thing I need to do to finish the second movement is to add expressions, articulations and dynamics.

I also spent time working on more preliminary ideas for Time in Memoriam.  I revisited my notes regarding my thoughts on the piece.  From there I was able to sketch out at least the first eight measures of the piece.

All-in-all it was a good day for composing.  While I was working on Time in Memoriam I listened to a recording of a concert that featured the music of György Ligeti.  On this recording is one of my favorite pieces, the Chamber Concerto.  There are a lot of fascinating techniques and music ideas that Ligeti used in the four movements of that piece.  My hope is to find another day in which I can spend most of the day working on my music.

New Music Forum Archives

Over the next few weeks I will be reposting articles, reviews and interviews on the New Music Forum website.  These archive postings will take place at least twice a week.  There may be some articles that I will cross-post on this blog.  It will depend on how pertinent the article is to what I am doing.

Recently I have reposted an interview with Alex Shapiro from 2002, a concert review of Elainie Lillios's music from 2008 and a review of Hilary Hahn's CD of the Schoenberg and Sibelius Violin Concertos.  Check out New Music Forum frequently for these reposts and new posts.  http://www.newmusicforum.com