Happy Halloween!

Happy halloween to all the ghouls and goblins out there!  In honor of the day I listened to Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor which is a seemingly appropriate piece.

I hope the Great Pumpkin came to your sincere pumpkin patch.  The holiday season is now upon us and soon Thanksgiving and then Christmas will be here.

Reworking the 3rd movement

I had initially skipped over the 3rd movement of Trackings No. 2 in favor of the 4th movement.  Now I am going back and working on the 3rd.  This is a tricky movement as the cello and bass play harmonics in the first twenty-two measures and again from measure thirty-six to forty-six (the end of the movement).  Even in the section from measure twenty-three to thirty-five is not played "normally."  These thirteen measures are more focused on the bowing shifting between sul ponticello and sul tasto.

How do I approach adding piano to this movement?  This is the question that led me to skipping over this movement in favor of the fourth.  On the original sketch score I have made a couple of notes to myself about this.  One is to compose a part where the piano does not go below middle C.  This makes sense as the cello and bass perform harmonics, so their actual pitch will be in the upper register.  Also this movement title is "Crystal" so it does lend itself well to the playing in the upper registers.

Another note says to "create slow moving oscillations" and to "think shimmering."  Again these suggestions lend themselves well to the idea of crystals.  With the cello and bass performing long tones some sort of motion in the piano part does seem necessary.  In order to create a fitting piano part I will need to look at the harmonies created in the strings.

Another consideration I will need to make in this movement is the duration.  As it is this movement is just over three minutes.  The goal for this piece is to limit the movements to no more than two minutes each.  These movements should be "scenes" or "vignettes" and not too long.  The approach I will take with the accompaniment may be dependent on what I decide to cut from the movement.  If the material is interesting enough I may try to adapt the cut section(s) into the piano part.

This movement does provide an interesting set of challenges.  I will need to take my time to carefully craft a logical piano part.  It will be interesting to see and hear the end result.

Through the soundwalls

Today I finished the first section of Time in Memoriam.  This is the section containing the soundwalls I have described in previous posts.  This section consists of approximately the first three minutes of music.  My goal for this section is to set up the sound world and some of the thematic material in the piece.

Following this section I am going to include what was the opening section of Fate of the Future.  This was a wind ensemble piece I started back in 2001, but never spent much time on.  This section features a solo line in the oboe, which I am going to move to the clarinet.  To me the counter point in this section is very interesting and I hope to continue in that was as I work on Time in Memoriam.

I am still trying to figure out if I need to create an "intro" to this next section or if I should start in with the solo line.  I keep going back and forth on this issue.  At times I think that I could just go into the solo line.  Other time I think it would be better to compose a bridge or intro so that this section will have a different start to it than the opening of the piece.  However, I do not know in what way I should approach the bridge.

Listening Journal: October 18-24, 2010

Esa-Pekka Salonen - Insomnia (2002) for orchestra

György Ligeti - The Ligeti Project V - CD
   Aventures (1962) for three singers and seven instrumentalists
   Nouvelles Aventures (1965) for three singers and seven instrumentalists
   Artikulation (1958) for tape
   Eight Pieces from "Musica Ricercata" (1953) arranged for accordion
   Sonata for Cello Solo (1948/53)
   Big Turtle Fanfare from the South China Sea (1985) for trumpet
   Balada si Joc (1950) for orchestra
   Régi magyar társastáncok (1949) for flute, clarinet and strings

Tristan Murail - Le Lac (2001) for mixed ensemble
Alban Berg - Violin Concerto (1935)


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Feeling Nostalgic

I do not know if it is because I am composing wind ensemble music for a high school or just reflecting, but I have been feeling a little nostalgic for my high school days.  In particular I have been going back and listening to the music I liked in those days.  I have realized that my taste in classical music has changed dramatically.  Much of the music I would listen to was by composers like Brahms, Richard Strauss or Bach.  While I still appreciate and listen to those composers I tend to listen to more modern composers like Ligeti, Messiaen and Saariaho.

My taste in popular music has changed however I still listen to some of the same artists as I did back then.  The difference is that I have allowed (more like required) myself to expand my horizons and try new things.  So while I do not listen to a lot of the music that I did in high school, I do still like it and bring it out from time to time.

I do find this sense of nostalgia amusing.  At the same time I can appreciate it.  It has, in a sense, brought me back to where I began.  It also allows me to revisit some music I have not heard in year.  All this has given me some interesting ideas for Time in Memoriam.

In spirt of the simpler times of high school, I have no desire to relive my high school days.  While my life is a struggle at times, I would not trade it for anything.

Addendum to Listening Journal: October 10-17, 2010

A couple of pieces were accidentally omitted from the listening journal.

Krzystof Penderecki - Three Miniatures for Clarinet and Piano (1956)
Bela Bartok - String Quartet No. 3 (1927)

Listening Journal: October 11-17, 2010

Kaija Saariaho - Lichtbogen (1986) for chamber orchestra

György Ligeti - The Ligeti Edition III - CD
   Cello Concerto (1966)
   Clocks and Clouds (1973) for 12 female voices
   Violin Concerto (1992)
   Sippal, Dobbal, Nádihegedüvel (2000) for mezzo-soprano and four percussionists

Kaija Saariaho - Solar (1993) for 13 instrumentalists

György Ligeti - The Ligeti Project IV - CD
   Hamburg Concerto (2003) for horn and chamber orchestra with four obligato natural horns
   Double Concerto (1972) for flute, oboe and orchestra
   Ramifications (1963) for 12 solo strings
   Requiem (1963/65) for soprano and mezzo soprano solo, mixed chorus and orchestra

Krzystof Penderecki - Divertimento (1994) for cello
Johannes Brahms - Six Piano Pieces, op. 118 (1893) Emanuel Ax, piano




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Two years and blogging

Sunday, October 17th was the two-year anniversary of my blog.  I feel as if this blog has been a valuable tool for me and my compositional activities.  This blog had made me more accountable for my listening activities.  It has also helped me to think about aspects of my music and work through the problems and struggles I have experienced.  I am glad that I started this blog and I am even happier that I have kept it up.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 34th birthday!  I look forward to another year of listening to good music, going to concerts, spending time with my family and friends and of course composing music.  The past year has been good to me in a musical sense.

I raise a glass to the past year as I can now file away the memories, both good and bad.  I toast the year to come in hopes that I am able to help put me and my family in a better position for the future.

Color and Wind Ensemble Music

When I think back to the music I played in high school concert band I think about straight-forward harmonic progressions and lyrical melodies.  I cannot recall any music we performed that focused on texture and timbre.  Of course the composers select the instrumentation with a particular sound in mind.  However, melody and harmony were still the focus points of the music.

In composing Time in Memoriam I am attempting to bring forward the elements of color: texture and timbre.  In doing so I hope to challenge the performers and add my own voice to the repertoire.  The color elements will be the main focus in the first and last sections of the piece.  I do have melodies and themes that I will include in this piece.  Also, the B section is still going to be rhythmically and thematically driven as I have indicated in the past.

I do need to keep in mind the level of the performers for this piece.  As I compose these sections I need to make sure that there are aspects of the music that the performers can understand.  Often when working with younger performers they become focused on playing the right notes and aspects like balance and the entirety of the ensemble become forgotten, especially in abstract music.  With that said, creating themes and textures that the performers can latch on to is important.  This helps the understanding which in turn allows for a better performance.

This will be a challenge for me as I compose these sections.  I have a tendency to think that the performers will understand what I am trying to convey without much direction.  Younger and less experienced performers can understand this type of music with clear directions.  I do believe that this stylistic choice can be successful if composed properly.

A different approach to the composing process

With the new direction in the musical material of the opening I find that I may need to change my approach in composing Time in Memoriam.  The opening is now much more textural with a focus on timbre.  As a result I am thinking that a basic sketch score prior to orchestrating will not work.

With a focus on timbre the orchestration is a very important aspect of the piece.  The development of the music over time is dependent on what instruments are playing what notes.  Instrumental combination will also influence the timbre and flow.  This is why I am considering doing the majority of the composition of Time in Memoriam in Finale.  I will be able to hear, in a way, the timbral effects composed and the be able to make more informed choices about how to proceed.

While this is not the ideal method of composing, I do feel as if it may be a necessary evil based on the stylistic choices I have made.  After all, the end product is much more important that the process I use to get there.

Modification

I have been struggling with what to write between the sound walls in the opening section of Time in Memoriam.  I tried a few different ideas and none of the seemed to work for me.  On Wednesday I was listening to Kaija Saariaho's Lichtbogen and it gave me some ideas.  At the time the issue with these ideas was that they would require me to rewrite the opening.  This would mean no sound walls at the beginning. I was fine with this as I would be able to move on with the piece and I thought about how to use the sound walls later in the piece.

On Thursday I listened to Saariaho's Solar and I heard something at the beginning of this piece that showed me how I could the sound walls in this new approach.  My original intent was to have a driving pulse underneath long tones.  I have eliminated the pulse and the rhythmic motion is now created through figuration in the mallet percussion.

The other primary change is in the tempo.  I have essentially cut the tempo in half from a quarter-note pulse at 96-108 to a quarter-note pulse at 54.  This new tempo is dictated by the "interlude" material I have composed to go between the sound walls.

As of right now the rest of the form and plan for this piece is still intact.  However, as always, I may nee to make some modifications as I continue to write this piece.

Listening Journal: October 4-10, 2010

Iannis Xenakis - Shaar (1987) for orchestra

Johann Sebastian Bach - Keyboard Concertos Nos. 1, 2 & 4 - CD
  Murray Perahia, piano and conductor, Academy of St. Martins in the Field
   Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 (1738)
   Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV 1053 (1738)
   Keyboard Concerto No. 4 in A major, BWV 1955 (1738)

Alexander Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 8, op. 66 (1913) Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
Karol Szymanowski - Nocturne and Tarantella, op. 28 (1915) for violin and orchestra


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Sketching ideas

I have been racking my brain as to how to proceed from the opening sound wall in Time and Memoriam.  I have tried to conceptualize different possibilities.  As soon as I think I might have a good idea, I begin to realize that it might not fit with the surrounding music.  In spite of this I have decided to continue to sketch these ideas.  After all, it could turn out that some of these ideas may be integrated somewhere else in the piece.  In addition, I believe that working through these ideas will eventually lead me to ideas which I will include.

Yesterday, I was working on some rhythmic ideas to follow the first sound wall.  Right now I am not convinced that these ideas will work in this section, but I kept working on it never-the-less.  I do like the concept of this idea.  It is an eighth-note triplet motif with long tones above.  Even if this does not work in this section, I think that there are a couple of other places in which this may work.  This is an example of why I think sketching ideas, even if they night not work, is a good practice.

Listening Journal: September 27-October 3, 2010

Kaija Saariaho - Je sens un deuxiéme Coeur (2003) for piano, violin and cello
Marc-André Dalbavie - Ciaccona (2002) for orchestra
Peter Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36 (1878) New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Iannis Xenakis - Palimpsest (1979) for piano, 6 rums, wind and strings
Olivier Messiaen - Cantéyodjayâ (1948) for piano
Einojuhani Rautavaara - Piano Concerto No. 2 (1989)

György Ligeti - The Ligeti Project II - CD
   Lontano (1967) for orchestra
   Atmosphères (1961) for orchestra
   Apparitions (1958-59) for orchestra
   San Francisco Polyphony (1973-74) for orchestra
   Concert Românesc (1951) for orchestra

Alban Berg - Three Orchestral Pieces (1915)

Score completed for Trackings No. 2, movement 4

Today I finished the score for the fourth movement of Trackings No. 2.  This movement titled "Arching" is just under two minutes in duration.  My main goal of the day was to figure out in what way I wanted this movement to end. I thought about ending small where the cello and bass would peter out with the pizzicato oscillation.  I felt that in order to do this type of ending justice I would need to add between four and eight more measures.  This would have pushed this movement over two minutes.  This would not work because one of the parameters under which I am composing is that each movement is under two minutes in duration.  Also, after I thought about it more this type of ending would not do the movement justice.  Ending "big" was my best option.  I made some changes to the transition that leads back to the recap and pout an eighth note tag on the end to create an abrupt ending.

The big change I made today was to the oscillation at the beginning of the movement.  Originally the oscillation start with the movement.  I began to feel as if there was too much going on at the beginning.  So I took the six-note, two-measure melody I had composed the other day and included it at the beginning (measures 1-8) and at the recap (measures 38-45)

Today I went through and included all of the phrasing, dynamics and expressions.  This movement is done... for now.  As always I may make some changes later on if I decide that it is necessary.  Right now this movement is in good shape.  All that is left to compose in this piece is movements three, five and six.

Making Progress on the Fourth Movement

Yesterday I was able to spend some time on the fourth movement of Trackings No. 2.  I started by completing the piano melody in measures twenty five to thirty two.  As I may have mentioned in a previous post the challenge in completing this movement is going to be the transition.  The trickiest part of it was coming out of the transition into the return of the A section.  The cello and bass part that had previously been sketched was transposed for a couple of measures at the recap.  I wanted to compose a piano part that was not just a transposition of the beginning.  I think I found something that works.  The problem now becomes the fact that it is new material and I may need to look at including similar material somewhere else in the movement.

The main thing that is left to do is to compose the ending.  I have a couple of ideas as to how to end this movement.  I need to decide if I want to end big, or small, but abrupt.  I will be playing with both ideas tomorrow when I have some time.