Vocal setting rewritten

This past Monday I was off from work.  So I took advantage of the day off and spent some time rewriting the vocal line for Mutability.  I was almost able to complete the revision.  I say almost because I thought I was done until I started inputting it into Finale when I realized I accidentally skipped a line.  Specifically the third line of the second stanza.  I guess that is what I get when I try to do some of the text from memory.

That is an easy fix.  I was able to draw out a secondary theme in the process, which was one of my primary goals.  Now I can focus on writing the accompaniment paying close attention to the harmonic language.  As I have stated before, earlier versions of the piece were a little too harmonically stagnant.

Composing Session: January 16-17, 2010

As I stated in an earlier posting I have been reworking my setting of Mutability.  I sat down to work in it more this weekend.  One of the major changes is switching the time signature from 5/4 to 3/4.  So I started this weekend by reworking the vocal line.  Some changes are necessary so that certain syllables fall on strong beats and some on weak beats.  As I was doing this transition I started to notice something.  The accompaniment follows the melody a little and one aspect that was brought out through this reworking is a waltz-like feeling.  So I started to apply this felling to the accompaniment.  From what I have recomposed it seems to work well.

I spent time on Sunday working on a new intro using thematic devices and harmonies from the original sketch.  I am uncertain if this new intro is necessary or if it will be a secondary theme.  To implement this as a successful secondary theme I would need to transpose it into a different key area.  One of my biggest concerns about the first sketch was the stagnant nature of the harmonic language.

I think I need to continue to rework the vocal setting into 3/4 before deciding on the new material.  I want to see if I can draw out more thematic ideas, as I have shown above, before I continue recomposing the accompaniment.

Composing Session: January 10, 2010

I have recently become frustrated with the way Mutability was turning out.  I started to feel as if the accompaniment was becoming too repetitive.  The harmonic language as a result was too static.  For the most part, I do like the way the vocal setting was turning out.  However, even that feel to me a bit unfocused.

When creating themes or motives I will sometimes come up with these ideas that end up too difficult for me to develop.  I am starting to think that this is one of those times.  The triplet accompaniment figure I have been working with seemed like a good idea.  It was working well, for the first half of the piece.  I just do not know if I can bring it to a successful close the way it is.

Yesterday I started to take a new approach to the accompaniment.  I am keeping the harmonic language that I have laid out.  I may make some minor alterations as this aspect only needs some minor touch up.  I currently plan on keeping the vocal setting as best as I can.  This new approach is more sparse, unlike the flowing nature of what I was working with.  The other big change, so far, is the time signature.  The figuration I am working with fits into a 3/4 meter as opposed to the 5/4 meter of the flowing accompaniment.

So far I have only rewritten the introduction.  Yesterday was a short composing session.  I do not think that I will abandon the triplet idea all together.  I am thinking that it will work well as a secondary idea.  I am considering using it in the second stanza which begins: "Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings".

It is too soon to tell if this reworking is the right solution.  All I know is that I have decided to stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Dream Cycle - Echo

Below is the text for Echo by Christina Georgina Rossetti.  The fifth song in my Dream Cycle.

Echo
by Christina Georgina Rossetti

Come to me in the silence of the night;
Come in the speaking silence of a dream;
Come with soft rounded cheeks and eyes as bright
As sunlight on a stream;
Come back in tears,
O memory, hope, love of finished years.

Oh dream how sweet, too sweet, too bitter-sweet,
Whose wakening should have been in Paradise,
Where souls brim-full of love abide and meet;
Where thirsting longing eyes
Watch the slow door
That opening, letting in, lets out no more

Yet come to me in dreams, that I may live
My very life again though cold in death:
Come back to me in dreams, that I may give
Pulse for pulse, breath for breath:
Speak low, lean low,
As long ago, my love, how long ago.

Unused concepts for Dream Cycle

As I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the end of my Dream Cycle I have taken a look back at a couple of my undeveloped ideas.  There are two texts that I considered using, but did not use.  The first is a text by Christina Georgina Rossetti entitled Mirage.  As you know, I am using Rossetti's Echo as the final song of the cycle.  Mirage is a beautiful three-stanza poem about things not always being what you want them to be.

The other text is an original poem I wrote around 2002 entitled Nights When I Dream.  This is a very personal effort for me.  I wrote this when I was coming to terms with moving from Bowling Green, OH to Eugene, OR.  This poem is also a reflection of my personal feelings and beliefs.

I may yet decide to put these texts into song and either expand Dream Cycle or possibly make a sequel to the song cycle.  Only time will tell.

Dream Cycle - A Clear Midnight

Below is the text for A Clear Midnight by Walt Whitman.  The fourth song in my Dream Cycle.

A Clear Midnight
by Walt Whitman

This is thy hour O Soul thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

Dream Cycle - A Dream

Below is the text for A Dream by Edgar Allen Poe.  The third song in my Dream Cycle.

A Dream
by Edgar Allen Poe

In visions of the dark night

I have dreamed of joy departed;

But a waking dream of life and light

Hath left me broken hearted.

Ah! what is not a dream by day

To him whose eyes are cast

On things around him with a ray

Turned back upon the past?

That holy dream, that holy dream,

While all the world were chiding,

Hath cheered me as a lovely beam

A lonely spirit guiding.

What though that light, thro’ storm and night,

So trembled from afar--

What could there be more purely bright

In Truth’s day-star?

Dream Cycle - I Dream'd in a Dream

Below is the text for I Dream'd in a Dream by Walt Whitman.  The second song in my Dream Cycle.

I Dream'd in a Dream
by Walt Whitman

I dream'd in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth,
I dream'd that was the new city of Friends,
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love, it led the rest.
It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city,
And in all their looks and words.

Dream Cycle - Mutability

Below is the text for Mutability by Percy Bysshe Shelley.  The first song in my Dream Cycle.

Mutability
by Percy Bysshe Shelley

We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon;
How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver,
Streaking the darkness radiantly! -yet soon
Night closes round, and they are lost for ever:

Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings
Give various response to each varying blast,
To whose frail frame no second motion brings
One mood or modulation like the last.

We rest. -A dream has power to poison sleep;
We rise. -One wandering thought pollutes the day;
We feel, conceive or reason, laugh or weep;
Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away:<

It is the same! -For, be it joy or sorrow,
The path of its departure still is free:
Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow;
Nought may endure but Mutablilty.

Song order for "Dream Cycle"

Now that Mutability is almost complete, I have thought a bit about song order for Dream Cycle.  The order below is still tentative until I finish all songs, but this is what I am leaning towards right now.

   Mutability - Percy Bysshe Shelley
   I Dream'd in a Dream - Walt Whitman
   A Dream - Edgar Allen Poe
   A Clear Midnight - Walt Whitman
   Echo - Christina Georgina Rossetti

Composing Session: December 12, 2009

So I was finally able to lock myself away in my office and spend some time composing.  It has been a while since I have been able to dedicate half a day to composing.  I did get a lot accomplished.  I have the outline of the accompaniment done and I have marked where the vocal part of the last two stanzas will lay.

I decided to break one of my rules of composing in order to make a push to get this song done.  I did a lot of the composing on Saturday into Finale.  This means that I entered my previous sketch of the first two stanzas into Finale, edited it and composed more in the program rather than using pencil and paper.  Normally, I like to have a hand written sketch of the score before inputting it into Finale.  However, I really want to finish this song and I decided that it would be easier for me to compose into Finale.  I do not think that there is anything wrong with this method of composing.  This is just not how I would like to compose. I enjoy sitting at the keyboard and hand writing my sketches and scores.

My hope is that in the next day or so I can spend time fleshing out the vocal line and complete the score for Mutability.  After this song is done, I will only have one short song left to write.  For this song, I will use the text A Clear Midnight by Walt Whitman.  I already have a couple of sketches for the accompaniment that I might use. We will see.

"Mutability" Update

This weekend I did not spend nearly enough time composing.  The time that I did spend was productive.  I reworked the sketch I have been working on for the accompaniment of the second stanza.  Initially I had the accompaniment alternating sonorities every two measures.  The thematic and rhythmic material is similar, but the harmonies changed every two measures.  I felt as if this was too predictable so I rearranged the measures to alternate the harmonies every measure.  Essentially, I switched measures 2 & 3, 6 & 7, etc.

After playing through this new "arrangement" I was happier wit the way things are taking shape.  Now I need to start composing the vocal line and integrate it with the accompaniment.  I have also been thinking that the accompaniment for the fourth stanza will be nearly identical to the first, giving the song a sense of return.  I may change my mind on this, however.  I am not yet completely sure.

Composing Session: November 18, 2009

A few weeks ago I had created a timeline which outlined my plan for finishing Dream Cycle.  I had planned on being done with the draft of Mutability by last week.  Well, yesterday was the first day in which I have composed since I created that timeline.  So basically I can throw it out the window.

With all that said I did have a productive composing session yesterday.  I spent sometime developing the accompaniment for the second stanza.  Basically, I sat at the keyboard and played around with the initial material that I had.  I tried to steer myself away from the repetitive nature of the accompaniment of the first stanza.  I will be using repetition on some level because the accompaniment needs to be fluid from stanza to stanza.  This will create a more cohesive sound instead of sounding like four different pieces (one for each stanza).

Right now I have eight measures sketched out.  I do not think that this sketch I created last night will be the "final" version.  I will need to spend more time fleshing out the material.  Some of the motives and thematic ideas could be explored a little bit more.  This could possibly provide more material for development in later stanzas.  After I work on this a little more, I will begin working on the vocal sketch.

Phases of the accompaniment

In the sketching of the accompaniment for Mutability there have been a few phases through which the thematic ideas have gone. The sketch on the left contains examples of such phases.  (Click on image to enlarge)  Example 1 illustrates the basic, almost primitive gesture.  This is a two-beat quintuplet gesture that was to be transformed in many different ways.  I had initially chose the quintuplet gesture because the word "mutability" is a five-syllable word.  As you will see the quintuplet gesture is no longer the base for the accompaniment; however the number five will remain prevalent.

Example 2 shows the second phase of the accompaniment.  Here is the quintuplet gesture is replaced by two sets of triplets.  My intent here was to create a gesture that floats to the top and then tumbles down.  This is the phase in which I did the most experimentation.  Because of my amazing piano skills (please note the sarcasm) I entered this gesture into Finale.  From there I varied it through transposition and interval adjustment in order to try and find the sound I was looking for.  A couple of examples of the variations are included in example 3.

The fourth example includes the current state of the gesture.  After I had found the harmonic language I wanted, I decided to cut the tumbling aspect of the gesture.  I started to think that this last part of the gesture was too final.  It brings the gesture to a point of repose in the middle of the phrase.  This did not allow for the fluidity which I desired.  After settling on this I created two secondary gestures as contrasting ideas.  These are shown in examples 5 and 6.  From there, I assembled these gestures to create the introduction for the song.

All of the gestures in the introduction will be utilized as primary gestures for each stanza.  The "floating" gesture is used with stanza one.  The secondary gesture in example 5 will be used in stanza two.  The one in example 6 will be used in the third stanza, probably along with the "floating" gesture (not sure yet).  The fourth and final stanza will use a combination of all three gestures, possibly in a similar fashion to the introduction.

The Shaping of the Song

I have finally made, in my mind, substantial progress with the song Mutability.  The texture and the vocal setting are finally starting to take shape.  The texture is one thing in particular with which I have been struggling.

When I am uncomfortable composing for a particular medium, in this case voice and piano, I tend to fall back on compositional styles that are easier for me to develop.  This often includes slower devices, such as tempo, harmonic development and overall texture.  My tendency towards these things stems from the type of music I listen to.  My favorite composers include Kaija Saariaho, Gyorgy Ligeti, Tristan Murail and Olivier Messiaen.  These composers have a lot in common in terms of texture, harmonic development and melody.  I do not necessarily draw from specific pieces from these composers, but their output holds a tremendous influence over me.

Falling back on familiar devices is not a bad thing.  However, the piece I am currently working on is a song cycle for alto voice and piano.  Composing a series of songs, each in a similar vein become pedantic, almost boring.  Not only to the listener, but the performers and myself.  I need to challenge and push myself to do different things with the medium.

I have always had a clear concept of the texture for both the vocal setting and the accompaniment for Shelley's text Mutability.  The issue I have been struggling with is realizing that concept.  I want the accompaniment to be fluid, flowing freely.  Almost like waves that outline the harmony and carry the voice.  My concept for the vocal setting is a floating melody that sits on top of the accompaniment, letting the piano drive the piece rhythmically.

I have done a few drafts of both the piano accompaniment and the vocal setting.  It has taken me a few weeks to create the shape and texture the music has become.  While the shaping of this song has been a struggle, it is a vital part of the composition.  Now that the ground work is laid and the outline of the first stanza is complete, the other three stanzas should fall into place relatively quickly.

Fall Projects Update

I have been looking at my list of pieces I would like to compose.  I have also been thinking about my next project.  In an earlier post I wrote that I will be doing an orchestration of Playing in the Shadows for the call for scores for the 2010 New Music @ ECU Festival.  The deadline for this call is coming up in a couple of weeks and I realize that I do not have enough time to meet this deadline.  Therefore, I have decided to put this project on hold.

My first priority remains the Dream Cycle.  I will be resuming work on Mutability this week.  On Tuesday, I finished editing the score for I Dream'd in a Dream.  I have decided to include A Clear Midnight as the fifth song (but not necessarily fifth in order) of the cycle.  As I get closer to finishing Mutability I will start thinking about the order of the songs.

I am not sure what my next project will be after I finish Dream Cycle.  I may try to find an outlet for the complete version of Off you go... and work on the rest of that piece.  I am also planning another collaboration with Micheal Vickers.  For this I have been brainstorming ideas for instrumentation, but I have not yet settled on anything.  I am leaning towards something with winds and strings as opposed to a standard quartet or quintet.  I am open to the idea of a "standard" ensemble, but I am not sure of what I want right now.  There is a lot I would like to compose, I just do not know what I would like to do next.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today, I celebrate my 33rd birthday!  To celebrate I took Monday and today off from work.  I figured I had a couple of holidays owed to me so "why not?"  While it gives me time to rest, it also gives me time to do the thing I love...compose.  I am going to spend some time entering the revisions of I Dream'd in a Dream into Finale and look at my plans for future projects.  Of course tonight I will enjoy a big piece of the birthday cake my wife has made for me.

Overhauling the song

As I continue to look at my song I Dream'd in a Dream something does not seem right to me.  I like the motivic development of the accompaniment and the general outline of the vocal setting.  The aspect I realized that I do not like is the flow of the vocal melody.  The overall shape and contours of the sub-phrases are fine.  There is too much space between these sub-phrases that interrupt the continuity of the vocal setting.

My first approach to fix this issue was to tighten up the melody and delete some of the superfluous measures.  I worked on that a little bit, but I found that in the context of the accompaniment there are not many "extra" measures.  Then I thought of the idea of changing the time signature from 5/4 to 4/4.  This ended up being an easy change as many of the measures ended with half notes.  So, in essence, there were superfluous beats in almost every measure.

This change seems to work for the best.  I did need to drop three measures to tighten up the space between the lines of text.  Also, I have had to change some, but not many, pitches to fit better with the accompaniment.  Since I am not a great piano player, I will need to enter these changes into Finale and listen to the playback to hear for sure if this is the best solution.

Sketch process: I Dream'd in a Dream

When composing the song I Dream'd in a Dream the accompaniment was derived first.  I am not saying that the vocal setting was an after thought.  Rather, I drafted the accompaniment ideas first since they were the more prominent  musical ideas that came to mind.  Then as I was composing the vocal setting, I worked with the accompaniment to mould the two parts into a cohesive unit.

On the left I posted the initial sketch page for this song.  (Click sketch for full-size image)  The top system includes the ideas I toyed with for the introduction/primary motif.  The second system is where I started outlining possibilities for the vocal setting.  The third system is where I sketched the basic accompaniment figures for the second through fourth lines of the text.

It was when I worked on this part of the sketch that I began to see the song come together as a whole.  The text written below the thematic lines does not correlate to any specific rhythms or texture.  I wrote the text under the lines so that I could outline what text will go with what accompaniment.

From that point I worked on composing out the accompaniment, creating the form and structure.  When adding the vocal setting I found that I needed to tighten up the accompaniment making slight changes to the texture so that the two parts can work together, but that is a topic for another entry.

"I Dream'd in a Dream" sketch completed

This afternoon I completed the sketch for my song, I Dream'd in a Dream.  My intent for this song was to give the accompaniment a simplistic and open quality.  I feel as if I accomplished that.  Tomorrow, I will continue to input the song into Finale.  There are a few measures in which I need to fill out, but the primary accompaniment and the vocal line is finished.  As I edit the score and look at it more closely, I may decide to revise sections.  This is a natural process for me as I always continue to edit and revise my music as I enter it into Finale.

I hope to post some sketches of the song and talk more about the process in the next few days.  Right now I am happy this song is pretty much done.  Now I can refocus my energy on the song Mutability.