bicemusic.com: Page added - Shadows of Dreams

Shadows of Dreams for flute quartet was composed for the University of California, Santa Cruz Flute Ensemble.  This piece came to be after I was put in contact with the ensemble director Greer Ellison.  She was very supportive during the composition process which made the writing of the piece much easier.  It is not often where you find someone who is genuinely excited about a piece being composed for their ensemble as Greer was.

Shadows of Dreams was composed between October 2008 and April 2009.  On the page you will find program notes, the score and the recording from the premiere on June 2, 2009.  You can view the page under the chamber music section of the Compositions page or by following the link below.

http://bicemusic.com/?page_id=475

Beginning a new piece

On Saturday I began work on a new piece.  I am composing this piece for Greer Ellison, a flautist who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I met Greer a couple of years ago when I composed Shadows of Dreams for the flute ensemble she conducts at the University of California at Santa Cruz.  The title of the  piece is Flit and will be for solo flute.  I chose this title because of the light and quick nature of some of the motivic and thematic ideas I began to work with.

Starting a new piece is always fun.  There are so many possibilities for the piece.  There are lots of new ideas to try and old ideas to develop in a different way.  My hope is that this piece will come together more easily than Time in Memoriam.  That was a piece that underwent a few formal revisions before growing into its final form.

I am looking forward to getting into this piece.  This is definitely a more intimate piece opposed to the couple of wind ensemble pieces I have composed recently.

Performance blog: UCSC Flute Studio Recital - June 5, 2009

On Friday, June 5, 2009 the UCSC Flute Choir undertook, once again, Shadows of Dreams.  The performance was a part of the the Flute Studio Recital.  This was one of the rare times in which I did not attend the performance of one of my pieces.  My wife and I had already made the two and a half hour journey to Santa Cruz twice in the span of a week.  One time for a rehearsal and once for the premiere.  I did not have the time, or the money, to travel once again to hear them play my piece, though I kind of wish I could have.  I did receive the recording so I was able to hear this performance.

Upon listening to this recording it was clear that it was not as strong of a performance as the one on June 2nd.  The concert took place at the end of the school year and I could tell that fatigue was setting in.  All in all I will say that I am not disappointed with the whole experience.  I had a lot of fun composing the piece, meeting the performers and hearing the performances.  Thank you Greer Ellison and the UCSC Flute Choir. 

What I Did on my Summer Vacation Part 1 (May & June 2009)

This Summer started off great!  Well, actually we have to look a little before Summer to see where it all began.  As I have already blogged about May 18th was the first in a series of performances that would take me through the Summer.  On May 18th, Philip Santos performed Glimpses of the Moon for violin at the Seventh Annual Glenn Glasow Memorial Concert.

May 24th was another important day as my wife and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary.  At times it is hard to believe that we have now been married over a year.  We spent the day at the Oakland Zoo.  It is always fun to see the animals.  We finished the day by having dinner at the Olive Garden, one of Melissa's favorite places to eat.

June 2nd and 5th saw the premiere and second performance of my flute quartet, Shadows of Dreams.  The experience as a whole was great.  Greer Ellison, the ensemble's director, is very nice and supportive.  The quality of the performance was what you would expect from an undergrad ensemble.  The two performances were quite different.  I do hope to be able to work with Greer again.

Saturday, June 6th, was the first of two performances of my woodwind quintet Visions of a Landscape.  This piece is important because it is my first collaboration with SF Bay Area photographer Micheal Vickers.  This concert, supported by the San Francisco chapter of the National Association of Composers, USA, was to me more of a preview performance as the Avenue Winds performed only the 3rd and 5th movements.  I remember leaving this concert happy because it was the first time an ensemble accurately performed a fast movement of mine at the correct tempo.  It is amazing what happens when professionals perform your music.

The rest of June was rather exciting.  I was promoted to receiving lead for the Stockton, CA, Bed, Bath and Beyond and so there was some adjustment there.  Also on June 18th, my nephew Jonathan David Bice was born.  Big things were happening and this is shaping up to be a great summer. 

Performance blog: UCSC Chamber Music Concert - June 2, 2009

On June 2, 2009 the UC Santa Cruz Flute Choir presented the premiere performance of my Shadows of Dreams. The ensemble consisted of Cheyenne Montalbin, 1st flute, Sarah Hughes and Nick Ross 2nd flutes, Lisa Ryland, alto flute and Hilary Armstrong, bass flute. The ensemble sis a really good job with my piece. This is a piece that demands that the performers be versatile as it requires different playing styles in the various moods.

The whole concert was a mix of the different chamber groups on campus. The ensembles ranged from guitar quartet to a bass quartet. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay through the whole concert. My wife and I had to leave after my piece was performed because we had about a two and a half hour drive to get home.

I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised with the performance. In a previous entry I talked about the final rehearsal prior to this concert. The ensemble suffered from balance and intonation issues. Fortunately during the performance some of those issues were fixed. The ensemble sounded more balanced and phrases that stuck out in the rehearsal blended better in the concert hall.

All-in-all this was a very positive experience for me. I wish I could be there on June 5th as the ensemble is scheduled to play the piece again at the flute studio concert. I trust that they will do as good of a job. Greer has promised to get me a recording of both performances so we will see.

I would like to thank Greer Ellison for the opportunity to write Shadows of Dreams. I hope to work with her in the future.

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.

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.

Shadows of Dreams finished

About ten days ago I finished Shadows of Dreams for flute quartet.  The music has been entered into Finale.  The score and parts have been emailed to Greer Ellison, director of the University of California Santa Cruz Flute Ensemble.

It is such a relief to have finished the piece.  I really enjoyed working on it and yet there is a tremendous satisfaction in handing over the completed score to an ensemble who is interested in performing the work.

I am eager to hear back from Greer to get some feed back about my piece and to receive confirmation that Shadows of Dreams will be performed on a concert in June.

I will post further updates about this piece as time goes on.  I will also post some more sketches and drafts and talk a bit about my compositional process.  At this time I plan on waiting about another week before I take another look at it.  This will allow me to look at the piece with fresh eyes.

First draft of sketch completed

Last Sunday, March 8th, I finished the first sketch of Shadows of Dreams for flute quartet.  This is only a sketch of the piece.  There are many sections that need to be filled in.  Some harmonies and counterpoint need to be added or expanded.  Articulations and dynamics need to be finished.  This sketch is however a huge step towards finishing the piece.

My hope is that over he next 2 weeks I can complete the sketch and begin notating the score in Finale.  I would like to get the score to Greer Ellison, director of the UC Santa Cruz Flute Ensemble for whom this piece was composed, by the end of March.

Right now Shadows of Dreams is just over 10 minutes in duration (approximately).  This could change as I complete the score.  There are one or two sections that I may wish to expand as I continue to work on this quartet.

Molding a section

I have been holding to my goals for this week.  Since Sunday I have been composing at least one hour each day.  It has been a very productive time for me.  I was able to join together 2 sketches I had been working on, I decided on a title and I have solidified my vision for this piece.  Over the last few days I have been working on the next section.  I started off with a blank slate trying to create melodic ideas and motives on which to bases this section.  From there I selected the parts that I liked and tried to expand them.  Today I was able to sketch out the beginning of this section.  The next step is to compose a transition so that I can combine this section into the piece.  This will probably be my focus for tomorrow.

I am really happy with my progress.  After the work I have done this week, I believe that finishing this quartet by the end of March is an attainable goal.

Goals and Progress

My goal for this week is to compose at least one hour each day.  The time spent will be in addition to the compositional-related activities such as reading, listening and score study.

One thing I have learned as a composer is that there are times when you have to push through and make time to compose.  Whenever I take a break from composing and I have a difficult time getting back into it, I like to create that goal.  During the first couple of days back I often feel as if I am forcing things out.  Sometimes I will struggle and sit frustrated with my progress, but everything I do during those days is important.  I need to remind myself that I can always go back and revise, expand or edit the work I did.  The act of composing is a beneficial thing.

Today at the end of my studio time, I was thinking about the scope of the piece.  This is something that I believe a composer should often do.  Then this thought came to mind.  This thought helps to define my intent for Shadows of Dreams.  Here is that thought:

Sections float in and out like disjointed dreams.  Different textures and feelings permeate the various scenes.  Yet there is something oddly reminiscent, like a unifying element.

Status of the composition

Today was my first good day composing in quite a while.  I spent a lot of time revisiting my piece and thinking about the direction.  I almost feel that I spent too much time thinking.  I was starting to become indecisive and I started to doubt what I was doing.  I was able to let go and push forward with what I was trying to do at first.  In my composing session, I was able to connect the 2 sections that I was working on and now I have about 3-1/2 minutes of music.

The other "breakthrough" I has today was the title.  For the longest time I have been working without a title.  I do not know if that was causing a subconscious mental block, but I feel as if I had a hard time thinking of the piece as a real composition without some sort of title.  I have decided to title this piece Shadows of Dreams.  It is funny, but after I wrote the title down and started to think about it, the doubts I had earlier in the session seemed silly.

I think I am at a point where I need to push through and continue to work on this piece.  I need to remember that I can always go back and rewrite sections that don't make sense, or do not fit later on.

Narrowing the Scope

About a week ago I had described a musical idea that stuck in my mind as I was listening to a piece by Webern.  I began sketching this idea and I became attached to it.  Well, as I have been working on this quartet, I have been trying to focus on the scope of this piece.  What is my overall structure?  Will this be a multi-movement or a single-movement piece?  What kind of sound world do I wish to create?  I decided that this will be a single-movement work.  This decision is in large part because many of my recent works have been multi-movement.  I want to challenge myself to write a longer piece in a single movement.

With this decision, I have had to look at the varying sketches I have created.  Some will work in this piece, however some will not.  The sketch mentioned above fits into the latter category.  The idea is solid, but it is not suited to work in the structure and sound world I have created.  Most likely, I will be using this musical idea in my flute, cello and percussion trio, Off you go...  This is a multi-movement work I began in 2003 of which one movement has been completed.  This piece may receive further discussion in a future post as it is a very important piece to me.

The point of this entry is that I have finally narrowed down the scope of this piece.  I have gone back and forth lately on whether this is a single-movement or multi-movement piece.  Since I have now figured out my direction I may go back and review the sketch score and see if revisions may be necessary.

Multiple streams

Before I sat down to compose today, I was listening to Anton Webern's Passacaglia, op. 1.  While listening, this musical idea came to mind.  The idea is a variation of a motive I heard.  It is not a melodic idea as much as an accompanimental idea.  So, of course, my mind would not let it go.  I worked with it and played with it tonight.  I composed a melodic line that can go with it and I will probably spend time developing it in the coming days.

I noticed that there are similarities in this idea with another that I have briefly worked on.  Unfortunately, the material I composed tonight has no immediate connection with the introduction I am working on.  However, I do believe that they can all be a part of a larger piece.

I have toyed with the idea of composing multiple movements.  Right now, I am more interested in composing a larger single-movement work.  As I work on these various sections I do need to keep looking at how they all relate, in order to compose a cohesive piece.  I do not want to give this piece a patchwork feel, by forcing these ideas together.

A progression of sketches

Sketch Score 11/6/08

Outline Sketch 11/6/08

Sketch Score 11/5/08

The three images above are a few of the sketches from my composing sessions on November 5th and 6th.  There are two sketch scores and one outline sketch.  The outline sketch bridges the two sketch scores.  All of these sketches focus on the same opening group of measures.  The sketch score dated 11/6/08 is the current revision of this section.  The first four measures did not change.  Measures 5 and forward were subject to the revision.

When I started to think about this piece on November 6th, I decided that the septuplet figure and even the quintuplet figure would not create the desired effect.  These are the ideas I referred to in my last post as needing an instrument that resonates.  So, as I was thinking about it, I began to work on the outline sketch.  I figured that there should be some counterpoint.  I got rid of some of the figurations and reworked the section so that the pace and texture are more like the first four measures.

My intent here is to illustrate how I got from the first sketch to the current one.  The third staff system of the outline sketch is where the reworking begins.  The small sketch at the top of the page is incorporated in measure 13 of the outline sketch.  It is not seen in the sketch score because this page only goes up to measure 12, so it will be on the next page.

Fleshing out ideas

The past two days have been productive composing days.  I have been trying to figure out the opening texture of the piece.  I have been working with a couple of ideas.  To see one of the ideas, please see my October 31st post.  What I consider the opening of my flute quartet is starting to come together.  I am not to the point yet where I am finished fleshing out the ideas.  However, the basic structure for this section is there.

I will admit that I have struggled with this.  I think part of my problem was that some of the gestures were not idiomatic for the instrument.  Some of these are ideas that I really like and I wanted them in this piece.  However, I believe that some of the gestures would work better with instruments that sustain, like a piano, or resonate, like a glockenspiel.  Unfortunately, at this time, I am not working with those instruments.  I found that I needed to work with ideas that are more suited for a quartet of flutes.

I can say that I am able to see this piece taking shape and that pleases me.

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.

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.