Lutoslawski's Last Concert

On Tuesday, October 26, 2010 Naxos released a recording of the last concert Witold Lutoslawski conducted.  The event took place on October 24, 1993 as a part of Toronto's New Music Concerts.  This concert features the trilogy Partita, Interlude and Chain No. 2 for violin and orchestra.  Fujiko Imajishi is the soloist on these tracks.  Chantefleurs et Chantefables as song cycle for soprano and orchestra is next on the recording sung by Valdine Anderson.  Chain No. 1 for fourteen performers finishes this concert.

This would be the last concert Lutoslawski would conduct as he would pass away almost four months later on February 7, 1994 at the age of 81.  This recording was released almost seventeen years after the date of the event.  This recording is New Music Forum's Pick of the Month for October 2010.


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Listening Journal: November 1-7, 2010

Witold Lutoslawski - Trois Poemes di Henri Michaux (1964) for choir and orchestra
Johann Sebastian Bach - Sonata for Violin No. 2 in A major BWV 1003 (1720) Julia Fischer, violin
Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, op. 53 "Waldstein" (1804)

György Ligeti - Le Grand Macabre CD #1 - CD
   Le Grand Macabre (1977) an opera
     Act I through Act II. Unterhalting der zwei Minister


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Composing Session: November 6-7, 2010

I did not get a lot accomplished this weekend; however, I was able to make some decisions and create a few sketches for Time in Memoriam.  I decided to move the eight measures in question to after the solo clarinet and woodwind section.  After listening to this passage a couple more times I realized that it is begging to be developed.  So I made the switch and will just open this section with the solo clarinet.

I spent some time yesterday sketching ideas to continue this section.  I was working on trying to give the tenor saxophone the melody.  While I have not come up with the right idea yet, I think that I like the shift in the timbre to a lower instrument.

I realized this weekend that in order to reach my durational goal for the A section (as a whole) I only need to compose 24-32 more measures.  While this is not necessarily a strict rule, this does change my approach a little.  The development towards the B section will not need to be drawn out as much as I had initially thought.  This does not cause any problems, it was just a good thing I realized this as it does alter my thought process on this section.  I am closer to finishing this section that I had thought.

Opera & Song - An Autumn Concert: November 13, 2010

On Saturday, November 13, 2010 the San Francisco Cabaret Opera and Goat Hall Productions will present Opera and Song – An Autumn concert.  The concert will take place at 8:00 p.m. at the San Francisco Community Music Center and will feature new chamber operas and song cycles by Mark Alburger, John Bilotta, Edward Knight and Sylvia Rickard.

The Community Music Center is located at 544 Capp Street, San Francisco 94111.  Tickets are $15 general and $10 students.  There is a $2 discount when ordering tickets online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/129847

Program:
Song Cycles:
John Bilotta – YEATS SONGS
Andrew R. White, baritone; Hadley McCarroll, piano.

Edward Knight – LIFE IS FINE on poems by Langston Hughes
Raina Simons, soprano; Hadley McCarroll, piano.

Sylvia Rickard – THREE CABARET SONGS on poems by Dorothy Parker
Elizabeth Henry, soprano; Keisuke Nakagoshi, piano.

Chamber Operas:
Mark Alburger – JOB: A MASQUE
Featuring Kate Bautch, Heather Klein,
Harriet March-Page, Maria Mikheyenko, Suzanna Mizell,
Marilyn Pratt.

John Bilotta – TRIFLES
Featuring Michael Desnoyers, Alexandra Jerinic,
Nathan Kondrat, Nathan Marken, Maria Mikheyenko.

CHAMBER ENSEMBLE for operas:
Susanne Rublein, flute
Nora Adachi, clarinet
David Ryther, violin
Stephen Moore, viola
Joan Hadeishi, cello
Keisuke Nakagoshi, piano
Martha Stoddard, conductor

Progress and shifting

Yesterday, I was able to develop and fill out the eight measure introduction for the former "Fate" melody in Time in Memoriam.  However as I began adding layers and filling out the harmonies I started to question the placement of these measures.  The way it is setup the music builds in density and tension.  I am now thinking this build up is too much for a lead in to the solo clarinet entrance.

To me this transition is a little disappointing.  My ear wants more unfolding and development of the material.  It is for this reason that I question the placement of these eight measures.  I am now thinking that these measures would be better served after the solo clarinet and woodwind section.  Too me the whole section could be seen as a gradual unfolding and build up.  I would then be allowed to continue to develop the music.  In a way this would reinforce my concept of the section that leads into the B section.  I had planned on increasing the tempo and intensity of the before the aggressive B section.

I still need to decide what I want to do with these eight measures.  It is likely that I will move them.  If that is the case, then I will start this section with the solo clarinet.  I do not think it would be necessary to try to compose another opening.

Listening Journal: October 25-31, 2010

Olivier Messiaen - Catalogue d'Oiseaux: Book 7: XIII. Le Courlis cendré (1958) for piano
John Cage & Lou Harrison - Double Music (1941) for percussion quartet
Henri Dutilleux - Symphony No. 2 (1959)
Gyorgy Kurtág - Songs to Poems by Anna Akhmatova, op. 41 (1997)

Anton Webern - Orchestral Music - CD
   Passacaglia, op. 1 (1908)
   Five Movements for Strings, op. 5 (1929)
   Six Pieces, op. 6 (1909, rev. 1928)
   Five Pieces, op. 10 (1911-13)
   Symphony, op. 21 (1928)
   Variations, op. 30 (1940)

Johann Sebastian Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565 (1707) for organ


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Composing Session: November 2, 2010

At first I was not really sure if I was going to have the time or ambition to compose.  Since it was election day nothing I usually watch was going to be on TV so I planned on doing some composing.  However, there are times in which those plans can easily change.  Yesterday was almost a case in point.  I was indifferent about composing.  For fun I was messing around on my keyboard and I started to develop some melodic material.  I went ahead and notated it.  As it turned out this material ended up becoming what I had in mind for the opening of the second section of Time in Memoriam.  I orchestrated it using upper woodwinds and glockenspiel.  I still need to fill out some of the voices and add some counterpoint to the fifth through eighth measures of this section.

I also spent some time last night inputting the original harmonies and counterpoint to the melody I have taken from Fate of the Future.  Right now I have approximately four minutes and forty-five seconds of music composed for Time in Memoriam.  I am getting excited as this piece is starting to take shape.  I still need to compose probably around two more minutes of music before I can connect the beginning to the B section I have already started to sketch.