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.

Dream Cycle

In previous posts I mentioned that I am now working on the 3rd song for Dream Cycle for alto voice and piano.  I wanted to take the opportunity to give some background about the piece.

This piece began in 2002.  After I completed my master's thesis I needed something else to work on.  In a conversation I had with my friend Nicole Davis it was suggested that I compose some songs for her.  We decided on the following texts:

A Dream by Edgar Allen Poe

Echo by Christina Georgina Rossetti

Mutability by Percy Bysshe Shelley

A Dream was composed in Spring 2002.  Echo composed in Spring 2006 was completed on May 26, 2006.  Now it is Spring 2009 and I have started on Mutability.  I have a couple other texts in mind for more songs.  It all depends on how this one goes and how the cycle shapes up as to whether or not I compose more songs.  Either way, I will finally finish my Dream Cycle.

Working out the introduction

I spent some time today working on the introduction to the 3rd song of Dream Cycle.  The text I am using is Mutability by Percy Bysshe Shelley.  I have been stuck on the idea that I need to compose a song with a faster tempo.  The first song, A Dream, has a tempo of a quarter note = 56.  The next song, Echo, has a tempo of a quarter note = 68.  I tried working on some ideas with a tempo of approximately a quarter note = 108.  I could not envision how I would be able to develop these sketches.  

I ended up slowing the tempo down a bit to a quarter note = 90 and I was able to do more with the sketches.  I was able to compose the introduction to this song.  It took me a while to settle on the order of the ideas.  I tried the fragments out in different combinations to see which I liked the best.  My next task is to push forward and work on the vocal part.  I envision the melody using slower rhythmic values, sitting on top of the quicker moving accompaniment.

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.

Listening Journal: May 18-24, 2009

Glenn Glasow Memorial Concert - May 18, 2009

Jean McKinley - Arise My Love, and Come Away (2007) for soprano, viola and piano

John Hildago - Three Rivers (2006) for string quartet

Frank La Rocca - Veni Sancte Spiritum (2001) for soprano, clarinet, 2 violins, viola and cello

Brian Bice - Glimpses of the Moon (2001) for violin

Giancarlo Aquilanti - String Quartet No. 3 (2008)

George Crumb - Lux Aeterna (1971) for soprano, bass flute/soprano recorder, sitar and percussion (2 players)

Joseph Dangerfield - Zdravoye Zreniye (2002) for large chamber ensemble

Brett Dean - Komarov's Fall (2006) for orchestra

Witold Lutoslawski - Jeux Vénitiens (1961) for chamber orchestra

Allan Blank - Bicinium (1974) for clarinet and bassoon

Robert Newell - Spirals (1976) for mezzo soprano and percussion

Stuart Smith - Faces (1974) for clarinet and oboe

Change of direction

As I sat in the audience at the Glenn Glasow concert on May 18, 2009, I read the bio I sent to Jeff Miller.  I read something, a statement, that has been on my bio for at least the past five years, but probably longer.

"Other recent compositional projects are Off you go... a large scale, multi-movement composition for flute, cello and percussion and Dream Cycle for alto voice and piano, written for Nicole Davis." 

"Dream Cycle for alto voice and piano, written for Nicole Davis." is the statement to which I am referring here.  When I read that again I thought to myself, "I really need to finish that piece."  This thought has stayed with me for a few days.

I began working on Dream Cycle in 2002 while I was a student at Bowling Green State University.  During the 2001-02 school year I met Nicole.  She was a student in a class for which I was the graduate assistant.  We became friends during that time.  When I finished my master's thesis Obscured Ruminations for bass trombone and chamber orchestra I needed something else to compose.  I still had about a month and a half before the end of the school year and I was still taking lessons from Elainie Lillios.  In talking with Nicole the idea of writing some songs for her came up.  I figured why not, it would be fun.  Well, here we are 7 years later and only 2 songs have been composed.  Even then the 2 songs were composed about 5 years apart.  Nicole and I had agreed on at least 3 texts.  I am thinking the whole cycle will consist of up to 5 songs.  It just depends on how I feel about the cycle after I finish the original 3 songs.

During intermission of the concert I was talking with David Stein my former music history professor who is now retired.  He asked me if I have written any choral music.  To date, I have not, but I am now thinking about it.  In away to me this is also indirect encouragement to finish Dream Cycle.  Maybe this will lead me to compose my first choral work.

I have decided to put the brass quintet aside for now.  I do have some great ideas for the piece, but I think that I need to focus my energy on the song cycle.  This is far overdue and something that I am determined to complete. 

Performance blog: Seventh Annual Glenn Glasow Memorial Concert - May 18, 2009

This past Monday, May 18th, was the Seventh Annual Glenn Glasow Memorial Concert at California State University, East Bay (Hayward Campus).  The annual Glenn Glasow concert is the CSUEB faculty and alumni composers concert.  At this concert Philip Santos performed my piece Glimpses of the Moon (2001) for violin.  This was my first non-Festival of Contemporary Music performance in a few years.  This was also my first acoustic performance at a concert since the 4th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music on August 24, 2006, where Richard Lee masterfully performed my solo bass trombone piece, Incursion (2002).  My cello piece Romance (2008) was performed at my wedding last year, but that was not a concert.

I first learned about the performance on March 5, 2009 when my former instructor, now friend, Jeffery Miller emailed me to tell me about the inclusion of my piece on the concert.  Needless to say I was excited for the opportunity to have this piece performed again.  This was only the second performance of the entire piece.  The first took place on April 3, 2004 at the SCI National Student Conference.  Régine J. MontésBarrow performed my piece that day.  The performance was decent, but I felt that she did not understand the concept of the piece.  As a result the phrasing was wrong and she did not give the piece a direction.  While I was glad to have Régine's performance, I wanted to have this piece performed again to get a better quality performance.  In addition, I received my Bachelor of Arts in Music from CSU East Bay (then CSU Hayward) so this performance was a chance for me to return to my alma mater and show them what I have been up to.

This concert was an amazing experience.  There was a lot of great music and awesome performances that night.  Also on the program was Arise My Love, and Come Away by Jean McKinley, Three Rivers by John Hildago, Veni Sancte Spiritus by Frank La Rocca and String Quartet no. 3 by Giancarlo Aquilanti.

Philip Santos did a wonderful job with my piece.  It is a very difficult piece to put together and perform.  He did a masterful job doing so.  I am fortunate that he has agreed to perform this piece again on August 22 at the 7th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music.  He and I will have the opportunity to work some more on this piece together and the performance will be even better.

I have to say that I was honored to be apart of this concert.  I want to express my deepest gratitude and thanks to Jeffery Miller, Frank La Rocca and Composer's, Inc. for including me in this concert and for putting on an amazing show.  To have my music performed alongside these other works is truly a blessing.