This week I've spent some real time on the concerto. What I've been doing is catching up the Sibelius file with the handwritten stuff. I'm not totally up to date, but I have bridged the second gap. The first gap requires some composition, but the second was already composed. It just needed some arrangement from the wind ensemble version. I've left out a couple of things but that is essentially complete. I also need to add a few things near the end.
The big question is what to work on next. It seems weird to me to write the ending and then go back and bridge the first gap. One advantage is that it might give me a better idea what to put in it. Originally, it was supposed to start with a written cadenza and then progress to some improvisation with the orchestra. I've come to the conclusion that I may have a "written-out improvisation" as a recommendation for the pianist - which, of course, everyone will play instead of improvising (if it is ever played).
I could just go back to plan A and just close the gap with the original wind ensemble material. That would require deleting the newly composed piano stuff and deleting all the blank bars and smoothing over the transition.
That sounds like a cop out, and frankly, it feels like one. The argument for it, however, is that the piece is feeling more like a concerto for piano and orchestra, rather than a piano concerto. That may be splitting the hairs a little fine, but the piano is really part of the ensemble - yes, it's out front, and when it plays it is usually the focus, but it doesn't really drive the argument. I generates it ... and sometimes comments on it. Most of the piece is derived from the piano music, but the piano (other than the unwritten section) never really dominates. That was why I balked at the wind ensemble piece. The piano/harp (line) had taken over, but it was never really a concerto.
OK, now for the other news. A series of my pieces are going to be broadcast on "Fresh Ink" (WCNY Syracuse) beginning on Apr. 14 (Oyre's Garden). There will be one almost every week for the next six weeks or so. (There are a few weeks that I'm not on.)
I'll post details closer to the time.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Another re-think
I pulled out Chaos to work on it this week with the intention of reverting to the wind ensemble version. I listened to the playback in Finale of the original version as it stood before changing the orchestration. I wasn't exactly happy with it. Then I listened to the orchestra and piano version in Sibelius. I liked it a lot.
While part of me sees the advantage of preparing a wind ensemble piece (more chance of performance, etc), I think I've become invested with the piano and orchestra version. I think it works better that way, and I've become accustomed to the orchestration. I guess I'll stick with it and hope that it doesn't go the way of Paradisio, a chamber orchestra piece that I wrote to finish my Dante set, but never had a sniff of a performance, even after spending three years on the SPNM shortlist.
To satisfy the urges to write for wind ensemble and resurrect Paradisio, I've decided that I might kill two birds with one stone: arrange it for wind ensemble. It makes sense. Inferno was originally written for wind ensemble and has had three performances in that version, while the orchestra version, like Paradisio, has never been played. That leaves the question of what to do with Purgatorio. That was a chamber piece, and it was expanded slightly for chamber orchestra. I don't know whether it will work for wind ensemble, but I might as well complete the set eventually. I'll arrange Paradisio, and then see what happens.
In the meantime, I had a hard disk failure a couple of days ago, which means my installation of Finale is broken, so I can't work on either of my current publishing projects - both of which were set in Finale. I was going to translate A Point of Amber Light into Sibelius, but I can't do that yet. Oyre's Garden will stay in Finale, since I already have a complete set of parts for it. I thought about changing it to adjust some of the formatting, but it might just be opening a can of worms, and frankly, I should be composing some new music now.
While part of me sees the advantage of preparing a wind ensemble piece (more chance of performance, etc), I think I've become invested with the piano and orchestra version. I think it works better that way, and I've become accustomed to the orchestration. I guess I'll stick with it and hope that it doesn't go the way of Paradisio, a chamber orchestra piece that I wrote to finish my Dante set, but never had a sniff of a performance, even after spending three years on the SPNM shortlist.
To satisfy the urges to write for wind ensemble and resurrect Paradisio, I've decided that I might kill two birds with one stone: arrange it for wind ensemble. It makes sense. Inferno was originally written for wind ensemble and has had three performances in that version, while the orchestra version, like Paradisio, has never been played. That leaves the question of what to do with Purgatorio. That was a chamber piece, and it was expanded slightly for chamber orchestra. I don't know whether it will work for wind ensemble, but I might as well complete the set eventually. I'll arrange Paradisio, and then see what happens.
In the meantime, I had a hard disk failure a couple of days ago, which means my installation of Finale is broken, so I can't work on either of my current publishing projects - both of which were set in Finale. I was going to translate A Point of Amber Light into Sibelius, but I can't do that yet. Oyre's Garden will stay in Finale, since I already have a complete set of parts for it. I thought about changing it to adjust some of the formatting, but it might just be opening a can of worms, and frankly, I should be composing some new music now.
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