And of course, I'll have to check through and make sure all the harp tunings are possible.
At least the hardest part of it is finished.
Monday, December 29, 2014
One cork blown
Finally, today I finished typesetting the first proof of my third symphony. I still have to proof it, and I know there are things to do, like have a serious look at the percussion. In the 25 years that it has taken for me to get to this point, I'm bound to have been inconsistent about who is playing what in the percussion section - and I'm certain player 2 is playing the tomtoms in the first movement, and player 3 is playing them at the end. I am also considering changing the notation to single line percussion when possible.
Friday, December 26, 2014
The Cork in the Bottle(s)
As you have read, I've decided to finish typesetting my third Symphony. Why? It is probably the least critical on my list of things to finish. I don't have a performance lined up, although the dedicatee has hinted that he might program it.
It's first on my list because it is the cork in the bottle. I've been unable to finish pieces because this one remains unfinished. I'm progressing well. I have only 16 pages left to set, which in the old days, I could do in two, but I imagine I'll finish early next week.
And then I'll progress to the other cork in the other bottle, Chaos, which again is nearly finished. I've been setting it as I worked on it, so just fill the cadenza gap, and a couple of spots where the scoring is a little thin, and that would be done, too.
Then I can concentrate on something that matters, like my double concerto, or more importantly, something I can record to submit as recent work to fund the double concerto.
It never ends.
It's first on my list because it is the cork in the bottle. I've been unable to finish pieces because this one remains unfinished. I'm progressing well. I have only 16 pages left to set, which in the old days, I could do in two, but I imagine I'll finish early next week.
And then I'll progress to the other cork in the other bottle, Chaos, which again is nearly finished. I've been setting it as I worked on it, so just fill the cadenza gap, and a couple of spots where the scoring is a little thin, and that would be done, too.
Then I can concentrate on something that matters, like my double concerto, or more importantly, something I can record to submit as recent work to fund the double concerto.
It never ends.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
How recent is recent?
I've made it clear that I have not composed a huge amount in the past 20 years or so. I should qualify that - I haven't finished a lot of music in the past 20 years. (I have started a lot of pieces, however.) Hence, my recent performances are of older works, in general.
I need to apply for some grants over the next 3-6 months, and one in particular asks for recordings of three recent works. My problem is that most of what I have done for the last 10 years is arrange works by Per Nørgård, and I suspect that won't count. The other new work is for improvisation groups, and I'm not sure that is a good enough standard.
One is easy.
Paradiso. Although an arrangement of an older work, the new orchestration (2013) is unusual enough that I can justify its inclusion. (I would however preferred to change the ending, but I'll probably have to send the recording I have.)
Two is questionable.
No Free Lunch is from 2005, but I have an adequate recording. Is it too old?
Three is really questionable.
Remembering the Night Sky is from 2001. The recording I have isn't great sound quality, and asking someone to learn and record it on short notice night be asking the impossible. Besides, it is probably too old.
Other possibilities:
A Point of Amber Light. The full version is from 1996, so it is probably too old, but the violin and piano reduction is new, from 2013. Again, it is probably too difficult to work up and record quickly.
Stimmen. The original is from 1989, but it was revised in 1992. Kelly Covert performed it last year, but I didn't get a recording. I would consider reinstating the original ending, and recording it, but that isn't really adequate for calling it a new work.
Symphony No 3. Although I should have a score soon, and I could extract parts pretty quickly, I don't think I can get an orchestra together to record it in a short period of time.
Chaos. Same situation. I probably have about a week of work to do on it, so I could have it ready, but it is difficult and I don't know if I can get enough players together.
However, Chaos began it's life as a wind ensemble piece. I could re-arrange it for the original orchestration, not as a piano concerto, condensing it to 10-12 minutes. That might be the best option, but I would still have to record it.
There is also the possibility of arranging Remembering the Night Sky for a band/wind/string group, again condensing it, so it isn't a virtuoso sax piece.
There is also my 2nd string quartet. It is probably unplayable as a quartet - it was never performed - but I could arrange it for 10-15 instruments.
I have a sax quartet, but I'm not sure I like it enough to record it or come up with definitive materials.
Finally, I have unfinished hulks of two piano concertos (chamber orch.) and a couple of hulks of chamber orchestra pieces. I could cobble them together into something. (Not a piano concerto.)
Any suggestions?
I need to apply for some grants over the next 3-6 months, and one in particular asks for recordings of three recent works. My problem is that most of what I have done for the last 10 years is arrange works by Per Nørgård, and I suspect that won't count. The other new work is for improvisation groups, and I'm not sure that is a good enough standard.
One is easy.
Paradiso. Although an arrangement of an older work, the new orchestration (2013) is unusual enough that I can justify its inclusion. (I would however preferred to change the ending, but I'll probably have to send the recording I have.)
Two is questionable.
No Free Lunch is from 2005, but I have an adequate recording. Is it too old?
Three is really questionable.
Remembering the Night Sky is from 2001. The recording I have isn't great sound quality, and asking someone to learn and record it on short notice night be asking the impossible. Besides, it is probably too old.
Other possibilities:
A Point of Amber Light. The full version is from 1996, so it is probably too old, but the violin and piano reduction is new, from 2013. Again, it is probably too difficult to work up and record quickly.
Stimmen. The original is from 1989, but it was revised in 1992. Kelly Covert performed it last year, but I didn't get a recording. I would consider reinstating the original ending, and recording it, but that isn't really adequate for calling it a new work.
Symphony No 3. Although I should have a score soon, and I could extract parts pretty quickly, I don't think I can get an orchestra together to record it in a short period of time.
Chaos. Same situation. I probably have about a week of work to do on it, so I could have it ready, but it is difficult and I don't know if I can get enough players together.
However, Chaos began it's life as a wind ensemble piece. I could re-arrange it for the original orchestration, not as a piano concerto, condensing it to 10-12 minutes. That might be the best option, but I would still have to record it.
There is also the possibility of arranging Remembering the Night Sky for a band/wind/string group, again condensing it, so it isn't a virtuoso sax piece.
There is also my 2nd string quartet. It is probably unplayable as a quartet - it was never performed - but I could arrange it for 10-15 instruments.
I have a sax quartet, but I'm not sure I like it enough to record it or come up with definitive materials.
Finally, I have unfinished hulks of two piano concertos (chamber orch.) and a couple of hulks of chamber orchestra pieces. I could cobble them together into something. (Not a piano concerto.)
Any suggestions?
Monday, December 22, 2014
Speaking of old projects nearing completion...
I'm not allowed to do anything around the house that requires any lifting, so I've been working on (finally) typesetting the end of my third symphony. There are 23 pages of manuscript left, which will come out to about 30-35 pages typeset. That's probably too much to finish before the next semester begins, but I can get a good start on it (I'm working slowly right now, and there are lots of notes on some of those pages), and then maybe work a little more on Chaos. I have less to do on that, but that requires some creativity, which is in short supply right now. So maybe after New Years, I'll spend a few days on it before I start printing out Eartraining II syllabi for my new clutch of freshmen (freshpersons?).
(Of course, you should ignore the 2001 copyright date.)
(Of course, you should ignore the 2001 copyright date.)
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Remembering Child
Today marked the completion of a project that I began two years ago. I was asked to create a sinfonietta orchestration of Remembering Child, as well as transcribe the viola part for cello. When I finished the cello part, the money dried up and the project was put on hold.
For a performance here at Syracuse, I put together a hybrid version with single winds, but the original multiple strings, which we performed with Jakob Kullberg last March. I thought it worked really well.
Recently, I was asked to start it up again, and today I sent them the first proof of the fully sinfonietta-ized version. Hopefully, it will get Per Nørgård's stamp of approval, so we can unleash it on the public soon.
Stay tuned...
For a performance here at Syracuse, I put together a hybrid version with single winds, but the original multiple strings, which we performed with Jakob Kullberg last March. I thought it worked really well.
Recently, I was asked to start it up again, and today I sent them the first proof of the fully sinfonietta-ized version. Hopefully, it will get Per Nørgård's stamp of approval, so we can unleash it on the public soon.
Stay tuned...
Friday, December 12, 2014
Captive
More notes today. I was giving a Theory exam today, and worked on Labyrinth some more, about 3 more pages of material that may form the beginning of the piece. Some ideas came to me as I was lying in bed last night, and I remembered enough that they made it onto the page. I may start orchestrating what I have to start defining where it is going.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Labyrinth
I like this one. It starts with what sounds like a polychord (F# D A E G#) and finishes with part of a major 7th chord with a sus4. (F B G C). In the middle are Eb Bb and Db. The tri-chords make a nice progression: Major, then (E AF EF), Minor, then the M7 without a third. The tetrachords are also interesting, a D9 (no 7th), then overlaid 4ths (Ab Eb Bb Db), then the M7sus4. I've also identified 3 strata, which can serve as alternate melodies.
Well, what is the piece? I don't know yet. I would like it to be a double concerto for violin and cello with sinfonietta, but I fear 17 performers will be too large for my commission. I'm sketching it as a piano trio for now and will expand when I get more material ready.
I started the piece in the Labyrinth Room in the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. There is a labyrinth on the floor there, but as there are no choices to make to get from the outside to the center, there is no chance to make a mistake and become the Minotaur's dinner. (Sadly, no Minotaur in it either.) Hence, the working title for the piece. Actually, it fits what I would like to do musically: the violin and cello chase each other around the labyrinth, which is represented by the orchestra. I've had this idea for a long time, and I was getting to the point where I finally had to write some notes.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Sigh ...
With the appointment of a new Chancellor, Syracuse University has signaled a new direction. This summer has brought a series of new policies and directives designed to modernize Syracuse University as well as make it more efficient. Great. I'm all for it.
Unfortunately, the Chancellor just published his Fast Forward Syracuse campaign. Its aims are worthy, yet I've noticed that none of the committees that he has appointed include a single member of the CVPA hierarchy. There is one emeritus professor from CAS, but this can point to only one thing: stagnation in the arts (at best). Perhaps the Chancellor believes his choral background is enough. I watch a lot of crime/legal programs on television. Would he want me to represent him in court? I doubt it.
I have mentioned this before, but schools of music are the most difficult to fund. The necessary small class sizes and one-to-one teaching are a huge drain on resources, not to mention facilities, instruments, and purpose-built (sound-deadening) infrastructure. Yet, after athletics, the department is one of the most important representatives/evangelists of the university in the community and nationwide. We provide a marching band for football games, a pep band for basketball games, choirs for ceremonial events, incidental ensembles, and our regular series of public concerts and recitals. We also bring in professional artists from outside the university to enhance the educational and artistic experience.
We need vision to provide a creative plan to make the School of Music work cost-effectively, but where is that going to come from? A bunch of lawyers, trustees, accountants, or an architect? Again, I doubt it.
I hate internal markets, but maybe the football team should pay to use the marching band, provide their uniforms, pay the necessary staff to train them, etc. Same for our Top-20-ranked basketball team, and our administration who just expects to use the fruits of our labor without cost. In these days where college athletes are unionizing to receive benefits and possibly even wages, our musicians work just as hard with just as significant personal cost (if not more), yet they are taken for granted, provided ancient unsuitable facilities, and an under-staffed and under-funded department. Unfortunately, all but possibly one or two of them project to earn less in a year than some our athletes will earn for a single game. Hence, they won't be in a position to donate money back into the institution after they graduate and pay off their loans.
The infrastructure committee must address the facilities, but without a School of Music representative, how will they know what we need? It is clear that they plan to do nothing about it.
The poor relative of the marching band, the orchestra is one of the big draws to any music school. We need to recruit for it the best possible students and provide them with worthwhile public display. We have a huge stadium to promote our 125th-ranked football team, and they bring in money. If we did the same for our musicians, we could do the same - charge for concerts, produce and sell recordings, tour - all to promote the university. We have an excellent music industry program - couldn't the students earn valuable experience producing these recordings? Our composition faculty is first rate (I'm not including myself in this!), why not promote them as well as their students with studio-produced recordings of their work, played by a combination of faculty and student performers. Put their music out there, promote them and the university at the same time. We have a large choral program - commission works from our composers to showcase our choirs.
I could go on, but without a voice in the steering committees, it is pointless. I'm just wasting my time, which I should be devoting to fulfilling a commission from outside the university, typesetting music for publishers (outside the university), and practicing my trombone for gigs outside the university, to supplement my part-time salary for full-time work at the university to earn a living wage.
The worst thing about it is that I'm not alone in this.
Unfortunately, the Chancellor just published his Fast Forward Syracuse campaign. Its aims are worthy, yet I've noticed that none of the committees that he has appointed include a single member of the CVPA hierarchy. There is one emeritus professor from CAS, but this can point to only one thing: stagnation in the arts (at best). Perhaps the Chancellor believes his choral background is enough. I watch a lot of crime/legal programs on television. Would he want me to represent him in court? I doubt it.
I have mentioned this before, but schools of music are the most difficult to fund. The necessary small class sizes and one-to-one teaching are a huge drain on resources, not to mention facilities, instruments, and purpose-built (sound-deadening) infrastructure. Yet, after athletics, the department is one of the most important representatives/evangelists of the university in the community and nationwide. We provide a marching band for football games, a pep band for basketball games, choirs for ceremonial events, incidental ensembles, and our regular series of public concerts and recitals. We also bring in professional artists from outside the university to enhance the educational and artistic experience.
We need vision to provide a creative plan to make the School of Music work cost-effectively, but where is that going to come from? A bunch of lawyers, trustees, accountants, or an architect? Again, I doubt it.
I hate internal markets, but maybe the football team should pay to use the marching band, provide their uniforms, pay the necessary staff to train them, etc. Same for our Top-20-ranked basketball team, and our administration who just expects to use the fruits of our labor without cost. In these days where college athletes are unionizing to receive benefits and possibly even wages, our musicians work just as hard with just as significant personal cost (if not more), yet they are taken for granted, provided ancient unsuitable facilities, and an under-staffed and under-funded department. Unfortunately, all but possibly one or two of them project to earn less in a year than some our athletes will earn for a single game. Hence, they won't be in a position to donate money back into the institution after they graduate and pay off their loans.
The infrastructure committee must address the facilities, but without a School of Music representative, how will they know what we need? It is clear that they plan to do nothing about it.
The poor relative of the marching band, the orchestra is one of the big draws to any music school. We need to recruit for it the best possible students and provide them with worthwhile public display. We have a huge stadium to promote our 125th-ranked football team, and they bring in money. If we did the same for our musicians, we could do the same - charge for concerts, produce and sell recordings, tour - all to promote the university. We have an excellent music industry program - couldn't the students earn valuable experience producing these recordings? Our composition faculty is first rate (I'm not including myself in this!), why not promote them as well as their students with studio-produced recordings of their work, played by a combination of faculty and student performers. Put their music out there, promote them and the university at the same time. We have a large choral program - commission works from our composers to showcase our choirs.
I could go on, but without a voice in the steering committees, it is pointless. I'm just wasting my time, which I should be devoting to fulfilling a commission from outside the university, typesetting music for publishers (outside the university), and practicing my trombone for gigs outside the university, to supplement my part-time salary for full-time work at the university to earn a living wage.
The worst thing about it is that I'm not alone in this.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Priorities
My visit to my alma mater last weekend changed a few things. It was my intention to dedicate either my Sym No 3 or Piano Concerto (Chaos) to Dwight Oltman, who was retiring after over 40 years at BW. I thought I would dedicate whichever was finished first, and present it to him then. However, neither was in a final form by the time I arrived. Essentially, the symphony has been done for years, but I never typeset the last 30 pages of final version. (I was awaiting the possibility of a performance before I did any additional work.) There are a few notes missing, and lots of pencil annotations. Surely, a few things will change, and I'll give it a new 2014 date. Chaos is about 80% complete. I need to bridge the cadenza to a new improvisatory section, and then fill in some sparse passages, especially near the end. Since it was originally a wind ensemble piece that I promised him (in 1999), but never finished, I thought he would prefer that. I had about 3 minutes of it complete then, and proceeded to write the middle movement and the beginning of the last before stalling (since it had almost already become a piano concerto then). Maybe that is why when I asked him which he would prefer, he chose the symphony. (Nearer to being done.)
Actually, if I could spend a solid week on it, I could probably finish Chaos. Finishing the setting of Symphony may take longer, since 2/3 of it is set in Score and the other 1/3 is set in Finale with pencil additions. I could convert both parts to Sibelius and join them, but that is probably more trouble than it is worth. I'll just finish it in Score. Those 30 pages will probably be more like 40 when all is finished, so my plan is to set two pages a day (minimum 1) and get it done over the summer.
Also at BW, a friend asked me if I would consider writing a piece for his middle school band. I've been thinking about it and probably will do it. We just have to iron out some details. I suspect it will need to be short, and he wants some aleatorics, which don't take me that long to write.
Then there is that pesky piano concerto and my SNM commission. I might spend some time on those while I am in England this summer. Hopefully, I'll have my main summer typesetting work done by then. It's a big job, which I will start hopefully on Friday. It should take a month, if I don't have too many interruptions.
I think my summer is going to be busy.
Actually, if I could spend a solid week on it, I could probably finish Chaos. Finishing the setting of Symphony may take longer, since 2/3 of it is set in Score and the other 1/3 is set in Finale with pencil additions. I could convert both parts to Sibelius and join them, but that is probably more trouble than it is worth. I'll just finish it in Score. Those 30 pages will probably be more like 40 when all is finished, so my plan is to set two pages a day (minimum 1) and get it done over the summer.
Also at BW, a friend asked me if I would consider writing a piece for his middle school band. I've been thinking about it and probably will do it. We just have to iron out some details. I suspect it will need to be short, and he wants some aleatorics, which don't take me that long to write.
Then there is that pesky piano concerto and my SNM commission. I might spend some time on those while I am in England this summer. Hopefully, I'll have my main summer typesetting work done by then. It's a big job, which I will start hopefully on Friday. It should take a month, if I don't have too many interruptions.
I think my summer is going to be busy.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Dreaming
Last night I dreamed of a performance of the first movement of a string trio version of my planned Double Concerto. It was much as I have been planning it, except for one chord, which I apparently will use from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. It made a lot of sense in the dream, so I may go with it. I'm not sure how it will reduce to three strings, but I'll give it a try.
Also in the dream, I explained how (and why) the third player would not have any of the quartertones at the beginning. Oddly, in the dream, it was the violinist (who was Harumi Rhodes), but it is more likely to be the violist, since violin is one of the concerto instruments. That will be the case unless Jakob (the cellist) decides that the double concerto should be viola and cello. It don't remember who the violist was in the dream.
Friday, April 18, 2014
News and delay
Well, the great news is that I have an important commission for the 2015-16 season. I don't know if it has been officially announced yet, so I won't say who it is from. There aren't any details yet, i.e. instrumentation, length, performance date (likely Jan 2016).
In a perfect world, I would like to write a double concerto for two performers I have worked with (one directly [cellist] and one indirectly [violinist]). I would use a sinfonietta-size orchestra. But since I the commissioner may not have the financial resources to make that happen, I'm thinking that I'll write two versions, the second being a chamber version, either a piano trio, or something slightly larger. I've got to start soon, since I compose slowly, due to lack of time.
The delay? I have been too busy teaching to finish the piano concerto. I was going to dedicate it to an old mentor of mine, but it won't be finished in time for his retirement do, which is in two weeks. Then I thought I might finish typesetting my third symphony, but there are 50 pages to go, and that isn't likely to get finished in time. I'm going to talk to him about it, and see which he would prefer, when I finish them, but I don't know when I'll be able to fit one of them in. If I had a solid free week, I could finish the concerto, two solid weeks for the symphony, but when might that happen. Your guess is as good as mine.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
The Grindstone
Now the term is in full swing, I'm busy preparing for classes, grading papers, lecturing, meeting with students ... Yes, it seems endless. I've also got a couple of playing gigs coming up, another premiere on Mar 2, 2014 - that's less than a month away, and rehearsals begin tomorrow. At least, I don't have to conduct this one. I can just sit back and bask. That doesn't mean I'm free of that sort of activity. I'm conducting Per Nørgård's Remembering Child with the Syracuse University's Contemporary Music Ensemble on March 27.
Now, the big news in the aftermath of the successful premiere of Paradiso (review here), I've been awarded a commission for the 2015-16 season. I can't say who it is from yet, since it hasn't been officially announced. Anyway, I don't have any parameters (size of ensemble or duration), so I don't know what I will write at this point in time. I imagine it will be a chamber piece, say up to 10 players, and up to around 20 minutes in length. That's what past commissions from this organization have been like. Ideally, I would like to write a mini-concerto for marimba and/or percussion. I've been thinking of writing something for Evelyn Glennie for a while, but I doubt this organization can afford her. The percussionist (Mike Compitello) on Paradiso was quite exiting; he's nearby and within means, financially, so he might be a possibility. I could (at the same time) write a version for Ev (perc & piano). (Did you hear that Philip?)
Anyway, I'll let you know more once it is public, and I know what I have to write.
In the meantime, this piano concerto. I WILL finish it. There isn't much left to do, but it is a matter of finding the time. Perhaps during Spring Break. Some of my eartraining courses finish around then, and that will leave just theory, comp. seminar, and CME.
I'm going out to play in Dwight Oltman's retirement weekend reading sessions, and I was hoping to dedicate and present it to him then, but I fear it won't be finished, unless I can find some time for it in March and April. Much of it was originally the wind ensemble piece that I was writing for him, several years ago, but never finished. I could finish typesetting the 3rd Symphony, but it doesn't have the same connection.
OK, back to work.
Now, the big news in the aftermath of the successful premiere of Paradiso (review here), I've been awarded a commission for the 2015-16 season. I can't say who it is from yet, since it hasn't been officially announced. Anyway, I don't have any parameters (size of ensemble or duration), so I don't know what I will write at this point in time. I imagine it will be a chamber piece, say up to 10 players, and up to around 20 minutes in length. That's what past commissions from this organization have been like. Ideally, I would like to write a mini-concerto for marimba and/or percussion. I've been thinking of writing something for Evelyn Glennie for a while, but I doubt this organization can afford her. The percussionist (Mike Compitello) on Paradiso was quite exiting; he's nearby and within means, financially, so he might be a possibility. I could (at the same time) write a version for Ev (perc & piano). (Did you hear that Philip?)
Anyway, I'll let you know more once it is public, and I know what I have to write.
In the meantime, this piano concerto. I WILL finish it. There isn't much left to do, but it is a matter of finding the time. Perhaps during Spring Break. Some of my eartraining courses finish around then, and that will leave just theory, comp. seminar, and CME.
I'm going out to play in Dwight Oltman's retirement weekend reading sessions, and I was hoping to dedicate and present it to him then, but I fear it won't be finished, unless I can find some time for it in March and April. Much of it was originally the wind ensemble piece that I was writing for him, several years ago, but never finished. I could finish typesetting the 3rd Symphony, but it doesn't have the same connection.
OK, back to work.
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