String Quartet No 4

It didn't take long to make a string quartet out of Labyrinth. In the end, I went back to the three main movements, and discarded the interludes. The middle and last movements are a straight transcription, but I made more extensive changes to the first movement. I took some things out that I didn't think would work with a quartet. They may stay in the double concerto, because there are more instruments to create the effect that I wanted in the octet.

I've sent the result to a quartet, as well as a competition. They wanted a recording, which isn't possible at this point, since I don't have a performance scheduled. I did, however, spend some time trying to make the audio file from Sibelius work. Until now, I haven't tried the quartertone playback plugin. I seems to work, except that sometimes the pitch bend doesn't turn off, and you get whole passages a quartertone out. I got around it by going back and inserting a lot of redundant OFF messages until it sounded right.

So what is next? If there is any interest in the quartet, I might go back and typeset/revise my first three quartets and publish them as a set. No. 3 is "quartertone city." It's a protracted progression in C major with quartertones thrown in to obscure it. I initially wrote it for a competition that wanted pieces in sonata form in C major. I don't think they were expecting this. In any case, I lost the info about the competition and never sent it in. The Aureole Quartet premiered it, but no one ever sent me the recording. No. 2 was never performed. I started it as my first quartet, and it has loads of textural layers. The quartet that it was intended for was in the process of disbanding, and they didn't really spend much time on it when they "read it down." The first quartet has a lot of really cool effects in it, but I need to go back and revise the things that weren't cool.

That's something to think about, but I need to write something new, perhaps the wind ensemble piece or the songs. I'll have a better idea when I learn what my typesetting load will be this summer. I should find that out on Monday, when my main editor gets back from his holiday/study-leave.

I could, of course, write some fiction, which is something I do, when I don't have any pressing composing to do. Let's see where the inspiration comes from.

Kick-start

Considering the consequences of that horrible day last week, I've been thinking about what I need to do to move things along in my career, at least to a point that I can feel comfortably satisfied about where I'm going.

Yes, I need to write some music. In the short term, I'm looking at some of the projects from a previous blog. Since much of Labyrinth was conceived as a string quartet, I've been revisiting it. I've pared down most of the first movement and the last third of the finale movement. I will probably drop the interludes - the second one would work fine, but the first one would need to be either solo violin, or have the piano accompaniment scored. I could do that and make a real movement out of it. That would give the quartet the traditional 4 movements. I want to enter it in a competition, so whatever I do, it will have to happen quickly. The big question is how much different I want to make it from the other piece. At the moment, it is a straight reduction. I might make some changes in the first movement, but the middle movement and finale will probably be reductions. I wouldn't be the first person to rescore larger works for smaller forces.


Anyway, the real reason for this blog is a recording. I need to get my music out there, and I would like to do it in a quality way: a real orchestra, with multiple takes and well-edited. It's going to be a while before Labyrinth is committed to CD, but as I consider myself an orchestral composer, I should be looking in that direction.

The first thing I'll need to do before I apply for grants, etc., or set up a crowd-funding campaign will be estimating costs.

To do that, though, I need to decide repertoire, and that is where I'll need some input.

1. Should it be a CD solely of my music, or should I get other composers involved?

Option A: I do have some friends who are pretty major composers who could be the "name" on the CD to help sell it. If I stick with American, that would limit me a little, but it might help with grant applications. I could consider recording one of my arrangements of Nørgård that haven't been recorded, which brings me to the next issue: a soloist. Helle Nacht and Between have been recorded, the later of which will probably be released next year. A chamber version (I think) of Remembering Child was recorded this year, which was basically the original version with a one on a part strings, not my sinfonietta version. There is an orchestra that may be touring with it this year, but it is probably too close to the other recording, especially as it would probably be with the same soloist. Cantica Concertante hasn't been performed, so that is another possibility. Otherwise, there are a few British composers that I would consider including. Then it would be a matter of choosing one or two of my pieces.

Option B: This is where I need more input. Do I go with pieces that have been performed, which I am confident that would have some appeal, or do I record new pieces that have not yet been performed? New pieces would be Symphony No. 3, Chaos, and possibly the Labyrinth Concerto. I probably wouldn't want to go with two concertos because of the cost (three different soloists). Those three are about 65 minutes of music altogether. As I don't have a good full recording of my two old pieces and one new. I've got 3 people who know From Her Husband's Hand (17'), one of whom lives not too far away. Then add Symphony No 3 (25').

2. That's all likely to be expensive. I could go smaller. My Dante Tryptich is about 30' long and while all three movements have been performed, none of the chamber orchestra versions have been, except for Paradiso, which has been done in a slightly altered sinfonietta version. Perhaps that, along with some of my other large chamber pieces (Chaos Theory, The Master's Hammer), and maybe Oyre's Garden. (Full orchestra with a small woodwind section.) A Point of Amber Light or From Her Husband's Hand could fit as the concerto. (Or Cantica Concertante.)

3. Forces. I think it would be a waste of money if there was no name recognition. I know someone in the Cincinnati Symphony, so I have a contact there. I have similar relationships with other orchestras here and in the UK, but the Cincinnati Symphony is local, and the recording engineer I have in mind has recorded them on several occasions. I know several people in Symphoria (formerly the Syracuse Symphony), but there wouldn't be much name recognition there. That might be the cheap option, though, unless I went overseas. If we did the Nørgård, I could probably use the New Music Orchestra of Poland, since the soloist is touring with them soon.  They are a sinfonietta, so they would be suitable for the chamber orchestra disc, if that was the way I ultimately went. I don't really want to go with the Vienna Modern Masters or something like that, or with a university orchestra. (I know a couple of people who might read this have some experience with them.) Having an all-American cast would open up more grant money.

4. Conductor. Yes, I could do it, but I think having a full-time professional conductor would result in better use of rehearsal time. I have an idea whom I want, but he isn't American. I have to think about it. If we do Sym No. 3, maybe I could convince the dedicatee to come out of retirement for it. (He might even read this blog.) Soloists, I'm pretty set on.

5. Pipe dream. I would rather think of this as "Blue Sky" thinking. We are probably talking a 6-figure investment, and I probably won't achieve that much in a crowd-funding campaign. If I can get half of that, I might be able to get a grant body to match it.

OK, so I need your input at this point. Let me know your thoughts, either here or on Facebook, or by email.