Sitting down

As I'm sitting here exhausted, I've finished all my current commissions and am in that nervous time while the performers are rehearsing - probably finding that the pieces are each in their own way almost impossible to play. The arrangement of Inner Sanctum is a known entity, at least. The strings playing Labyrinth are going to hate me for the fast and frenetic final movement. The cellos in Dystopian sunrise are going to gasp for air from the stratospheric heights of their parts.

In the interim I'll start a new job, plan my new courses, do my UK taxes, and move in to our new house. We are halfway there. Somehow I'm going to have to figure out how to fit into my new (smaller) office, possibly the smallest one I've had, except for the 8x8' room I had in Saxmundham - but I was also renting a larger office in a nearby business center at the time. I'm nearly set up, but I have no idea where my books are going ... and the stereo. That's probably going down in the living room, but it may be too big.

Still much to do, but my body hurts, and it's only a few days until Christmas. Presents? Are you kidding? We haven't had time to think about them.

I'm ready for an early night.

New arrangement

I've been quiet here, but I've been busy.

Firstly, I think Chaos is just about ready to upload to Createspace, and ultimately Amazon. I've edited the harp part, but I may have one more look through the score before finalizing it.

In the meantime, I've finish an arrangement of Remembering Child for a performance in Syracuse at the end of January (http://www.societyfornewmusic.org/concerts.cfm), and I'm expecting proofs in the mail in the next few days to approve. I'll post an announcement. This the first score with my own digital artwork, and I'm hoping it looks good. I'm not sure about the scaling of the jpeg. I may have to go back to one of their stock images. Someday, I hope I'll be able to supply real artwork for my covers.

I've also set the original version with piano, but it's too few pages to publish on Createspace. It's only 16 pages and the minimum is 24. Front matter takes it up to 18, but that is still 6 pages short. I could publish my sax quartet with it as a bonus, or possibly Mirage, which I haven't typeset yet, but it is only a couple of pages long. It's a solo alto piece with loads of multiphonics, key clicks, and pops. I might consult on it first. Some of the multiphonics are awkward, and I might try to find some notes with smoother fingerings approaching and leaving them.

There are two more works on the horizon. Firstly, I have another piece to write for the Society for New Music - for next season. Also, I've been sketching a wind ensemble piece based on Bach's harmonization and my reharmonization of Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. I'll give more details on that later.

Hooky is just a game

Last night I straightened up my office. On my work table, I laid my Chaos sketches in the anticipation that I might work on them. Maybe today, but things will get dicey again in a couple of days. I have another rush reorchestration coming, and that's a paste-up job for performances in March.

Is that another arrangement? I guess it is. I also learned that Bach to the Future will be premiered March 27 and repeated in the July concerts. I've also started the other arrangement for those concerts.