Two new scores

Today, I uploaded two more scores onto Createspace: Stimmen (fl, pno) and No Free Lunch (fl, va, vc, pno). They need to go through the final checks still, but they should be available in the next couple of weeks.

Incidentally, I needed to pad No Free Lunch a little, so I included some samples of the opening pages of Symphony No 3, which I should probably finish setting sometime soon. I'm 70 pages into it, and there are about 50 more to go.

Scores on the doorstep

My first batch of scores for From Her Husband's Hand arrived today. They look great. Now it's time to put them in the hands of potential performers.

More Chaos Theory

I've been fumbling around with Chaos for almost 15 years now. It started as a wind ensemble piece and became a piano concerto. I've more or less decided to go back and finish the wind ensemble version.

Is it closer to being finished than the concerto version? Yes. The concerto is still waiting for an insert after the opening section. The wind ensemble version goes straight into the middle section, so all I really need to do is write the ending ... well, that is, except that I think that the opening section could use a little re-working.

Anyway, my rationale. Performance. I'm more likely to find a performance for a wind ensemble piece than an orchestral concerto. It's that simple. I have too many pieces that I wrote on spec that have never been performed, the biggest offender being my third symphony. The other is my 3 Pieces for Chamber Orchestra. Of course, the first two movements appear in different forms and have received multiple performances. The last, however, Paradisio has never even had a sniff of a performance ... except that it was on the SPNM shortlist way back in the 90's. Nobody ever showed interest, even with the carrot of an SPNM subsidy. It also has the problem of still being in manuscript form, as I wrote it before a viable music notation program was available. Should I typeset it? Probably not. I should be writing new things for living, breathing people who want to play something of mine.

From Her Husband's Hand available now

From Her Husband's Hand (original version for sax and chamber orchestra) is now available on Createspace, and should go live on Amazon.com with in the next week.

Here's the link: https:  www.createspace.com/4031574

Farewell to a thousand things

Well, it's happened again. I've woken up with new pieces before with new pieces of music or poetry in my head, but this one was a little different. It was a performance - that's not really new either, but this was a performance by none other that Ella Fitzgerald, and I feel like I've heard the song before. It's a standard.

Um, no it isn't. I googled the lyrics and there was nothing. I only remember the chorus from the dream, and not all of the lyrics. It sounded like something written in the 30's by Berlin or Kern. I've been teach so many standards in one of my sightsinging classes, I guess the style is in my head or something.

Anyway, there's something about "moonbeams and all the little things you are," and it finishes with the line, "farewell to a thousand things."

Anybody recognize it?

If I can't figure out what it is, should I write it? It's in a dated style, but one that lives on.

Publishing Latest

I think I've made the final corrections to From Her Husband's Hand for Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra. I should receive a proof this week and should approve it right away. I changed the postscript files to 2400 dpi to see if that makes the hairpins a little smoother. They didn't look bad, but I discovered that I can send them 2400 dpi files, so that might improve the look even more.

I think either Stimmen or the Violin/Piano version of A Point of Amber Light will be next. There is a possible performance for either coming up, so it is time to get them finalized.

I'll put up a link when From Her Husband's Hand is on sale.

Just thinking

Thinking.

I have to revise an arrangement over the holidays, but I'm thinking about the future now. I've got 70% of a piano concerto written, but with no prospect of a performance, I'm considering employing my energies elsewhere. Yes, I could try to finish it, but ...

I'm about to have a bunch of things broadcast on our local radio station. I'll let you know when the pieces are scheduled. I also have a possible performance coming up in the spring. I missed out on an opportunity to have Solomon's Seal performed a couple of weeks ago. I learned of the possibility late, and couldn't find a performer with enough free time to learn it. Now, I have more time, but the question is: What piece? Something with strings is probably best, although I may have a taker for Stimmen.

But that is all old stuff. I need to write something new.

I'm also considering an arrangement of From Her Husband's Hand for Cello and Sinfonietta. I've been considering a version for cello for a long time, and hearing Jakob Kullberg during the summer has solidified my desire to do this at some point. (Jakob are you reading this? We should discuss the possibility.)

It has also been suggested that I write a version for Sax and wind ensemble. (Anyone interested?)

Just thinking. You know ...