Today is F-day

Today was supposed to be completion day for my concerto. Unfortunately, I haven't written a single note since the last time I posted. I've been very busy here with teaching and work, plus I am thinking about something new, possibly a string quartet. (I had dinner with the Kronos Quartet last week, if you haven't already heard.) I've also been considering a sinfonietta piece. I have a couple started already, which I may continue, but maybe I'll start from scratch.

A string quartet? Yes, I have three already, and none have been properly performed. No. 1 was played in a workshop-concert in Aspen back in 1987. It has some good things about it, and a lot of it I really like, but it needs a rewrite in the middle. I was working on the second quartet at the same time, and it's more complex. It's a little longer, and I've had the quartet that I was writing for read it, but again, there are some things I'm not happy with. It probably needs a complete rewrite. The third quartet was originally meant as a joke, a piece "in C" for a competition. Again, it has some things I really like, but there are some parts in the middle that just seem a little square. It was performed on a workshop-concert in Dartington in 1990.

Do I fix one of them, or do I start afresh? That's my dilemma for this summer.

Meanwhile, the second movement of my Symphony No 2 is on WCNY's Fresh Ink at 2 pm ET TODAY. If you aren't near Syracuse, you can listen on wcny.org, live only as I don't believe the station has listen-again facilities.

Another performance

I've just had some clarification on my Cazenovia concert this summer. It's a little sketchy, but I've had the performer (Kelly Covert) tell me she is slated to perform Stimmen on July 20. That will be the premiere of the revised version, as far as I am aware. Over the years, I've sent it out to several performers, but none of them has told me that they've performed it. Of course, there have been at least 2 performances of the original version, and maybe 2 others by the dedicatee. They were scheduled, but I don't know if they ever happened. I've since lost touch with him.

The pencil has been silent on the concerto this week. I've been busy preparing for final exams and grading papers. Hopefully, I'll get things together this week. Needless to say, I'm unlikely to meet my self-imposed deadline which is next Saturday. It's possible, but not likely.

From Her Husband's Hand to be premiered in February

I just got word today that we are on for February. As it stands, Ron Caravan will premiere From Her Husband's Hand with the SU Symphony Orchestra 24 years after I wrote the original version. I'm looking forward to hearing what I've always thought was one of my best pieces. I'll have the exact date soon.

Also on the cards is another Norgard arrangement. (Sorry for the lack of diacriticals, but every time I try inputting the ASCII codes on my laptop, it bumps me out of Blogger. Maybe I need a Danish keyboard.) I can't say what it is yet, but it will be another piece arranged and reduced for cello and orchestra. I'll start on it as soon as they send me the revised solo part. I think the performance is in November.

That hasn't quite kicked my piano concerto into touch, but I'll need to ration some time to get it done by my self-imposed deadline. Any pianists looking for a concerto to premiere? It should be about 20 minutes long by the time I finish it.

My performance diary:

Radio broadcasts (all WCNY between 2 and 3 pm on Sundays, Fresh Ink):
14 April 2013 - Oyre's Garden
21 April 2013 - Inner Sanctum
28 April 2013 - Inferno
5 May 2013 - Purgatorio, from Symphony No 2
9 June 2013 - From Her Husband's Hand (sax and piano version)


Live performances of my music
July 2013, TBA, Cazenovia, NY
Winter 2013, TBA, Syracuse, NY
February 2014, From Her Husband's Hand, Setnor Auditorium, Syracuse, NY

Un-Creatived

I discovered my Sibelius problem isn't related to my soundcard. The solution was buried on the Sibelius forum (and not in the Knowledge Base). I had to re-install all the sounds. My sounds folder was only 2.8GB when it should have been 39GB.

I've still disabled the X-Fi soundcard, since having only 4Gb severely limits the number of sounds that load. The sounds are better, but is the overall sound quality as good? It's hard to tell.

I'm stalled on the concerto ... only slightly. It's been a busy couple of weeks, and I just haven't had any time to work on it. I've print it out at 11x17, and have started laying it out on the floor - my usual practice when I'm getting close to the end. I highlight passages that require amendments, usually addition for continuity, and then fill in some more. I need to write that soliloquy, and I know it either needs significant length or only a short cadenza. Unfortunately, it is probably the former, which means more work.

I keep hoping the mice will compose it for me.


I'll be on WCNY next Sunday afternoon. I'm helping out with their pledge drive during the program (Fresh Ink) that will be playing Oyre's Garden the following week. If it is like past drives, there will probably be a brief interview.

Time for a change

Well, I've done it. I ordered more memory, which means the X-Fi is coming out of my system. It's too bad. It had many useful bits and pieces. I'm considering moving it into my Linux machine (there are 3rd party drivers supposedly) or my Windows Me machine after it is retired from Score use. (No Windows Me driver.)

That leaves me with the onboard sound until I find a reasonable (but inexpensive) replacement card. There is a Creative card that might work (Z), but I don't think I'll risk throwing away another $100.

Don't get Creative

That isn't what it means on the surface. Several years ago, I bought a Creative X-Fi Fatality Platinum sound card, with the breakout box, so I can plug into the front of my computer, and have great sound as well. For a few months it worked fine, then my motherboard failed. That had nothing to do with the card, but I took it as an opportunity to upgrade to a higher spec system, 64-bit, and Windows 7. I checked the Creative website, and they had a Windows 7 driver. No problem, right?

Wrong.

I installed everything, no problem. Sound card worked fine.

Then I restarted my computer. Snap. Crackle. Pop. Static. I checked the Creative website again to see if I could sort this out. They recommended updating the driver. Nope. Didn't work. I contacted customer service. They told me to try several things that I had already tried. Eventually, I Googled the problem and found something that led me to the Microsoft Knowledge Base. 

It seems that that 64-bit computers allow the addressing of more than 4GB of memory. Yay! Unfortunately, Creative X-Fi sound cards don't. It isn't a physical problem, as I discovered when I first installed the card. It worked properly until restart, then something kicks it. I informed Creative of the issue, but they weren't interested. They don't even have it mentioned in their support forum. Basically, they are looking the other way.

To get around it, you have to limit your MAXMEM in your bootloader to under 4000 MB ... not 4GB which is 4096 MB. For a while I was working at 3996, but at some point I changed it to 3800. I can't remember why.

On comes Sibelius 7. For months, I've been trying to figure out why the really nice Sibelius 7 sounds don't work ... well ... one does. The piano sounds fantastic, but in my Piano Concerto, that is all I get. I have to resort to Sibelius 6 sounds.

You can see where this is going.

Sibelius 7 sounds require 4+ GB of memory, and that is 4 GB just to play the "lite" sound set. You really want 8 GB for the whole set. 3800 MB seems to be just enough to load the first sound.

I figured that maybe I'd have a look back at the Creative website. Windows 8 is now out and you would expect them to update the driver for their flagship sound card. They did, however they only added Windows 8 support. They did not fix the problem, and they still have nothing about it on their site.

I did some more digging and found this discussion from 2011: http://forums.creative.com/archive/index.php?t-577245.html, which was eye-opening in a way, but only confirmed what I already knew. Creative just didn't care.

Now I'm in a quandary  Do I deep-six my $200 sound card and add some memory to my system, or stick with the inferior Sibelius 6 sounds? What would I replace it with?

Think February 2014

I'm not entirely sure which piece, but I think I have a big(-gish) performance coming up in February. It is likely to be one of three orchestral pieces, two of which would be a first performance, the other would be a US premiere. The orchestra is set, but it depends on the artists (two are concertos). The least likely would be my third symphony, but I would reveal any more than that.

The more current news is that I'm on spring break and had planned to finish Chaos, but I've just received a pile of typesetting work, which is more urgent (partly because it pays). I hope to get a jump on the typesetting so I can spend at least a couple of hours on the concerto each day this week. I have done a little since my last post, but I think I might have to rewrite it. I forgot that the tempo was slow, so  when I played it back, it sounded like I was going half speed. I'll have to remedy that. I would at least like to fill some partial gaps near the end, and probably fill out the ending.

Another thing I am considering is adding an improvisation/cadenza between what is essentially the second and third movements. It's not really in three movements, but there are three distinct sections. The soliloquy may comprise a fourth sections, but I'm hoping that it is perceived as part of the middle section.

Don't forget WCNY on April 14. I'll post details what they are playing when closer to the date.