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.

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.

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.

Chicago fans, get ready

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.

The future

Now that I'm at the end of term, I need to evaluate what I need to do during the month I have before rejoining the fray. There are two things that must happen before school begins in January:

1) I must create a lesson plan for my new theory class and composition seminar.
2) I must re-score the winds for Nørgård's Remembering Child for our March CME performance.

There are two things that I would also like to do:

1) Finish the piano concerto.
2) Finish setting my third symphony. It will take too long for this break, if I do the other things, but I should get started on it. I'm up to p. 69, and I probably have 50 to go. I'll need to use WinScore to do it, or start over in Sibelius, which I'd rather not do.

I also need to think of some new pieces. I have a bunch that are started, and a couple students clamoring for a song cycle. That's a possibility, but do they really know what they are getting in for? What I really need is someone to commission me, and give me a deadline. Money talks and deadlines get the job done.

Other considerations: I've been asked to conduct the performance of Paradisio in January, so I'll need to program in time to prepare the score.

Lot's to do, but what I really need to do is rest after a tough term.

Two down

Alright ... all the parts are finished for Paradisio, and I've uploaded the corrected score onto CreateSpace. It should be available for purchase in a week or two.

So what is next? I need to arrange Per Nørgård's Remembering Child for a smaller wind section for our performance in March. That's my December project. I may also spend a little time on finishing Chaos. We'll see how much time I have around typesetting work (lots), jury duty, and setting up my lesson plan for Diatonic Harmony II.

New pieces down the road? I don't know. I need to finish the piano concerto, and finish typesetting my third symphony. Songs? We'll see.

...and of course I haven't written any prose lately.