Publication news

I've just corrected my proof for Symphony No. 2. I've made a few revisions and simplified some notation. I'm going to look through it once more, since I'm using the Vienna font on it. That's one that is supposed to look like Score. Unfortunately, it doesn't map the same as Opus (Sibelius' native font), so I have to manually change a few things, and a couple of things still don't look perfect (but they are very minor). Musegraph (the font designer) is going to re-map the font to be compatible with Sibelius and that will make a few things easier. At the moment it is mapped to match Maestro (Finale's default font). At very small staff sizes, I've found that increasing the font size from 19.5 to 22 or 23, makes the noteheads larger. I've never liked the shape of Opus noteheads, and this is much more agreeable.

That means the publication of Symphony No. 2 is still a couple of weeks down the road. Nearer is The Master's Hammer (also using Vienna). I'm waiting for Createspace to supply a printed proof, which should come in the next few days, along with a new version of Paradiso, ostensibly for sinfonietta, but with multiple strings preferred. I've kept the Steel Pan from the chamber version, but unfortunately the Soprano Sax, Tuba, and Harp had to go (for the purposes of this arrangement). There were a few other instruments that became doublings. I was allowed double winds, horns, and trumpets, but I wanted to make this orchestration different enough from the original that they could both stand as separate entities.

Another piece in the pipeline is my saxophone Quartet, which I have a group reading next month. (I'm extracting parts this weekend.) It's too short for Createspace, so I may publish it with Mirage and/or the sax and piano version of Remembering the Night Sky.

So, what is next?

I'm itching to write another big orchestra piece, but I need to write Labyrinth for early next year. That's an octet (fl, cl, tpt, pf, string quintet). I'm planning for it to be like a double concerto for the violin 1 and cello, but we will see, once I get going on it.

I should probably get Symphony No. 3 and Chaos premiered before tackling another orchestra piece, so probably after Labyrinth is a wind ensemble piece and a set of songs.

So nobody understood my Libera-etto joke (except Steve Taylor)?

Libera-etto

Announcing the future premiere (or not) of:

Libera-etto, the grand neo-postmodern tragicomic opera (that I will never write).

Jon Fast, a long suffering Kia dealer and aspiring pop singer, meets Mepho, a hard of hearing devil who wants Jon's Soul. "For your soul in 10 years time," Mepho says, "I will give you anything now."

"What's wrong with the other other Souls on the lot?" Jon asks, not sure why his 8-year-old Soul with a couple of dents in it should be so attractive to this fine gentleman. Anyway, it looks like a great deal, since he couldn't even be certain that the car will still be running in a decade. He takes up the offer.

"I want to be a pop star," Jon announces.

"A what?" Mepho asks.

"You know, a pop singer, with adoring fans."

"Ah! In exchange for your soul, you will be an opera singer!" Mepho exclaims, waving his arms.

"No, a pop ..."

"What?"

"A pop star!"

"That's right, an opera star! You will be magnificent!" (The curtain falls.)

What follows (or not) is a series of misadventures, including a walk on part (literally) as Parsifal, a love affair with Susanna and/or Rodolfo, and (of course) Jon speaks neither Italian, French, nor German. He marries Musetto, but can't understand a word.

The scenes appear in random order, and some of the action happens backwards.

The Master's Hammer

Well, I've not been here much lately. I still haven't finished proofing Symphony No 2, as I've been rather busy. After the passing of Pierre Boulez, I decided to write an homage for him (the image above doesn't show the dedication). In fact, the Syracuse University Contemporary Music Ensemble was already planning to perform Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time on April 13, so we decided to dedicate the concert to Boulez, Messiaen's student. Unfortunately, we couldn't afford to rent a Boulez work for the program, so instead, I put a call out to SU faculty to write short pieces in memory of Boulez that would complement the Quartet.

In addition to new pieces by Andrew Waggoner and Avram Finberg, I've composed The Master's Hammer, based on the row for Le Marteau sans Maître, divided into sets in my usual way, but also transformed to get a better variety of intervals in my sets.

That's what I've been working on when I'm not teaching, or typesetting, or writing grant proposals, or getting over a nasty cold.

Next up, I need to write my SNM commission for next March, an 18-minute piece for 8 instruments, probably featuring violin and cello as a quasi double concerto. I'll probably also spend a couple of days proofing my Symphony No. 2.

Should ...

As expected I've been procrastinating. While I've been waiting for proofs of Oyre's Garden and Chaos, I've fiddled around with my Symphony No. 2. It's needed a minor revision, and I also wanted to finally typeset it. Nobody wants to perform off hand-copied originals anymore. I had input about half the first movement into Sibelius at some point a few years ago, so I've spent the past week inputting the rest and making the amendments. I've also clarified some notation and fixed some wrong notes.

It's printing out now, and I'll take my time proofing it. Setting an 82 page score in a little over a week, is moving quite quickly, so I want to make certain everything is right.

So the current timeline is:

Chaos: proofs to arrive early next week, should go live shortly thereafter.

Oyre's Garden: proofs to arrive next week, there were some strange errors flagged up by Createspace, so I need to check it carefully.

Symphony No. 2: I will proof it sometime over the next 3 weeks, and then upload it. ETA, end of January. Although, Spring semester begins mid-month, and I have to prepare for that, as well as do a parts job by the middle of the month. I also have to prepare to conduct Remembering the Night Sky for the performance 31 Jan. 2016.

It's going to be a busy month.

Procrastination?

I've been getting my head together for finals week and grading. It's really just the finals, juries, and a few late entries into the homework assignments, so it isn't so bad. The test is ready except for the photocopying, and juries aren't until Wednesday.

I should start putting some effort into either my SNM commission for next year, or the wind ensemble piece I started this semester, a re-harmonization of Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. I've got all my materials ready. It's just a matter of some broad sketches and fleshing it out.

Should is the operative word.

Instead, I spent this weekend finally beginning to input and tweak my Symphony No. 2. There is a brief passage I want to fix near the beginning, but the rest will be mostly straight input as well as clarifying some dynamics. I'm about 3/4 into the first movement. (I had started a long time ago when I was trying out a new version of Sibelius.) My Euphonium Concerto is in the same state, although possibly further along, except it needs more extensive revision.

My Notagraphia website has been trailing a coming score to Oyre's Garden for a long time now, and that is what I spent today on. I've converted it from Finale to Sibelius and increased the staff size, so it doesn't need to be printed out on large format paper to be able to read it. There are some minor revisions, mostly making it look a little more like it sounds. Again, I've added and clarified some dynamics. All I have left to do is the front matter, and then I can upload it to Createspace. I'm trying to decide whether it needs new parts or whether I can easily adjust the Finale parts.

I'm also going to tweak the score to Chaos. I'm not happy with the accolades (the instrument names in the margin), so I'm going to improve them, add the front matter and post it - probably at the same time as Oyre's Garden. That's probably an afternoon of work between the two scores, so I should upload them by Christmas, and get to the new pieces.

Saying that, I have a typesetting job on its way, so that might eat into my composing time.

Remembering the Night Sky is now available on Createspace

Remembering the Night Sky (chamber version) is now available on Createspace. Parts are free, if you purchase the score and email me on the address inside the cover page. It will be available on Amazon within the next week.

At this point in time, I don't have a release date for the saxophone and piano version, since it is too short for Createspace publication. I'm considering publishing it with a bonus of Mirage, for solo alto saxophone. That will get me up to the minimum page threshold.

Chaos, for piano and orchestra should go live by the end of the month. I need to come up with some interesting artwork for it.

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.