Stagnation

I spent some time on the second movement yesterday. I typed my progression into Sibelius and listened to it, just a series of ascending scales. It works - of course, it should, but it didn't send me running to a piece of manuscript paper to write down the movement in one big belch.

Instead, I came to the conclusion that I'm a beginning-to-end writer. The only times that I haven't written pieces in order, I haven't been happy with the result. No Free Lunch is better in its original 8 min torso, than it is in the commissioned five minute distillation. It just all seems in the wrong order. Inner Sanctum is a distillation with a difference. Like Stimmen, it appears in the same order in which it was composed. Okay, I didn't use everything in the final version, and it isn't what I originally planned, but both pieces work. Likewise, Remembering the Night Sky will never be as good as the Night Vision sketches.

You know what that means. It's back to the beginning. Of course, all my source material is still useful, but I can't write the second movement until I have a skeleton of the first. In any case, the second movement is really an interlude, and the other piece that I wrote the interludes first, that was all I wrote.

Still catching up

I had a strange dream last night. It was a dream of a dream, in fact. I was at a university where a rehearsal was taking place, possibly York (but different). I dreamt that I dreamt about revisions to my first symphony. Although at the end of the dream, I realised it was actually my second symphony. I could hear it very clearly. I was revising it as I was typesetting it (the original is a fair-copy ms).

When I awoke, I realised it was neither. I was dreaming a new piece. I remember hearing it clearly in my head. Unfortunately, it wasn't a piano concerto, but I might be able to incorporate the ideas into it. A slow section of widely spaced string harmonies (open 5th & octave), two lines of which overlapped. The first movement had a series of interrupting chords that in the revision were preceded by glissandi or runs up to them in the winds.

I'll have to think about it.

Back in action

I have now slept in my own bed four nights in a row, but I've still been busy. I have been away visiting family in the US followed by a business trip to Copenhagen, with frustratingly little time to compose or write. After that I spent a few days at the York Festival of Writing, which I'll tell you about in my writing blog later.

The trip to Copenhagen was highlighted by lunch with Per Nørgård, whom I haven't seen for a few years. The performance of my arrangement of his Bach to the Future had been postponed due to schedule conflict, but we sat down to discuss it before the rearranged performance next year. It was nice to learn that he had no changes, and that he was completely happy with my arrangement. We also discussed a future arrangement (which shall remain confidential until it has been commissioned). Also, my sinfonietta arrangement of Helle Nacht has been recorded and should be released sometime this year.

Now that I'm back, I need to catch up on some work, and get down to composing this piano concerto, which I discussed briefly with Per, specifically the amount of improvisation in the second movement. I'm coming to the conclusion that I may have to write a suggested version, if I ever want it to be performed. I also need to get down to some writing.

I've sent out a few copies of A Point of Amber Light, and Per suggested I contact Danish radio. My next publishing project will be the violin and piano version, before I settle down and publish my saxophone music, which has a greater chance of being performed.

A Point of Amber Light now available on Amazon.com

My violin concerto, A Point of Amber Light, is now available on Amazon.com.

If you are interested in purchasing it from the Createspace site, I'm happy to provide a discount code to friends for a significant reduction in price. Just send me an email.

Performance materials available separately. I'm happy to send the solo violin part out in pdf form to any violinist interested in performing it. The version with piano accompaniment will be my next publication, hopefully.

UK customers can find it on Amazon.co.uk, but it is listed as out of stock. For now buy it from Amazon.com or Createspace.

Solomon's Seal now available at a lower price

They have cut prices at my supplier, so I decided to pass the savings on. You can also purchase it as a pdf to save 44% and print it yourself. Being a mobile form piece, that means you can arrange the pieces in the order you wish to perform them.



I'm still planning on posting an excerpt from An Angel's Kiss, but I've had a pile of work come in, so I'm rather busy right now.

Update on the concerto: I've sketched a chord progression for the second movement. The piano will improvise on a different progression over the top of it.

A Point of Amber Light now available for purchase.

My violin concerto, A Point of Amber Light, is now available on Createspace.

If you are interested in purchasing it, I'm happy to provide a discount code to friends for a significant reduction in price. Just send me an email.

It should appear on Amazon.com in 5-7 days.

Performance materials available separately. I'm happy to send the solo violin part out in pdf form to any violinist interested in performing it. The version with piano accompaniment will be my next publication, hopefully.

Theory 101.1

OK, I lied. Today I devised the tonal relationships of the sets from the inversion of the row.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly rather, the set relationships turned out to be the same. I've never used the tonality of the inverted row before, so I expected the relationships to be inverted as well. I'm not sure I'll use the pivot tones with the inverted set, since they just extend the chromatic.

This is the primary material for the second movement, so I'm ready to begin sketching harmonic progressions for it. Once I have those, I'll start devising the textures. Remember, the movement will comprise a series of aleatoric textures over which one or more instruments will solo, and the piano will improvise over the top using a progression that may or may not match that of the instruments below.

OK, next time, I WILL post an excerpt from the one of the source stories.