Back to the grindstone

The paste-up arrangement is done now. I've spent the last couple of days arranging the third movement of Chaos for piano and orchestra. They aren't really defined movements because they are so short and the material from the first movement is transposed to the set of the last movement as a coda. It's all played straight through.

I had some Sibelius issues, partly related to transferring it from Finale, that I've finally fixed them (I think), so the next job is to set the middle movement and make the piano more prominent.

Rather than being a soloist, the piano is more like the engine of the structure. There are places where it dominates, but it rarely is completely independent. I'm hoping to rectify that in the middle movement and the closing section. At the end of the first "movement", there is a lyrical section with the piano alone, to be followed by an improvisation section where the piano improvises on given chords over an aleatoric tableaux. The aleatory continues as the second movement proper begins, but the piano is joined by the first trombone as a co-soloist, sort of like Nielsen's flute concerto. I still have to re-score that for orchestra, but I'll also be adding more piano music.

Hooky is just a game

Last night I straightened up my office. On my work table, I laid my Chaos sketches in the anticipation that I might work on them. Maybe today, but things will get dicey again in a couple of days. I have another rush reorchestration coming, and that's a paste-up job for performances in March.

Is that another arrangement? I guess it is. I also learned that Bach to the Future will be premiered March 27 and repeated in the July concerts. I've also started the other arrangement for those concerts.

Still playing hooky

We're packing up for our move, and I won't have any free time until the middle of November. Composing? Well, it's just one of those things that are getting pushed aside. I'm keeping my manuscript with me so I can write, after the house is emptied of our belongings. I may just orchestrate the rest of what is already written until I have something useful in my head.

Playing Hooky

I've just spent most of the last few days in Amsterdam. I thought about taking my concerto with me, but I decided against it. I wouldn't have touched it anyway. I was there for JD's conference, and haven't been there in about 10 years, so I wanted to have a wander. I might put some pics up on Facebook if I get inspired.

Now I'm home, I don't feel like doing anything substantial. I didn't sleep very well while away, and we rose very early for our flight this morning (4 am BST).

I need to get back to it sooner rather than later, but I've had a fair amount of work come in this week (including an arrangement), so we'll see what happens.

Testing things out.

I've written half of the first piano soliloquy and dumped it into Finale to try it out. Although it isn't the final program I'll use to set it, I did key most of the original version of Chaos into it, so I'm using it to make the adaptation, and expand it to a concerto.

I pretty much like what is there, although I'll need to flesh out more of the piano part. The first section will need some work on the strings, too.

This section is complicated to set, so I probably shouldn't waste too much time on it. I won't be able to get much of a good representation of the overall sound either.

At least it is still moving.

Finally, some composing time

The concerto is now three pages longer. I was able to use my full composing hour yesterday, plus about twenty minutes from the previous day.

I also had a revelation during my donut sleep last night. When I started Chaos, it was programmatic, i.e. based of the beginning of Paradise Lost - Lucifer's fall. Somehow, when I restarted it, I had lost track of that, and was composing "absolute" music. Now my head is back in gear, and the next section begins Lucifer's monologue. He's fallen and is now contemplating what to do next (in the filthy stench of Hell) surrounded by his legion of fallen angels.

Lyrical piano solo with a few orchestral interjections. This will use the progression I devised for the original improvisation. I may also include some improvisation here.

Never enough time

I try to set aside specific times of the day to compose and write. An hour for writing seems to be almost enough, but for composing, I find that my work day has a habit of creeping into that time.

Yesterday, I was left with only a half hour, and that just isn't enough time to get into the groove. Yes, I finished page 17, but I still don't have my head together for this free solo section. My original plan was to have it mostly improvised, but this early in the piece, I've decided I need some introspective, written music. When will the improvisation come? I don't know yet.