One cork blown

Finally, today I finished typesetting the first proof of my third symphony. I still have to proof it, and I know there are things to do, like have a serious look at the percussion. In the 25 years that it has taken for me to get to this point, I'm bound to have been inconsistent about who is playing what in the percussion section - and I'm certain player 2 is playing the tomtoms in the first movement, and player 3 is playing them at the end. I am also considering changing the notation to single line percussion when possible.

And of course, I'll have to check through and make sure all the harp tunings are possible.

At least the hardest part of it is finished.

The Cork in the Bottle(s)

As you have read, I've decided to finish typesetting my third Symphony. Why? It is probably the least critical on my list of things to finish. I don't have a performance lined up, although the dedicatee has hinted that he might program it.

It's first on my list because it is the cork in the bottle. I've been unable to finish pieces because this one remains unfinished. I'm progressing well. I have only 16 pages left to set, which in the old days, I could do in two, but I imagine I'll finish early next week.

And then I'll progress to the other cork in the other bottle, Chaos, which again is nearly finished. I've been setting it as I worked on it, so just fill the cadenza gap, and a couple of spots where the scoring is a little thin, and that would be done, too.

Then I can concentrate on something that matters, like my double concerto, or more importantly, something I can record to submit as recent work to fund the double concerto.

It never ends.

How recent is recent?

I've made it clear that I have not composed a huge amount in the past 20 years or so. I should qualify that - I haven't finished a lot of music in the past 20 years. (I have started a lot of pieces, however.) Hence, my recent performances are of older works, in general.

I need to apply for some grants over the next 3-6 months, and one in particular asks for recordings of three recent works. My problem is that most of what I have done for the last 10 years is arrange works by Per Nørgård, and I suspect that won't count. The other new work is for improvisation groups, and I'm not sure that is a good enough standard.

One is easy. 

Paradiso. Although an arrangement of an older work, the new orchestration (2013) is unusual enough that I can justify its inclusion. (I would however preferred to change the ending, but I'll probably have to send the recording I have.)

Two is questionable.

No Free Lunch is from 2005, but I have an adequate recording. Is it too old?

Three is really questionable.

Remembering the Night Sky is from 2001. The recording I have isn't great sound quality, and asking someone to learn and record it on short notice night be asking the impossible. Besides, it is probably too old.

Other possibilities:

A Point of Amber Light. The full version is from 1996, so it is probably too old, but the violin and piano reduction is new, from 2013. Again, it is probably too difficult to work up and record quickly.

Stimmen. The original is from 1989, but it was revised in 1992. Kelly Covert performed it last year, but I didn't get a recording. I would consider reinstating the original ending, and recording it, but that isn't really adequate for calling it a new work.

Symphony No 3. Although I should have a score soon, and I could extract parts pretty quickly, I don't think I can get an orchestra together to record it in a short period of time.

Chaos. Same situation. I probably have about a week of work to do on it, so I could have it ready, but it is difficult and I don't know if I can get enough players together.

However, Chaos began it's life as a wind ensemble piece. I could re-arrange it for the original orchestration, not as a piano concerto, condensing it to 10-12 minutes. That might be the best option, but I would still have to record it.

There is also the possibility of arranging Remembering the Night Sky for a band/wind/string group, again condensing it, so it isn't a virtuoso sax piece.

There is also my 2nd string quartet. It is probably unplayable as a quartet - it was never performed - but I could arrange it for 10-15 instruments.

I have a sax quartet, but I'm not sure I like it enough to record it or come up with definitive materials.

Finally, I have unfinished hulks of two piano concertos (chamber orch.) and a couple of hulks of chamber orchestra pieces. I could cobble them together into something. (Not a piano concerto.)

Any suggestions?

Speaking of old projects nearing completion...

Since my surgery, I've been feeling a bit uninspired, probably because of the medications I'm on. Therefore, I've been trying to catch up on a few things that don't require much thought.

I'm not allowed to do anything around the house that requires any lifting, so I've been working on (finally) typesetting the end of my third symphony. There are 23 pages of manuscript left, which will come out to about 30-35 pages typeset. That's probably too much to finish before the next semester begins, but I can get a good start on it (I'm working slowly right now, and there are lots of notes on some of those pages), and then maybe work a little more on Chaos. I have less to do on that, but that requires some creativity, which is in short supply right now. So maybe after New Years, I'll spend a few days on it before I start printing out Eartraining II syllabi for my new clutch of freshmen (freshpersons?).

(Of course, you should ignore the 2001 copyright date.)

Remembering Child

Today marked the completion of a project that I began two years ago. I was asked to create a sinfonietta orchestration of Remembering Child, as well as transcribe the viola part for cello. When I finished the cello part, the money dried up and the project was put on hold.

For a performance here at Syracuse, I put together a hybrid version with single winds, but the original multiple strings, which we performed with Jakob Kullberg last March. I thought it worked really well.

Recently, I was asked to start it up again, and today I sent them the first proof of the fully sinfonietta-ized version. Hopefully, it will get Per Nørgård's stamp of approval, so we can unleash it on the public soon.

Stay tuned...

Captive

More notes today. I was giving a Theory exam today, and worked on Labyrinth some more, about 3 more pages of material that may form the beginning of the piece. Some ideas came to me as I was lying in bed last night, and I remembered enough that they made it onto the page. I may start orchestrating what I have to start defining where it is going.

Labyrinth

I've started writing again. I played a gig in Manhattan last week, and had some spare time, so I sat down at the piano and devised a row that I liked. Of course, I don't compose strict 12-tone, but I often start with a row as a principal source of harmony and melody.

I like this one. It starts with what sounds like a polychord (F# D A E G#) and finishes with  part of a major 7th chord with a sus4. (F B G C). In the middle are Eb Bb and Db. The tri-chords make a nice progression: Major, then (E AF EF), Minor, then the M7 without a third. The tetrachords are also interesting, a D9 (no 7th), then overlaid 4ths (Ab Eb Bb Db), then the M7sus4. I've also identified 3 strata, which can serve as alternate melodies.

Well, what is the piece? I don't know yet. I would like it to be a double concerto for violin and cello with sinfonietta, but I fear 17 performers will be too large for my commission. I'm sketching it as a piano trio for now and will expand when I get more material ready.

I started the piece in the Labyrinth Room in the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. There is a labyrinth on the floor there, but as there are no choices to make to get from the outside to the center, there is no chance to make a mistake and become the Minotaur's dinner. (Sadly, no Minotaur in it either.) Hence, the working title for the piece. Actually, it fits what I would like to do musically: the violin and cello chase each other around the labyrinth, which is represented by the orchestra. I've had this idea for a long time, and I was getting to the point where I finally had to write some notes.