Final Considerations

I thought the concert went extremely well .Everyone's compositions really were brought to life. Since i preformed my own piece, I was able to not only write the notes but actually interpret it for the audience. I think there is a special connection to a composer and his music. While preforming your own work you are essentially giving others a glimpse into yourself.

All the performances were well polished especially considering how little time we had to get everything finalized and have the scores in the performers hands for rehearsals.

One of the harder things about this course was scheduling rehearsals. You have to consider everyones' schedule and I ended up approaching several people who i had never spoken too, asking them to play my music in concert.

Details

I have learned many things about composing while taking this course. One of the most important would be musical detail. This really is just as important as the composition itself. Like learning anything new, the more you practice the more natural it becomes. I think that over the two projects that we were assigned I have made progress in learning about the art of preparing a score. There could honestly be a course just about this.

Since my second piece included a guitar, I had to include string markings and fingerings. Although I have played studied and played through many guitar scores, it really was eye opening how much care one must take when considering fingerings and positions.

Concert Review

On Saturday, Nov 14, I attended a concert by the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

Program

Haydn (1732-1809)
- String Quartet in D, op. 20 No. 4 (Hob.III:34)
Allegro di molto
Un Poco adagio e affettuoso
Menuetto: Allegro alla Zingarese
Finale: Presto e scherzando

Derek Charke (b. 1974)
-Sepia Fragments

Dvorak (1841-1904)
-Quartet in G, Op. 106
Allegro moderato
Adagio ma non troppo
Molto vivace
Finale: Andante sostenuto - Allegro con fuoco

This was honestly one of the best concerts I have ever attended. It was evident from the first note of the Haydn quartet that the ensemble was full of energy. The music was brought to life with virtuosic ease that never stepped over the boundary of the composition. As far as chamber music goes, this was some of the tightest ensemble playing that I have ever witnessed.

The real highlight of the program was the second composition. Sepia Fragments. This is a newly commissioned work by Derek Charke. He describes the work as "a musical journey from the present to the past". The piece was organized into four distinct sections. Starting with an original fiddle tune, the piece slowly evolves through the quotation of other works. Derek pays tribute to the quartets past by quoting pieces that they have recorded and preformed in the past. - After the introduction, the first quotation is from Schumann's String Quartet No. 3 in A. We then get a quote from the third movement of Shostakovich's eighth String Quartet. This is followed by a waltz like texture that hints at the first movement of Tchaikovsky's String Quartet in D. The texture is slowly built up until it finally fades. The piece is brought to conclusion with a slow ambient ending that hints at "remembrances from the near and distant past".

After the intermission, the Dvorak was played with great energy. This was a great way to end the program as it contrasted the opening Haydn quartet very nicely.

2nd Presentation

Yesterday I presented my finished composition in class. It went well. Some general comments I recieved

- Perhaps introduce Guitar in the "intro". It seems to come out of nowhere in measure no. 10
- In measure 37, the texture is thinned out considerably. I then re introduce a thicker texture right at the end of the piece. I can see how this would seem redundant, but am going ot wait ot actually hear it in rehersal before changing it.
- The last chord does not seem like the final point of the piece. Perhaps tweak this to make it sound more final.

Considerations

I have finished my piece. Any changes made from now until the concert will only be small. I am quite happy with the outcome. Originally this piece was written for marimba but I decided it sounded better on vibraphone.

I ended up writing three different pages of ideas that I based the final product on.

I first wrote a 4 and a half measure arpeggio line for guitar that repeats several time throughout the piece. This ended up serving as the central accompaniment for the voice. The vibe part was added after. This section is contrasted with a slower 9/8 section that is constant until the very last few measures.

Since I am a guitarist preforming mostly solo works, I found it quite challenging to write a part that fit into an accompanying texture while leaving enough space for the other parts. The voice had to stand out above everything else so making the guitar take a back seat was something I defiantly struggled with during this project.

Second Piece

For my second composition I chose to set a text. The instrumentation will be

- Soprano
- Guitar
- Marimba

The text I will be using is a Shakespeare sonnet. #100

Where art thou, Muse, that thou forgett'st so long
To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?
Spend'st thou thy fury on some worthless song,
Dark'ning thy power to lend base subjects light?
Return, forgetful Muse, and straight redeem
In gentle, numbers time so idly spent;
Sing to the ear that doth lays esteem,
And gives thy pen both skill and argument.
Ride, resty Muse, my love's sweet face survey,
If Time have any wrinkle graven there;
If any, be a satire to decay,
And make Time's spoils despised everywhere.
Give my love fame faster then Time wastes life;
So thou prevent'st his scythe and crooked knife.

Getting ready for the concert

So this has been an insanely busy week. Working out the fine details in each of my three pieces seemed to take much more time than I had anticipated. The hard part was finally closing Sibelius and accepting what i had down, knowing I would not be able to change anything else before hearing it in the concert.

Since i wrote two slower more atmospheric works, and one faster more ambitious work, it took me awhile to settle on an order and in the end I left it was I wrote it (chronologically). The two slower movements surround the more rhythmic one.

I think the pieces work as a set, but could also be preformed alone and would still create an effective atmosphere. I also came up with titles for them individually

I. Haze - The piece really is a gloomy atmosphere which leaves the listener with a sense of timelessness. I thought the word Haze described this very well

II. Advert - Which literally means to draw your attention to something. To point something out. Since i use a lot of rhythmic accents over a more flowing line, this title fit very well

III. Comatose - I received several comments on this piece. Particularly the piano line which was described as "going no where" and "no direction". I did edit it a little but i was quite happy with the part myself. This piece can be described as Comatose which means Unconscious

anyway I have done a lot of work on this music and am happy with the outcome. I am definatly looking forward to the concert and hearing these works preformed on the big stage.

Revision Of Number 2

So i played the revision of my second piece in class and it went very well. I agree that a little tweaking could do it some good but over all i am happy with this composition.

Some of the comments

- Could be longer..... Because i am using a 5/8 time signature and placing eight note rests on random beats the piece does seem to have a feeling of timelessness. The listener looses track of the bar lines. In order to make this more effective the piece could have been longer and developed much more slowly. I have a lot of material that repeat's a lot.... It could potentially go on for longer and would still not seem boring.

- At measure 35 There is defiantly a point of highest tension. This is further than 60% of the way through the piece. I could rethink this. Maybe lengthen the material after or just have this happen a little before.

- The vibes have a repeating line that piano never plays. The material in both instruments is very different. This is not bad BUT I could incorporate some of that moving line in the piano

- Make use of the huge register that the piano has. I am sticking to the ledger lines for the most part. Maybe write in some double octaves.

That is All

Revisions and such

My third piece was played this week and it turned out very well. Some of the general comments i received,

- Good Unity of character throughout
- Could be expanded
- Piano line seemed "random"
- Good use of staccato under the resonating vibraphone
- Perhaps repeating motives too soon
- Jazzy sounding few measures in the last system which could breath a few extra phrases before the end

Im not sure if agree that the piano line was "random" there is a structure that I felt i stuck to and was able ot achieve what i had initally planned.


Now on to revising my second work

This piece needed alot of work. I have many ideas but all together they lack a sense of coherency. Somethings I am keeping in mind when revising

-Delete 4/4 measures of chords during the intro
-Keep 5/8 bars
-Expand on the vibraphone line
-Try and create more of a sound scape texture. Less Random more structure

Writing Charatcer Piece 2

SO, this second piece was a lot less painless to write. It seemed to flow a lot easier. Since my first piece sounded more like chords resonating over bar lines i decided to try and add some rhythm to move the time instead of capturing one moment and stretching it like my first piece.

Although it looks much different on paper there are my similarity which could link the two compositions. I did reuse several chords that appeared in the first piece in order to create a sense of unity throughout the work as a whole. instead of going for major dissonances I stuck with a lot open 5ths and octaves. I love the sound of 5ths and 9ths when used in a modal context.

Overall this piece has a lot more "line". Contrasting the opening few piano chords in 4/4 with the quick 5/8 measure of the vibraphone will drive the line forward. hopefully in wont be perceived as too tonal..................


time will tell

Character Piece 1

So I decided to compose something based on texture rather than a moving line. Many of the compositions I have been hearing so far in class are full of fast moving lines and heavy dense walls of sound that sometimes become incoherent because of the balance chosen between the piano and the other instrument. Often one instrument does not back off enough for the other to take the "lead" and the listener is lost as to the message or intention of the composer.

I think I was successful in creating a simple texture for Piano and Vibraphone that lasts roughly two minutes in length. The chords move mostly in slow half and quarter notes, which results in creating "space" for the listener to hear the dissonance between the intervals.

Some constructive criticize i received,

- Could be longer
- There are eight notes in one measure.... I should expand on this
- Perhaps could be a little longer
- Use a fermata at the end instead of whole notes for two measures
- Mose sustain in the piano line (pedal) ... would create a more wash of sound
- Think about the use of a fan
- Fix ties and notation errors

I am happy with the way it turned out overall, but agree that the piece needs to be developed more. This could potentially be a slow middle section in a 3 movement work!

Adam

Chord Prog

SO I have been listening to my the progression that I created and I realize that it sounds completely different every time i hear it. The week leading up to class I found myself somewhat unhappy with the tension and dissonance levels that were supposed to build to a climax.

I played the chords during class and for the first time i was not being critical but was just observing the sounds. I agree with several of the comments that I received and was able to use the feedback to modify the progression so that it follows a more logical progression of tension. My highest point of tension was chord 9 which is what i initially had planned.

Since the class i have re ordered some of the chords so that each one is a little more tense, until the descent into more 'relaxed' chords. It will definatly be interesting to hear these chords in different textures when I start composing for piano and another instrument.


anyway better go start that now....

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