Newfound Music Festival (POST 5)

I thought this years Newfound music festival was great. Not only did I get several opportunities to perform new works, I was able to listen to a lot of contemporary music.

- The Friday night concert was great. This first half of the program was music from two of our composers at MUN, Clark Ross and Andrew Staniland. I really enjoyed both of these pieces. What stood out to me the most was the texture that Andrew was able to create through the use of sparse chords and "word painting" on the piano. The text was very clear and the piano was used a tool to emphasis what the character was feeling. Great!

- Saturday Night student composition concert was also a great success. Great crowd and everyone's music seemed to come across well in the concert hall. I was especially happy with the way that Tim interpreted my pieces. I thought he treated the colors very well.

- Late night Saturday concert featured music from the Americas. Great selection of pieces which contrasted very well with the rest of the festival.

Presentation Day (POST 4)

Today I presented a piece that I wrote last week. Overall I would say that I am very happy with the outcome. The piece features a very simple melodic line which is developed and contrasted. It is only a page and a half in length and i feel that this piece is is the most consistent thing I have written. One idea, it does not over state itself, it does not exist longer than it should.

Some comments I received,

- mm. 16 - 19 - I feature a passage in the bass clef. This is the only instance that this low register is used in the entire piece. Perhaps I could find a more effective way of creating a thicker texture while still sticking to the upper registers.

- The 5/8 passages were good!, But do not sound like 5/8 at all

- Pause at mm. 39 could be extended. This would play with the listeners expectations

Presentation 2 (POST 3)

On tuesday I presented my second "piece". I recieved several helpful comments.
What I learned,

- I have several ideas, 4 to be exact. Each one could potentially stand alone as a seperate piece.

- Ideas 3&4 were most unified, both feature arpeggio passages that repeat. I should take these and further develop them.

- Since I am only using a certain unmber of chords, I could write out the pitches as block chords and listen to differnet voicings, while adding and subrtacting notes. This could help me develop more chords that could be introduced as the idea develops.

- My second idea, although written in 3/4, is very ambiguos, it is very challenging to feel the down beats or any regular pulse. This could be a piece on its own

Understanding the Keyboard (POST2)

The keyboard has essentially become the center piece of western classical music. It is supposed to be every composers best friend. The perfect instrument.

Since I play guitar and am a very poor pianist, it is a challenge for me to write good flowing music that fits onto a keyboard. It is a completely different way of thinking. Two hands which have many possibilities.

I started listening and examining scores from great keyboard composers from the past. I took ideas and passages that I liked and modified them to make them my own. Most notably

- Scarlatti - K. 14 in G Major
- Chopin - Prelude No. 15 Op. 28
- Rachmaninoff Etude - Tableaux Op.33 No.2
- Liszt - Three Concert Etudes S.144 No.3 "Un Sospiro"
- Scriabin - Vers la flamme, Op.72

Writing for Piano (POST1)

Upon recieveing the assignment (write 3 short pieces for piano) I thought I would get a head start and compose as much as I could before the first presentaiton day. I ended up with two ideas, both a page each which will serve as a skeleton to two pieces.

The first is based upon a 5/8 pattern in which is repeated several times while a second voice plays over it creating thick texture. This can be further developed by rhythmic manipulation.

The second is basically a set of arrpegios based on a lydian scale that eventually modulates. I am especially pleased with this sketch.

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.