Second presentation

As great as notation software is, it will never tell you how a performance will really sound. I learn so much from every presentation (both my own and others), and as a result I can fine tune the things I hear in my head in terms of how realistic they are.

I tend to conceptualise big sounds, so I'm usually surprised by the sparseness of the sound with small ensembles.

The second piece I wrote for piano and viola, Power Breeds Madness actually turned out better than I expected in many spots. I'm still learning a lot about the capabilities of the viola, specific notation, and the different sounds it can create. But what I was looking for was realised more or less.

There is a falling ostinato figure that I need to take another look at. The piano carries it for a few measures before dropping it to imitate the viola, while it picks up a tremolo before picking up where the piano left off. I'm going to see if there are other ways of handling it, altering it, and seeing if it can last that long or if it needs to be interrupted.

I'm wondering too about the last section. I want to keep the viola's role of and undulating "pedal," for lack of a better term. But perhaps it's just too long.

Overall there's a lot of tweaking that needs to be done, but for now it's time to move on and get some other ideas out and then coming back and taking a fresh look at this, and 2006 again.

First Presentation

As usual, the music surprises me. I set off in one direction determined to stay my course, but I was soon distracted by the scenery and started working on a different piece instead. It took on a life of its own before long and I'm mostly happy with how it turned out.

With Megan's help, 2006 was performed in class today. The score is devoid of any dynamics, articulations or the like, save for a few general ideas I marked on Megan's part. I have a general idea of the layout, and will probably sit down this weekend to tinker with it, once I have a good start on another piece.

As always, I'm torn when it comes to revising a score. Public opinion must be weighed quite carefully against my own. It's difficult when I have such a personal relationship with it, though I do consider what others say because they will see it in ways I never can. With regards to the final measure, it was suggested that I leave out the top voices, while others commented that the added chord helped give it a sense of restfulness. I want to end with this chord, but I will play around with different voicings and rhythms to see what other effects can be achieved.

It was noted that the piece contains several ideas in a short space (40 measures). One person did say that they felt it made sense together, despite the contrasting sections; this was my intention. I was aiming for a unified piece through contrast. I will look over it some more to see if there are spots that can be lengthened/elaborated or shortened, or if cross-referencing/foreshadowing would make any more sense.

For now it's time to move onto the next one, and get what I can out. Sometimes a break from a piece is just what is needed to find a new perspective.

Back to the Basics

So, here we are again.

I anticipated this project over the summer, so I had already been thinking about it, but didn't make it much beyond early conceptualisation, for a variety of reasons. Now that it's come time to actually write the music, I find my feet surprisingly cold.

I settled on the character of two of the pieces early on, and already decided on certain passages and overall shape. Now comes my least favourite part of composition: notation. Beyond being frustrated when I'm having difficulty notating unusual rhythms or passages that make way more sense in my head, I still feel like the paper is a huge block between myself and the finished product. I know there is no easy way around this, and I've at least gotten better at quickly writing thoughts out by hand before having to fight with notation software. Still, there are some times when I would rather keep a lot of ideas in my head, at the risk of forgetting it later--until I actually forget it.

Of course, I still struggle with actually getting the music out of my head, too. Too often I can visualise (auralise?) music with an idea of the shape/notes/structure, but am unaware of the actual pitches/values/etc. and many hours have been spent at the piano trying to make it sound like what only I can hear, only to leave it in frustration.

I digress. My selections are being composed for piano and viola--a sadly underused and under appreciated instrument. As well as taking advantage of its rich lower register, I plan to exploit its potential for high notes (both through harmonics and regular pitches). Its capability for sustain will also feature prominently in one piece.

I'm actually "close" to finishing one. I have the major sections of it either written down or mentally logged, and a lot of the rest of it can be borrowed from these sections. I just need to force myself to sit down and organise my thoughts with the music and try to make friends with the manuscript paper.