Saturday, February 27, 2010

Cabrillo Festival

So, I decided to complete my submission for the cabrillo festival this year BUT... came to a screeching halt when I attempted to reorchestrate one of my many works for orchestra. The piece that I tried (the third movement from my Symphony) sounded horrid every attempt I made to reorchestrate it. So, the solution is to spend all night composing a new work for the festival. My start isn't bad actually - I'm about 100 measures in so far. I kind of like the idea! Hope it goes well! I post a new blog post once I get the piece submitted.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Morton Gould

Tonight I prepared my submission materials for the Morton Gould. I feel good about it this year - sending one of my best string quartet works! I'll keep you all updated!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Rondo for violin, viola, and timpani

My forum hosts monthly competitions for its members. The February competition called for a work for violin, viola, and a percussion instrument. This was my entry for it - however, since the competition needed judges... I switched from being a competitor to being a judge. So - now I have this stand alone work. Now, I present my Rondo for Violin, Viola, and Timpani. Tell me what you think!

Rondo

Sunday, February 21, 2010

New Project

So, I decided to enter the Cabrillo Festival this year. It's headed up by Marin Alsop - a conductor that I've held as a role model to some degree since I first saw her conduct the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra a few years ago. The piece I'm composed is a special project just for the festival. My inspiration for this work comes from visiting local cemeteries here in Illinois: Campground Cemetery (Coles County), Wright Cemetery (Shelby County), and Greenhill Cemetery (Moultrie County). The history in the region dates back to about the 1820s, when the settlers first settled the counties listed above. Some of the grave markers are from that very early part of the local history - and is fascinating to me as a composer. So, what I've done.. is the first section is a look at Campground Cemetery. This cemetery used to be a meeting place for the religious circuit preachers and pastors of the early to mid 19th century. So, I researched and found a very old version of Amazing Grace that dates to that period and set it in a fugato. The counterpoint and harmonization are all mine... but the theme itself is the original theme - and yes, it is public domain (I did include that I used it in my program notes). I'm very eager and hope this gets selected for the Cabrillo.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Trying something different.

So, at the behest of another composer on a forum I am a member of, I worked on a miniature for solo flute. I rather enjoyed the little exercise. It's an interesting work. For any and all interested, feel free to listen. And if you like it or can't stand it... leave a comment. You can access the sound file by clicking the link underlined on the page.

Miniature for solo flute

Dream

I had an amazing thought today! I was walking to the back of the house - which has this huge backroom that used to be the garage. Well, I thought... hmmm.. why not use it to give performances and recitals of my works! Would take some decorating BUT it might be worth it to actually invest the time to do it. Just now, I have to get the energy up to do it.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Writer's Block

So, I sat down today to start work on my submission for the Cabrillo Festival this year. Well, I had a good work started and was in a good 50 bars... then I opened up Young Composers and read the dialog on the shoutbox - about how one of the composers there should 'embrace' the modernity and utilize more modern techniques in his music AND forget totally about all of the traditional 'blah' that came before. Since my music is very traditional in some aspects... well, a lot of aspects... it got me down. SO.. now I have writers block. I just don't know whether I should abandon my grasp on tradition or maintain it boldly. I just don't care for much modern sounds. They grate on my ears and don't sound overly musical at all to me. Sometimes I wonder why I should even bother...

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Follow Me!

Ok, I see that I am getting a lot of people viewing my blog here. Who are you? Where you from? Do you like my music? What are your names? Tell me about yourselves! That's not a hard thing to ask for - trust me, I don't bite! I'd love to meet the people who read my many hours of ramblings.

New Composers Online

I am currently assisting a friend of mine in a venture that he has undertaken to help bring a more stable income to composers. The idea's are still in development currently BUT the initial start is now online and active: New Composers Online! If any of my readers are interested and would like to assist in the start up for the site, please check out the forum and sign up as a registered user. The more the merrier.

The website is: http://newcomposersonline.com

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

New Piano Work

Well, my break didn't last long - SOOO, now, I get to break for two days while I travel to St. Louis - a sort of mini vacation. I did get some composition done and composed a very intense Piano work. I must say, this was sort of a treat for me - this piece. I got to get some good emotions out during it. Feel free to give it a listen.

Adagietto

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Taking a break (for the most part)

I felt extremely tired this morning when waking up. My sinuses were inflamed, my legs hurt, and I had a nice healthy headache - so, I decided to lay off working on music today (for the most part). Sometimes, I will work till my eyes droop down and I fall asleep at the keyboard. Other times, I'll wake up and first thing I do is come on to check my scores and add notes and bars and passages - I work WAY too much. Usually, that doesn't bother me - besides the obvious worry about writing things noone else hears but myself. I do have performance opportunities - but most of those are months down the road. At times, I wish a kind benefactor would read this blog or my twitter or my facebook or my forum posts and show sympathy on me and offer to perform a work of mine... that would make me estatic beyond measure.

Piano Concertante no. 2

The newest project finished is another Piano Concertante. I originally envisioned this as a concerto - but, I don't know. The ideas were good but well - perhaps I'm moving in a different direction than I originally intended as a composer. Instead, this has turned into another 1 movement concertante. The work is a little rough around the edges but all in all I'm happy with how it turned out. I've posted a link for any and all who would like to listen.

Forum Posting of Concertante!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Busy times... stylistic changes

I am very busy working on a large scale piano concerto. The work is so far extremely different than my last work in this genre - composed last fall. The work is rather serious in nature and the harmony and thematic material used are put to extensive development and use. The piece feels rather mature for my current style even - which makes it well suited for its intent.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Busy Times

It's been a good week now since my last post. It's been a very BUSY time. I received the recording from the pianist and was NOT enthused by it. So, I have 1 week left now to find a good quality pianist to record one of my pieces - so much is riding on it :(