Writers Block

I've been trying for the past two days to get a good start on the second movement of my Piano Quartet. All told, I have probably deleted about 70 - 100 bars of music - all because I don't like it. I haven't had writers block in a while and I hope this doesn't last!

Interesting Discussions

A lot of the young composers at Young Composers Music forum enjoy discussing their own views on the most influential composers of the past. Recently, one composer commented of Stravinsky that he wrote a few masterpieces and a whole lot of crap. I strongly disagreed with this. From my perspective, Stravinsky (along with Schoenberg, Ligeti, and perhaps Boulez/Stockhausen) was one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. From all three of his periods, he produced amazingly original masterpieces that even today composers and musicians pour over and study. From Petrushka to The Flood, his works exemplify a unique sense of personal voice through various aesthetics of musical composition - almost unparalleled in other composers. That he was able to do this and create works that have become endearing to many listeners, musicians, and composers alike is astounding! Certainly, the influence alone is enough to ensure Stravinsky a spot in the top 5 most influential composers of all time!

Ah.. classwork

I've been sitting in Neal Hall this evening waiting for my other half to get out of class (it's already 9:16 PM!!) My thoughts have largely been on my musical and where I want to go with it. I was originally planning on just going straight to eastern - but, I got to thinking. I'm 30 years old, in college again, so far maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA, and my compositions are coming along nicely. Perhaps I should do as my teacher says, and look at other schools as well. I think tomorrow I will revisit that discussion with her and get her opinion on it. I could also consider University of Chicago. That institution is regularly rated as top notch. SO many choices - and with my GPA.. I'm sure I could get in it. Now to get that viola fixed!

Hmmm..

I just realized this morning after looking at my piece again, that I didn't include a link for my viewers here to view the draft of my work. Silly me. I'm doing a little bit of revising today on it. Changing the start of the recap - to make it less verbatim and more expansive on the fugal aspects of the first theme. I've got to do my homework at some point today - I have a quiz tomorrow for my math class. I also have a quiz in world civilization, lol. At any rate, I'll add my changes and post the link sometime this evening.

FIRST DRAFT OF FIRST MOVEMENT COMPLETE!!!!!!

I'm so excited!!! I just completed the rough draft of my first movement of my Piano Quartet. Here are my notes from it:

The quartet uses three motives. The overall structure of this movement is a sonata-allegro, with brief coda. I figured I'd post this now to get comments before I show it to my teacher on Thursday. This is the work that I ended up losing 180 bars to a Finale crash! 

Structure:

Introduction:
Measures 1 - 14: Introduction: The introduction is quite tonal, I feel. I'm uncertain about it. It sounds like it fits - and it certainly introduces some of the material I use in the movement (albeit it in disguise.) 

Exposition: You'll notice that my exposition is rather short. I introduce both themes in what I consider to be a dramatic fashion. The first theme starts with a fugue like passage. The countersubjects here I really enjoy. 

Measures 15 - 32: Fugue. This is the first theme, presented in bars 15 - 16 of the viola. The countersubject immediately follows. I break with the fugal aspect of the idea around measure 26. 

Measures 33 - 82: This is the second theme. I wanted to go for something a lot more open for this idea - especially given the thickness of the fugal texture that preceded this. This theme, along with the first, will appear in the second and third movements - albeit it disguised. My manuscript of this section luckily had heavy notes. I'm probably only going to edit a few things here - as I'm quite happy with the overall quality of this section. A few things I will change, most likely, will be the addition of the articulations for the string trio. The third theme, which will appear prominently in the third and final movement, comes in at measure 43. I really like the theme itself. I might add a tad bit of harmony to the left hand in the piano - but, I'm not sure, I really like the nakedness of the motif.

Development:
Measures 83 - 148: The transitional passage at the end of the first theme is really the beginning of the development (starting at around measure 74.) For organizational reasons related to this thread, I decided to crop it up to 83 as the start of the development. In this section, I really go out there in terms of my usage of my three themes. Needless to say, I would call this part of the movement... pure madness (perhaps that gives you a little bit of how I felt today while writing this passage... ). That said, I don't think I will expand this. I am unsure of the final 4 - 8 bars of the development section. I'm not sure my transition there was as strong as I'd like it. I might delete what I have there and rewrite it tomorrow. 

Recapitulation:
Measure 149 - 217: Recapitulation. This recap is a verbatim recap. I'm not too happy with the first part of it after the transition back to it. What I plan to do to correct this is to instead of starting back with the viola... instead start with the violin in the upper register. The articulations for this and the exposition aren't entered yet - as I want to go through this part with a fine tooth comb to correct any playability issues with the string parts - as well as maybe beef the piano part up just a bit.

Codetta:
Measures 217 - Ending: This codetta is short and most likely will be expanded. I'm thinking of expanding the last 4 bars which constitute the ending of the piece. I might make a return back to the introductory material - just to ensure a bit more of a sense of closeness. I'm very picky of my openings.. perhaps I should be especially picky this work of the ending of the movements as well.

So, the above illustrates in depth my thoughts on the movement. Now, I'd like your thoughts. This piece has so far taken me about 3 weeks to write - and given that Finale crashed on me Sunday and I was left with only the introduction to this movement, I had to rewrite a lot of this from my notes, manuscript, and brain - needless to say, I almost gave up on this. But I think I have an amazing start to this piano quartet. I'm hoping I get some good reviews so far.

Ahhhh

There is always something so relaxing about composing. I don't know if it's the fact that I've got my head stuck in a score or my thoughts are focused on the task of composing. It's a great way to relieve a lot of stress and tension in my life. I'm sure others probably have a different view on it. That's just my two cents though.

Reason to Save Work...

Worked a lot on my Piano Quartet today. Got to a wonderful 180 bars! Sadly though, I didn't save it and Finale crashed when I went to play it back. Devastating. Absolutely devastating. I was very proud of it - it was some of my best writing yet! Now, I just have to rewrite it.

Recommendation!!!

A friend of mine on Young Composers has a blog on Wordpress. I went to check it out, and must say, it is quite impressive. The blog features a a list of his works - some very nice works, indeed! I strongly recommend everyone check it out!!


Contemporary Classical Music

Piano Quartet

So, I've decided to work on a piano quartet for a competition. I have a few good ideas - two motives - and a good start. I am thinking this will be a massive work - not fully got the overall structure down. The work so far makes extensive use of fugal textures, something that I am strongly drawn to. I will post when finished.

Schoolwork and Composition

Well, I am doing very well on my classes so far. Math 006: A. Understanding Music: A. Composition 121: A. World Civilization to 1660: A! If I can maintain this for just 1 more month, my cumulative will be 4.0!!! I will be ecstatic! For Spring Semester, I am planning on taking Music Composition class at Eastern Illinois University in preparation for my eventual full transfer to the institution. I can't wait! Compositionally, I bought several thick pads of composition paper! My goal is to try to wean myself off my addiction to Finale! My current project now is a full scale Piano Quartet. I won't post, of course, until it's finished.. BUT... I thought I'd advertise it's what I'm working on. I really wish readers would comment more. Does anyone even read this?

Classes... Classes... Classes...

So, I'm doing good in my classes this semester. Have so far gotten a nearly perfect score in my Understanding Music course. Kind of upset that I missed 1 question on the exam today! I don't even think she went over it. Not sure though, I probably just overlooked it's significance WHATEVER the answer was. My World Civ to 1660 course is going good as well, I think I'll at least get a B out of it. Not sure though - I don't do well writing essays. We will see though!  A large part of the grade is the midterm and final exam.. so guess who will be studying extra hard! I have composed a few small pieces of late. Inspired by my listening to Baroque works! Imagine that... me, inspired by Baroque music. *cough*

Busy.. Busy.. Busy

Meh, I haven't typed here in quite a while. It's been very hectic for me of late. College is going well. As I may have mentioned a little back, I got a 4.0 GPA for Summer Term and am going to try my best to match it for Fall Term. I have been composing short works here and there - nothing to substantial though, as school keeps me from devoting full time to it (which greatly saddens me!) I love my classes this semester. Understanding Music is by far my favorite. My teacher, Elaine Fine, is a wonderful teacher and I hope becomes a wonderful friend once class is over. She had a chance to view my work and said I have some talent!!! I was so ecstatic! Anywho, I will attempt to let everyone know how things go - If I don't post a new blog post soon... I'm sorry.