A Brief History Of Electronic Music: Keith Fullerton Whitman In Concert

Quite in contrast with the last piece shared, this is a little live improv from "electronic musician/composer" Keith Fullerton Whitman as shared by NPR Music. I personally think it is very hip and interesting, but I am curious as to what others of you think about this kind of thing. So let the conversation begin!

Live recording of Keith Fullerton Whitman at the High Zero Festival

And here are some other performances from the High Zero Festival, but I havent had a chance to listen to any others yet.

Enjoy!

The Legend of Zelda: Symphonic Poem

I know there are a few individuals other than myself in our class who are slightly obsessed with Zelda and its music, so I thought I'd share this fascinating creation: The Legend of Zelda in Symphonic Poem form!

I haven't had much time to look too deeply into it yet, but I've listened to snippets from most of the movements and have gleaned that, in the very least, it is quite a progressive arrangement (courtesy of Jonne Valtonen). There are some interesting comments at the bottom of this page, which also contains Youtube videos of the 5 movements performed live by Symphonic Legends in Germany.

Here's the first movement:



They even have a full choir! The fourth movement begins with a very lovely vocal solo (some of you may recognize the Light Spirit's Theme from Twilight Princess).



Just from what I've listened to, this arrangement seems to contain numerous juxtapositions and settings of themes, which actually seems to be a contributing factor to some of the commentators' opinions of disfavor - I, however, think it's an interesting and perhaps necessary approach to arranging a work that's already been done so many times. Regardless, I believe that it's important to bring a genre like video game music into the concert hall, through any compositional means!

Hopefully this will serve as some interesting listening even for those of you who are not specifically Zelda fans!

Claude Vivier

For the solo piece I am currently working on, I decided to choose an instrument that I have always thought was quite beautiful but never really learned much about: the cello. I've always thought the cello was one of the orchestra greatest instruments.
As part of my research, Dr. Suter recommended to me the work of Claude Vivier(1948-1983). Vivier was a Canadian composer born to unknown parents in Montreal. Before pursuing his interest in music, he was on path to a career in the priesthood, attending boarding schools from the age of thirteen to the age of eighteen when he was asked to leave. Then he began his studies in music and within a few years had already gained a reputation. Vivier began to be inspired by different music he discovered in his travels to Europe and Japan. In 1983, he was stabbed to death in Paris before finishing his final work, Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele.
As I am researching works performed on the cello, I found Vivier's Piece Pour Violoncelle et Piano. What I found very useful about this piece was his ability to make use of the cello's full range. Not only does he use its wonderful lower register we're all familiar with, but he uses a lot of harmonics as well that I had not heard before on the instrument. I was not aware of just how dynamic an instrument the cello really is. Although I'm not sure I will want to use the harmonics in the piece I'm currently working on as they can sound a bit whiny and unsettling, it got me thinking about the possibility of exploring the stranger side of the instrument as well as the beautiful. And I'm not just talking about the cello but other instruments I'll work with in the future as well. It just opened up my eyes a bit that there is probably a great deal I don't know about the range of unexpected sounds that may be produced with certain instruments we're all familiar with.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find a YouTube performance of the piece.

Neo-Baroque/Neo-Classical

I'm currently in the midst of writing a neo-baroqueish piece for flute and found this guitar player/composer to be particularly helpful to my process. Yngwie Malmsteen is a household name amongst guitar players but his musicianship goes far beyond the world of popular music. Check out some videos of him playing with the Japanese Philharmonic. Mind you, he composed and scored everything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtP1B_U-ia8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXsSXeaGQxw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omjHXGhEa50&feature=related

The Music of George Crumb

_{Fig. 1: George Crumb!}

One of my favorite composers, whose music I can turn to time and time again for inspiration and listening pleasure, is George Crumb. Crumb (b. 1929) is an American composer often labeled as avant-garde, a genre essentially devoted to pushing boundaries and expanding what is traditionally even thought of as “music.” Unless you are a devout lover of the avant-garde, however, I sometimes fear that this label carries a certain stigma about it, namely that creations of the avant-garde may be too difficult to understand by the average listener, or worse yet, that they are not even worth the time it would take to try to understand them.

I don’t deny that avant-garde music can be shocking, but certainly it is worth far more than an immediate rejection by those who find that it irredeemably tests their personal definition of “music.” The first work of Crumb’s that I ever heard was Black Angels (1970) for electric (or amplified) string quartet, and my first reaction to the slicing wails fleeing from my computer speakers was also one of shock. Seeing the score later definitely opened my eyes; Crumb is one of those composers whose scores will revolutionize your perspective of each work. Most of his scores are beautifully handcrafted and explore a phenomenal range of extended techniques or external effects independent of the instrumentation (such as vocalizations by non-vocal performers). Without looking at the score of Black Angels or reading the program notes, it’s highly doubtful that a listener could detect, for example, the numerology woven into the construction of the piece through Crumb’s emphasis of the numbers 7 and 13. Seeing this particular score also increased my appreciation of the numerous extended techniques demanded of the quartet. Here is Part I: Departure of this work.


_{Fig. 2: George Crumb, Black Angels, Part I: Departure}

If you listen closely after the 4’30” mark, you’ll be able to hear several quotes of Dies Irae (which are also helpfully identified in the score).

This brings me to another point that became clear to me as I analyzed more of Crumb’s work: in addition to his extended or unusual techniques, he also uses less radical methods such as traditional forms and musical quotations. In Black Angels, for example, Pavana Lachrymae section references the traditional pavane, a slow, processional dance; and as I mentioned before, Dies Irae is also later quoted.

For these reasons alone I find it difficult to pigeonhole Crumb as solely avant-garde. His compositional style may be better described as a synthesis of tradition and innovation.

Above all, what appeals to me is the organic nature of his music. Crumb is very much concerned with the “sound spaces” in which compositions grow, and often this is assisted by his unique and exotic instrumentations and prevalent use of extended techniques. This is likely the most significant reason that his music is such a great inspiration to me (this, and his remarkable ability of text expression and depiction, in his lyric settings). One of my favorite moments in Ancient Voices of Children is in the fourth movement, in the beginning of which he creates a beautiful texture over a low marimba drone with a gentle melody for the soprano and an interesting timbral exchange between a harmonica and a vocal effect from the percussionists. (Sorry, I can’t find a Youtube sample of this, but a recording should be available on Naxos.)

Processional (the piece on our midterm listening!) is the first piano piece by Crumb I’ve heard that does not delve into inside-piano techniques. It is essentially structured as A B A’ B’: the first section contains a constant rhythmic pulse and motivic groups that emerge over this texture, gradually growing more complex, and the second section features percussive block chords leaping through the piano’s registers and interesting echo effects created through sharp decrescendos or rapid descents or ascents. The first six notes of this work function as an underlying harmonic structure throughout the rest of the piece, although this set undergoes several modulations, and it tends to imply parts of a wholetone scale (the intervallic relationship is M2, M2, M2, m3, M2, M2, M2 and because of the m3 leap, it actually seems to capture one half of each wholetone scale, i.e. Gb, Ab, Bb, Db, Eb, F). The only extended technique that this piece utilizes is the creation of harmonics in the “B” sections by silently depressing the exact chord that is played by the other hand, except in a different register. The result is subtle, but contributes to that kind of “echo effect” that recurs throughout these sections. Here’s a sample from the score where this technique occurs (also demonstrating Crumb’s pristine hand notation):

_{Fig. 3: George Crumb’s Processional; page 3, end of system 2}

Overall, Processional successfully explores the colors of the piano through sections of contrasting articulation and harmonic palettes.

I could rave on and on about George Crumb, but I’ll refrain for now. If you are interested in taking a look at his other works, I highly recommend Quest and Unto the Hills, for starters. I also own the score to Ancient Voices of Children if you would like to see an example in person of his beautiful craftsmanship. Happy listening!

Inter-Library Loan

As you begin looking for scores to study, you will undoubtedly notice Redlands has a pathetically small music library. But have no fear! Inter-Library Loan is here.

Basically, Inter-Library Loan (or ILL for short) is a system where we can check out books from other libraries around the country through our own library. This is extremely helpful for specialty items (like scores), hard-to-finds, and out-of-prints. Between all of the collegiate libraries that participate, you are almost guaranteed to find what you are looking for if it was ever published. The down side is, it can sometimes take weeks, even months to receive your items. I know I have outstanding requests from over a year ago that are still not filled, but that is rare.

First you need to find your score at one of these other libraries. What you need to do is go to http://www.redlands.edu/library.asp, and select Databases by Title. Then select the letter W, and find the database called WorldCat. There are a few other ways to find ILL stuff, but this is the only one I have ever used and it works well. Click on FirstSearch, to the right of the word "WorldCat"; this will take you to a log-in page where you input your Redlands information. Now you will see the WorldCat search page. This will look and function just like a normal library search system. Once you have a list of your findings, select the score (or recording, or book or whatever you are looking for) that you are interested in. Now, this is the most important step. Once you click on the item, you will see a page with a bunch of useless information like publisher, date, language, etc. However, there is one very un-useless piece of informat on this page which will make it possible for your item to be located. This is theAccession Number, and starts with the letters OCLC. Copy "OCLC" and the fowling numbers.

Once you have done that, go back to the Redlands Library homepage and select Interlibrary Loan. Now select the appropriate link for your media type (if score, select musical score...obviously). Fill in all of the asterisked information on the form. Most Importantly, paste your OCLC number in some line that you are not filling out, like publisher, edition, volume, or date. Now click submit, and you're done!

Redlands is currently working with a beta version of Illiad, which is much easier to use and keep track of. The process is much the same, you still need to look up your the piece on your own and paste the OCLC number. I have not used Illiad yet, so I can not attest to its effectiveness, but I assume either way will get the job done.

Now go find some scores! and please feel free to ask me any questions about ILL...I use it a lot!

What in the world is an Eigenharp?

The Eigenharp is an electronic musical instrument that is part percussive in nature, part wind in nature. Best of my knowledge it is essentially a MIDI controller, where you load sounds into the instrument via a computer, then play whatever sound your heart desires. Basically its a magical bassoon-guitar-synthesizer-drum machine machine.

The following information is stolen from Wikipedia:

The distinctive characteristics of all of the instruments are:

• A matrix of velocity sensitive multi-expressive keys, each of which act like a 4-way analog joystick. This allows the simultaneous pitch bend and modulation (or other parameters) of each played note individually.
• A stick-like vertical form factor akin to a sitar for the larger models or a flute in the smaller ones.
• A built-in wind controller, giving the larger versions of the instrument an appearance similar to a bassoon.
• One or two ribbon controller strips
• Macintosh-based control software, with an early Windows version now available.

Additionally, the larger models have:

• A series of percussion keys
• A built-in step sequencer with indicator LEDs for each key.

Models:

Alpha

1 breath pipe, 120 key matrix, 12 percussion keys, 2 ribbon controller strips on the sides, a microphone input and a headphone output

Tau

1 breath pipe, 72 key matrix, 12 percussion keys, 1 ribbon controller strip on the back and a headphone output

Pico

1 breath pipe, 18 key matrix and 1 ribbon controller strip on the front

and none of that will make sense without watching the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcVqJh0qEMc

(I'm not tech-savy enough for that to be a link, so copy and paste)

cheers,

-Scott

Better Composer, Inc.

Sooooooo.... lets talk about one of those thing that no one wants to talk about. No, I'm not talking about that rash on your leg; I'm talking about what you can do to better yourself as a composer.

For myself personally, one thing in particular I would like to improve upon is my palate of instrumental tonal colors. By that I mean upon starting a piece, I usually start out at the piano (not that I am a fantastic piano player, buy its guitar or piano for me, and I feel more "at home" at the piano); assuming I haven't yet chosen what I'm writing for, I plunk around with a general feel (this pattern, this mood, this register etc.) until something sticks. I would like to go from that to thinking, "that would sound good on a flute" or "that would sound horrible if played in this register of the clarinet so lets move if down an octave".

Having not played in a wind ensemble for quite some time (i.e. since grade school) I sometimes feel that has helped me because I have no bad habits when it comes to composition, but I don't really have good ones, either.

What are your goals for improvement?

Using form

"You recently mentioned how knowing more about form has influenced your work; discuss this, and any changes in thinking or process that knowing and thinking more about formal outlay have engendered in your own work."

I recently passed form and analysis for the first time after my third attempt. The biggest revelation was that repetition is necessary for a piece to be coherent.

All my previous pieces were completely disoriented because they would contain multitudes of thematic material, only it was not organized and different every time. I learned that I need to repeat "phrases" or ideas in my music. The only way to really make something important is to repeat it, this lets the listener know it's important and sets it out from the rest of the piece. To be quite honest this has made composition much easier because when I write something for a piece, I already have at least double the length because I know it will have to be in the piece again. One thing to make sure of is unless you're going for a minimalistic sound, remember to vary during repetition.

A piece that stands out

"Over the past year, you've heard a lot of new music-- be it in your own score study, concerts, or studio class. Is there a piece that stands out to you as a work that you really learned from, or took something from? Discuss such a piece and how it influenced you, your work, or your views on music."

Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring has definitely been the largest influence on me in the past year. This is mainly due to a paper I wrote on the piece for my music history class. It showed me how to write outside the time signature. I still put everything in a somewhat normal time signature be it 4/4 or 5/8 but I do not bind the music to measured phrases based on the time signature. The time signature is only there for rehearsal purposes, but in no way should be obviously apparent through listening. It has been very freeing.

This also ended up applying to the tonality of my pieces in an almost opposite way. I no longer write in a key signature because of the implication. If it happens to fall into a key for a short amount of time then I'm fine with it, but I don't bother to put up a key signature because soon enough I will throw in something different.

Inspiration

For my first ever composition assignment, i was asked to write a solo piece for an unfamiliar instrument. I choose the violin because it's a particularly useful and beautiful instrument. One of my inspirations from a more recent time is Alan Silvestri, a modern film composer. Silvestri dreamed of becoming a bebop guitarist at fifteen, but found himself a film composer after he graduated Berklee College of music in Boston. A record deal lead him to LA, but the deal was actually fake, and left Silvestri with very little money, and forced him to live in LA where his real career began. What i got from listening to his work is not very obvious. Silvestri happens to be one of many composers who inspired my piece - it was mainly the idea of sharp, staccato notes on violin that inspired me, and that can be found in lots of music, particularly film scores. I used this edgy rhythmic feel in my piece as a contrast to the smooth, slower intro section. In the piece that I have linked (at the bottom), the string section hits a loud, sharp note on the beginning of each measure joined with heavy percussion, a sound that I really like personally. It also features very nice use of syncopation in 5/4 time, which adds some rhythmic complexity while not sounding awkward (i didn't even realize it had irregular time when i first heard it). Overall, analysis aside, it is music that gets your blood pumping, and that's something that i strive for in my work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i-sfmIaTqc

Competition websites

My dearest composers,

As we all know, competitions are a necessary evil. Repeatedly we apply to these hopelessly biased competitions, to be one of possibly hundreds, of which only ONE winner selected, and of course it someone you have never heard of. Secretly you think, "My piece was better..." The somewhat tragic thing is, maybe it was. It's over now though. So just like that, your hopes of success and notoriety get dashed away with the callous lack of analysis from the incompetent judges.

Of course the easy thing to do is to just dismiss competitions altogether. Bartok said "Competitions are for horses, not composers." He turned out just fine! Well, alright, he died poor and alone in New York, but his music was definitely some of the most B.A. stuff produced in the 20th century. So, the moral here is to apply, even if it seems hopeless, because every nobody who wins a competition YOU should have, will eventually be YOU winning a competition YOU deserved. For a bit more emotional support, composer Eric Whitacre wrote a blog about competitions here.

There are websites out there to help you find competitions, because simply finding them is half the battle. Posted on the blog website are two of my favorites, The American Composers Forum website and the Composerssite. Each have their drawbacks. ACF is widely regarded by the academic music community, and many competitions will advertise on their site. However, in order to see the page, you must be a member, of which there is an annual fee. Luckily, it gives you a snippet of the competition, and you can often google search those details and find it that way. Of course, the magnitude of competition opportunities is quite great. The Composerssite has less, and some repeats within the site, but it is totally free to access.

Another site is Composersnewpencil. This has a few big ones, which is just another way of saying 'more likely to lose." However, it keeps annual competitions on it's page, which is a great way to access them. Let's say you miss a deadline for a competition because you didn't know it existed. If it is annual, just write it down in a log of what competitions you need to apply to when, to keep yourself organized, so you don't miss them anymore.

ASCAP and BMI will also sometimes post competitions on their websites. Some are required for members, some are not, such as the Morton Gould competition. This is not incredibly helpful, but most of these competitions are incredibly prestigious, just hard to win, because so many people apply.

Another site I have used is interestingly on another blog. Most of these are outdated, but it does show a history of what has transpired, and some are useful.

Lastly, other ways to find competitions are look for instrumental competitions for stuff you have written. Do you have a great flute piece? Go look at the International Flute Association, they might have a competition. String quartet? Google that, and I bet you can find a hit or two. Many competitions publicized to big websites, but some do not, and simply post it on their own website.

In short, the way to find competitions is to always be looking. As for what Whitacre said about fees, I would recommend using your judgment about whether you want to risk the money. Don't apply to a competition that has a fee if you NEED to win. You are already spending money to print and mail a score. However, you can't win a Pulitzer if you never apply to competitions requiring an entry fee. (Less than 15 is typically good.)


So, go out there, look, find, and conquer! You may just win one.

Upcoming concert

I just wanted to pass this along; Redlands' own Marco Schindelmann has been working with Hope University, an arts-infused school for developmentally disabled adults, on a large-scale performance art / sound art work that will be performed this coming Saturday in Orange County.  Dr. Andrews' First Year Seminar class will be involved as well.  It should be an interesting evening, and a good reminder about the value of art, the need for all people to be creative, and an important challenge to mainstream views about who gets to create art.  This should be a great event, and unlike anything most have seen before. 

Here's a link to more information.  I'll be attending, helping to transport members of Dr. Andrews' FYS to Fullerton. 

Flute Candy

This is a fun piece by composer Ian Clarke called Zoom Tube.  It shows off a lot of the interesting extended flute techniques you can use, like singing while playing, air sounds, tongue clicks, etc.  Flutists are pretty versatile! 

Blog Assignment

This week, I have been looking at some scores in preparation for my new work. I am writing a melody for the euphonium and I found a very useful and interesting piece named Schottische by Walter S. Hartley. Hartley was born on February 21, 1927 in Washington D.C., where he began composing at the age of 5 and became seriously involved at the age of 16. He is now a proffessor at Emeritus of Music Fredonia State university in New york.

Schottische is a Quartet for Brass that was published in 1979. I looked at the part written for the euphonium and noticed that it was comprised of mostly staccatos and eighth notes. The euponium is a Bb concert instrument that is written on the bass clef. The notes are mostly conjunct. I learned what the range of the instrument is and what some of its' characteristics are. Below, is a link to a video of Hartley's composition named Canzona written for eight trombones. Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_prFkJeuKBY

Blog Assignment: Eugene Bozza

For my first piece, I decided to write for solo flute. I've never written anything for flute, or any other instrument other than guitar so I looked around for scores and recordings of solo flute pieces to get a slight idea of how it's done. One piece I found was a solo by 20th century composer, Eugene Bozza.

Bozza was born on April 4th, 1905, in France. He studied at the famed Paris Conservatoire, where he learned about composition, violin, conducting and chamber music. He composed many works for woodwind/brass ensembles as well as symphonies, operas and ballets. Although his pieces are rarely performed outside of France, his works for woodwind and brass remain a mainstay in the modern repertoire.

The piece of his that I am looking at is his flute solo "Image." This is a beautiful and well written piece that is actually quite famous amongst flutists. Although it is a tonal piece, there are some sections that are quite dissonant. However, the dissonance, unlike in many pieces, doesn't subtract from the melodic aspects of the song. This helped me to realize that you can be both melodic and dissonant in the same piece. This piece also showed me that the flute sounds good when played both rapidly or slowly as well as the basic range of the instrument. Despite the style of my piece being more baroque-esque, it was still helpful in my understanding of the flute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JYl8UTCNmY

University of Redlands Armacost Library Music Research Guide

Sanjeet Mann, one of our very helpful and knowledgeable librarians here at the U of R, has created a guide for research in music.  The link is here.  It is very useful!  Don't be afraid to contact Sanjeet; he is a great resource and the library liaison for the School of Music.

Recording for the Composer

Basic Question: Are there economical solutions to the problem of composers having to utilize their own equipment to make recordings of rehearsals, etc? (hints, tips, techniques, technology that composers should be aware of?)

If you are a composer and would like to utilize recordings for rehearsals or compositional purposes, then there are a few basic pieces of equipment I would recommend. First, lets start with some assumptions. I assume that you have a computer, and know how to use it to a basic degree (saving files, importing/exporting files, burning CDs, emailing attachments, etc.) Beyond that, there are two pieces of gear I would start out with.

A.) some sort of hand-held audio recording device, such as the Zoom H4, or M-Audio Mircotrack. These small devices can go anywhere with you, allowing for recording of rehearsals or lectures, compositional ideas, or sounds (think musique concrete or foley).

B.) a nice pair of headphones. I’m not talking about the junk that comes with your phone, iPod or any other headset that you get as a freebie. Spend some money on it. Music technology is probably that last remaining area where a consumer can purchase a product and know what kind of quality it is simply by the price. By that I mean the $40 pair of headphones sounds like a $40 pair of headphones, and the $100 pair of headphones sounds like a $100 pair of headphones. Do yourself (and me) a favor; spend $100 on a pair of headphones. You’ll thank me later.

So far, we’ve spent about $400 for our little recording setup. That will take us a long way toward being able to record rehearsals etc. The next step is to edit all the recordings in a computer. This requires two things: a computer, and some audio editing software. Have a Mac with GarageBand? Your set. Have a Windows machine that isn’t archaic or obsolete? There are plenty of free basic audio editing programs out there, try Audacity, it’ll get the job done.

A basic set of audio editing skills will go a long way as well. Here are the things you probably need to know: snipping, splicing, volume adjustment, exporting, and burning the finished project onto a disk. That is a little beyond this first blog, so perhaps we will dive into that deeper.

Hints? Here are a few. Carry extra stuff. Extra batteries, flash memory (both the kind your recorder uses and USB), a second memory card reader, and multiple 1/8”F to ¼”M adaptors (you will loose them). Second, when you start recording a rehearsal, have the performers play for a few seconds, then stop the recording and listen to what you recorded. There is nothing worse than going through an entire rehearsal only to later realize that the microphone was to hot and the entire recording distorted and is unusable. Also, if buying a recorder, ask if it has a tri-pod attachment or a mic stand attachment, these are useful.

Hope this is helpful to anyone who wants to start recording.

Edit: added tags

orchestration books

Hey guys, I read two orchestration books this summer. The first one was Scoring for the Band, by Phillip Lang. like most orchestration books, it covered the basics of all of the instruments that exist in the band and their ranges. This book gave great examples of how to use every instrument, supplemented with score excerpts to reinforce the concepts being discussed. Also discussed in the other sections were how to create orchestrations for the Marching bands and works that featured soloists. I found this book to be somewhat useful in how it approached creating arrangements. It was slightly cheesey because it use yankee doodle dandy for each excerpt (boo) but it it was nice to see how they changed each section according to the choice of instrumentation. Some of the key concepts of the book were to: use key signatures that worked well for the instrument and the ensemble as a whole, know and understand the ranges of each instrument and how timbre changes in each register, explore as many different color combination as possible and if it works-use it. I mainly read the book because I was looking for a section that would explain how to use the overtone series when scoring for the concert band. unfortunately, after 200 pages of reading, I only found one sentence on using the overtone series. The basic ideas are to use larger intervals in the voicing of the lower registers and closers intervals in the highest registers. This approach mimic the division of the natural overtone series and helps to keep the orchestration from becoming muddy. This concept can also be applied to part writing for the various families of instruments themselves.
The other book I read was Belioz treatise on instrumentation, annotated by Richard Strauss. It is a great read; even thought it is dated. There is a great section, during his explanation of the violin family, where he writes about each key, either major of minor and how he thinks they sound. He went through all 12 major and minor keys describing if they sounded bright or dark and what type of emotions they could evoke. I recommend that any composition major reads this work.

Beginning at the Beginning ... with Text

I tend to hate starting things, especially after the minutes (hours) wasted of wondering where exactly to start, the frustrated probing at various pathways into the heart of the subject, and the desperate scrabbling in thin air for words, pitches, or whatever small component makes up the medium at hand. But when you sit down to begin a composition with text, this problem nearly takes care of itself. Starting with the text is necessary to address the compositional questions and quandaries that lie further down the path, and if you’re lucky enough to have a text that you love, it might even serve as inspiration in the early stages of churning out notes.

The first question is, however, where do you acquire the text?

I’m actually writing this because I’ve had the opportunity to work with three methods for the acquisition of text. I composed my first texted piece for a choral competition in early 2009, which specified the text to be used for the SATB ensemble. My second vocal piece was an art song that I wrote and translated the text for, and my third and current chamber project is based around public domain poetry excerpts. Each had their own challenges and quirks, but ultimately your treatment of the text—text setting, dramatic arch, text expression or depiction, etc.—is the same.

For the choral competition, the first minor dilemma I faced was whether or not I truly liked the text that was provided. I didn’t love it, but the competition seemed like a good opportunity to work under a close deadline and compose faster. In reflecting back on that experience, I realize that it didn’t occur to me then to really take into consideration how to make my piece—my one version of this preselected text, out of all the others also being written—more unique. I was more concerned with getting the piece done on time, which for a first-time competition entry was not a bad goal. But if I composed under these parameters again, with the text being picked for me (and being picked for everyone else), I would focus more on how to make my score stand out when unique text choice is no longer an option.

The major problem that I now face with the choral piece I wrote is the text’s copyright. It was translated into English by someone who worked with the organization holding the competition, and upon completion of the competition I received an email notifying me that one, I did not win (no big deal though), and two, (far more annoyingly!) if I ever wanted to have my piece performed publically I would need to email the text translator for permission. Needless to say, I was never inclined to do this, and never had that work performed. In truth it would probably not be too difficult to get permission for a performance at a university, yet it’s an aggravating complication and I have considered writing my own text instead to fit the music—but that’s a project for another day. Ultimately, the copyright problem I faced with this piece likely contributed to the desire to set my own text in my following vocal work.

My next vocal piece was largely inspired by the recent gravitation of cinematic music and scoring toward dramatic choirs declaiming in the mysterious, ancient language of Latin. More specifically, it was inspired by the Latin solo in this Final Fantasy trailer. I loved the way Latin sounded, and I really wanted to avoid the inconveniences of using copyrighted text, so I took one and a half years of Latin here at Redlands in order to be able to write and translate lyrics for an art song. I faced less “technical” difficulties overall in using my own text, though I can see that the extra time needed for creating the text as well as the possibility that you may feel inclined to keep editing it could both be problematic. At one point, I had to make a couple of changes in the vocal line due to the correction of minor errors in my translation.

Throughout the process of writing the initial English text, I kept in mind how I wanted the piece to function structurally. Four-line stanzas became the common structural unit, between which I planned to place small piano interludes, and the “climactic” stanza was longer and placed at an appropriate point in the overall dramatic arch. Its contrast of inner text structure and length also allowed for a logical and supportive change of tonal center. Keeping these kinds of general musical ideas in mind during the writing of the text was essential in establishing a synthesis of the music and lyrics from the very beginning, as was identifying key moments throughout the stanzas that the music should most effectively build up to. Though my translation wasn’t perfect, I was pleased with the final result, and the knowledge that this creation is completely mine, words and all, was far more fulfilling.

For my current project, I decided I wanted to work with someone else’s poetic language, and this quickly turned into the poetry of several someones, so that I could trace an abstract narrative of my own conception between the texts (sort of like the way George Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children* unifies the unrelated Lorca poems, except with multiple authors). Due to my impression of requesting copyright permission, at the time, consisting of many unanswered emails, angry rejection letters, promising of the firstborn child, etc., I chose to use only public domain texts (see above: reluctance to contact choral text translator). Any work in the “public domain” is no longer covered by intellectual property rights and is therefore available for public use. How did I, in this particular case, find texts that I identified with and felt were appropriate for this project, out of all the poetry that currently exists in public domain? With this public domain poetry website and its convenient random-poem generator. I kid you not. It took some time and careful weeding, but with the help of this site and others like it I was able to compile four poetry excerpts that capture the theme of my piece, Verisimilitude—and they’re all free of copyright hassle!

While selecting these excerpts, I made sure to keep musical considerations in mind in addition to the thematic narrative. I knew that I wanted several instrumental interludes as well as an effective dramatic arch to the work as a whole, and recognizing this framework played an important part in the picking of the excerpts and the ultimate arrangement of the text orders. With the texts finally chosen and the order determined, I was able to outline the general structure of the piece: Prelude (contrabass solo), First Texted Movement (introductory, expansive), Interlude, Second Texted Movement (developmental, quickening), Interlude, Third Texted Movement (climactic, dark), Fourth Texted Movement (releasing tension, expanding), Postlude (contrabass solo). Ultimately, these structural and developmental considerations are not all that different from the processes applied to works from mandated or personal text sources.

Just remember that if you use a copyrighted text—especially if you expect a public performance!—you must have permission. Composition competitions and lawyers are very particular about that sort of thing.

_{* I linked to this version only because it is conveniently on Youtube; however, I strongly recommend that you find a recording with the original mezzo, Jan DeGaetani!}

Composing for the Harp

The harp, especially the modern pedal harp, is arguably one of the most misunderstood instruments a contemporary composer would encounter. Over the summer, when I was flirting with the idea of writing a solo harp piece, I came across this web page which does a pretty good job of covering the basics that a composer would need to know before putting pencil to paper.

http://www.harpspectrum.org/harpworks/composing_for_harp/composing_for_harp.shtml

Enjoy!

Blog Assignment: Ancient Greece/Iannis Xenakis

Ancient Greece is widely-known to be a very important influence in the foundation of western civilization. The classical Greek culture influenced the Roman empire, which spread its culture across much of Europe, from which we drew much of our culture.

Music was very important to the Ancient Greeks, as it was present in all of their religious ceremonies and staged dramas; however, the idea of theory and structure in music was not quite developed as it is today. The great Greek philosopher Pythagoras was one of the first to study harmonics and the function of overtones. But whereas we study these things to better understand the formulas for producing pleasing music, the Ancient Greeks saw this as a philosophical description of how the universe was constructed. They believed that, like harmonics in music, everything in the universe was vibrating in harmony. The Greeks had certain modes that were meant to be used for specific emotions. These modes used whole-steps, half-steps, and even quarter-steps to differentiate between tones.

Iannis Xenakis was born on the 29 of May, 1922. Being of Greek decent, he was very much influenced by Greek folk melodies. But he was also influenced by his past studies. He had studied mathematics and before composing, first worked as an architect in Paris. Xenakis liked to use mathematics to write music, and pioneered the use of mathematical models to do so. This process gives some of his music a very atonal, strange sound, making it sometimes difficult to comprehend and listen to. Without any tonal center, any sense of structure and continuity is all built on musical dramaturgy with the the use of brilliant dynamics

His solo piano piece, Evryali [1973], is a very good example of just this. It is also part of our listening exam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWYpLdYoJSc

Anubis-Nout by Gerard Grisey

Pretty awesome bass clarinet solo I found last night!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4msFJD-4lzk&feature=related

Enjoy!

Blog Assignment

For my blog assignment, I was asked to explain if another type of art has inspired my musical work.

I have been inspired in many ways with my musical work. One of the biggest influences for me is drama. I have been participating in plays since the age of six. I have been in dramatic plays, musicals, and I have also directed a couple plays. Among my experience with drama and music, I found a very strong similarity between the both. Drama and music both bring out an intense wave of emotions. When I experience playing a good song or participate in a good play, it is almost like I am taken to a different world. I get to see life in a different perspective and feel strong emotions I have never felt before. Both music and drama usually have a very deep story to tell that makes it feel like I am in someone elses shoes.

I think a composer can learn a lot from engaging in other art forms aside from music because it can give the composer many new ideas for their musical work. Experiencing so many different emotions can help broaden a composer's creativity.

Who is your favorite composer?

As cliche a question as it is, who are some of your favorite composers? Who do you draw influence from? I think it'd be interesting to see what everyone else in the program is in to.

As for me, I am a huge Tchaikovsky fan. His work on the Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake is absolutely mind blowing to me. I also like Federico Moreno-Torroba, a 20th century composer for guitar as well as Isaac Albeniz who composed many pieces for piano that were later transcribed for guitar.

Blog Assignment: Edgar Varese

Edgar Varese was an American composer, though he was born in Paris on December 22nd, 1883. He was very influential toward the use of atonality and rhythmic complexity, which he began to use in his works composed during the 1920’s. Varese didn’t truly start studying music until 1903, and by 1905 he was enrolled in Charles-Marie Widor’s composition class at the conservatoire. After living in Paris, he moved to Berlin for a short while, moved between the two cities, and made friends Hofmannsthal, Rolland and Debussy. However, he was never able to retain steady work in Europe, so in December of 1915, he departed for the USA. Here, he worked for some time, joined the Pan American Association for Composers, but still visited Paris occasionally. After a failed attempt to persuade two Paris companies to invest in electric instrument research, Varese was very depressed. He wrote Density 21-5 in 1936, but nothing else until a decade later. Density 21-5 was titled after the instrument it features: Barrere’s platinum flute. The density of platinum happens to be 21-5. The piece is for solo flute, and is very atonal. It features a large pitch range, and very strong dynamics. During his decade free of composing, Varese was a teacher. In his last years, Varese saw great appreciation of his work. He won an astounding amount of awards, had more and more his scores transcribed and performed. Unfortunately, one of his pieces, Nocturnal, was never finished because of his death in 1965.

Here is a link to the song, though it's on our midterm listening exam also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCFk0f8szes

So you are thinking about grad school?

Hello colleagues,

Since I have just gone through the process of applying to graduate school, I might be of some use to any of you who are considering that road in the near (or semi-distant) future. If you are, my advice is to determine for yourself why you want to go to grad school in the first place. If you want to go to a place that will let your creativity and love for electronic music flourish, I would be sure to choose a place that does that. If you want to write very avant-garde, or even overwhelmingly traditional tonal music, you should look for a school that does this. The best way to figure this out is to research the faculty and talk to current students.

You may think to ask "but Michael, there are so many schools, I can't do that for all of them!" This is true. At this crossroads, my next steps were to determine what else I wanted from a school. Since I went to UNT, I intentionally sought out smaller programs. I also decided that I wanted a teaching assistantship at my degree location. Then, I simply google-searched (yep, that's right) for schools.

Now, this type of research can be helpful, but it can also be redundant and waste some time. You can look up in a book "The best 100 music schools in the country" or whatever, but it still might not be catering specifically to you. Whenever I would ask general questions in my undergrad, like "which are good grad schools to go to?" I would only receive the general responses (Juilliard, Indiana, Michigan, Peabody, etc.) which were no help to me. So, in my google search, instead of searching for big names, I went to message boards and things were composers had posted their own schools they felt proud of. Using this method, I DID find a lot of normies, but I also discovered some I had never even considered, or possibly heard of, such as OKCU, Roosevelt, DePaul, Syracuse, and here, to name a few. Once I had a nice list, I researched them and applied my strict criteria to them. I wanted a place where I could have an assistantship, and if possible, have that assistantship cover all of my tuition (a hard hope.) I wanted a small program with a supportive teacher(s) who didn't push me to compose in any specific style. I wanted a school was either in or near a big city, so that I didn't die socially as a composer. Lastly, I wanted a school that did not have a doctoral program in composition, so that my degree wouldn't be overshadowed by the doctoral students (which also is a major contributor to getting an assistantship, with PdDs for competition.)

So, I ended up selecting 4 schools, Duke, Redlands, Syracuse, and JMU. JMU was my safety school, because as researched, it did not look very hard to get into (and as it turned out, it wasn't.) I wouldn't necessarily say you NEED a safety school, and especially in today's economy, it may even be a bit big-headed to think that schools aren't filling up when everyone is trying to rush back to get extra education. At any rate, knowing acceptance rates are important too. I luckily got into 2 of my 4, but I know people who applied to 10 and got into none, because they chose only programs that were incredibly difficult to get into (NEC, Eastman, Boston, Indiana, etc.) These schools are prestigious, yes, but consequently, everyone applies. Like, hundreds. At Duke, when I visited, I discovered they had about 75 applicants, and were taking 1-2. So, in reality, It was as thought I were applying to 3 schools instead of 4.

One thing that should also be considered is that some schools require you to audition or interview in person. Somehow, I lucked out in applying to 4 schools that did NOT require this. This can be a serious consideration, for example, if you live in Texas, and the closest school you applied to was in North Carolina. Ironically, however, I ended up visiting all three east cost schools on my winter break, as I am from Virginia, and ultimately chose to attend the only school I did not visit. If you apply to schools that are far away, make sure that you have enough money to possibly fly, get a hotel, possibly a rental car, and come back. Driving can also cost time and money.

When I visited Duke, they had asked if I had submitted a writing sample. Now, this was not requested in the application. Similarly, I learned that they not only look at scores, but writing samples, test scores, grades, festival attendances, performances, and more. On that score, my chances looked incredibly smaller. Some schools, however, such as Peabody, look ONLY at your music. If you are completely prepared and researched, you might not get a nasty surprise like that, so research as much as you can.

Another thing some schools look at is what you are writing in terms of scope. If you don't have an orchestra piece you are submitting to Indiana, then why bother? It is practically a waste of a hefty application fee. Some schools may want you to submit an electronic work too, to see how well-rounded you are. Some however, may want to hear a distinct mature compositional voice, or others may want to hear music that jives with their own biases and tendencies.

A good way to find out these things, is to E-MAIL the professors. Do not be afraid to ask them questions, because after all, they are just people. If you show your interest early and ask questions, it might help them remember your name when they are going through scores and making decisions. (Maybe not.) On the flip side, if you email them and they are not kind to you, or are too busy to respond to emails, maybe that is not a teacher you want to study with.

Ultimately, what is most important is your music. This does not even mean just how it sounds. If you have a great recording and a great idea, if it is written in heiroglyphics in dried play-dough, it just isn't going to work for you. The faculty will start judging your music as soon as they set eyes on it, so scores you submit should be beautiful and flawless. If they find flaws, or if it isn't neat or professional, they will take it as a reflection of your degree of sincerity towards your music. In other words, if you don't think your music is special enough to put the time into making it look professional, or if you lack the ability to do so, why would they want to have you? In this same vein, good recordings of beautiful scores are important too. Yes, they may say the accept midi, but I do know for a fact some faculties do not even listen to those tracks on principle. You may be better off not submitting a midi recording if you don't have a real one. After all, a great performance recording can only help you.

Finally, I would like to re-stress that you should know why you want to go to grad school. What will it help you accomplish? On a related note, if you are going to pursue further studies past that, you might even need to learn a language (French or German perhaps), so looking up what your courses would be at any potential institution is not a bad plan either. In short, know what you are getting yourself into. Don't allow room for doubt; if you have questions, ask them. If you are unsure of something, research it. The entire process could take months to years, so it is not too early to start looking if that is your ambition.

Good luck to those of you who are choosing to undertake it!

Blog Assignment: Leo Brouwer

For my Blog assignment, I was asked to do some research on modern composer and guitarist, Leo Brouwer.

Classical guitarist and composer Leo Brouwer was born on March 1^st, 1939 in Havana Cuba. Brouwer’s father, a Cuban doctor, was the first to offer musical encouragement, urging him to learn works by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Francisco Tarrega and Enrique Granados by ear on the guitar.

Soon after, Brouwer began taking more formal guitar lessons from renowned Cuban guitar master, Isaac Nicola. He then traveled to America to continue his study of music. He studied at the Hartt College of Music, the University of Hartford and eventually the Juilliard School. He studied composition under Vincent Persichetti and Stefan Wolpe.

If you look at Brouwer’s work over the years, you’ll see that it has progressed from Cuban folk music to a more modernist style similar to Luigi Nono or Iannis Xenakis. Brouwer continued to write very famous guitar pieces including Sonata, a piece written for the Andres Segovia guitar protégée, Julian bream.

Over the years, Leo Brouwer has held numerous positions in the Cuban government’s music branch. He was even the director of the Cinema Institute of Cuba’s music department. Currently, Brouwer is actively involved in the International Guitar Festival of Havana and travels extensively to other guitar festivals all over the world.

Leo Brouwer has contributed much of the modern classical guitar repertoire having written well over fifty pieces for solo and guitar ensemble. However, he has composed many pieces for the orchestra as well including forty movie scores. His pieces continue to influence the next generation of classical guitar players and has become a mainstay in the modern guitar player’s repertoire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFqgVfZhJmY&feature=related

This is my favorite Leo Brouwer piece, the title, which translates to “Cradle Song,” is a very gentle tune. You can really hear the Cuban and South American influence in this piece, especially during the theme. However, since it was written so late in his career, it has a lot of characteristics of more modern music too. Also, unlike most guitar music, it isn’t written in the standard ABA form.

Naxos And Warner Classics Announce Physical Distribution Partnership For United States

In my email I found a new article from the Music Biz Magazine entitled "Naxos And Warner Classics Announce Physical Distribution Partnership For United States." It is a short blurb, but I thought that it would be an interesting addition considering that we will be using the Naxos database quite frequently, and it is nice to know some background about different resources.

If you are also interested on keeping up with some music industry news or finding career tips on the web, here are a few sites that I have found in the past (they are all related):

Music Biz Magazine
Royalty Week Magazine
Film Music Magazine

All of them have free email subscriptions for your reading convenience.

--Sakari

What do you want to do with your composition degree?

Hey guys, just curious to see what you guys want to do when you get out of school with a degree in composition. As for me, I think it'd be awesome to write movie scores seeing that I've always been infatuated with John Williams scores(Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Schindler's List...)

Using the Naxos Library Database

Hello everyone!

I am writing to share with you information about the Naxos music database on our library website at U of R. To get started, go to the U of R website, click on “Library,” and then click on “Databases by Subject” or “Databases by Title” either in the drop-down menu or as a link at the bottom of the library homepage. For this example, we will use “Databases by Subject.”

Next, click on the letter “M” as in “Music, and scroll down to the music heading in order to click on the Naxos Music Library link. Then, log in using your Redlands ID and password. Note that only five users can be logged in at one time, so if web traffic is relatively heavy, you may have to come back. You can search for music either in the keyword search bar or by clicking on one of the heading such as “Genres.”

Once you find what you are looking for, check the box next to the tracks you wish to listen to. Then, select the sound quality (i.e. Near CD, FM) and then click on the “Play Selections” bar. Your tracks will be played in a popup window.

Another feature of this site includes the “Resources” tab under which you can find links to pages such as a podcast directory and a glossary.

Personally, I look forward to using this site because I will be able to listen to quality recordings of the pieces that I am working on in my lessons (a much better alternative to Youtube!). In fact, I have already been using this resource for my First Year Seminar, “Rewind and Visually Recreate the Symphonic Poems of Richard Strauss.” It will also be a great resource for getting to know the works of unfamiliar composers.

--Sakari