Entry 8.

Well I'm working on what will more or less be the final draft of 'Subconscious,' which is probably ideal- seeing as the concert is on Friday. After meeting with Clark today to go over the piece, I've got a few things to tweak, but none of them seem to be terribly time consuming:
- Add an eighth rest at the end of bar 3 in the cello part (I found another bar later on that was missing a few rests too)
- Listen to see if the D in the oboe part honks in bars 9 and 12 and edit accordingly. I fixed the one in bar 9 since it was held for three beats, but the one in bar 12 I'm not too worried about.
- The flute part and oboe part, where they have the triplet sixteenth notes need to have spaces in which the player can breathe...Obviously I'm not a wind major seeing as I gave them no chance to do so in the original score. I've got this hald done right now, and will finish doing that once I've posted this.
- maybe have the flute/oboe come in a bit later on the triplet sixteenth notes in some places so it's not so predictable
- no capitolization of the 'C' in crescendo
- add tenuto markings in the flute part in bar 65
- maybe edit the ending, with a few more bars in the piano and don't have it end so suddenly- end with a dotted half rather than an eighth note.
- put bowings in the cello part
- Consider rewriting the piano part for two hands rather than putting it all in one clef. I think I might do this later, but it'd probably take up too much time to do it right now.

Crazy, but it's almost finished. Yay!

Entry 7.

So I've been thinking about the next project, and I'm stuck between two ideas.



The first is something that I might compose for orchestra. While standing outside the instrumental room last week waiting for the wind sectional to end so that we could go in for the string sectional, I heard the jazz band playing in the choral room, and had a small discussion with Saird about how jazz bands get some pretty groovy music, and I don't want to knock Haydn or anything, especially since it's the 200th anniversary of his death this year, but I'd rather play a jazz piece any day rather than the 'Surprise Symphony.' So I began to toy with the thought of composing a piece for jazz orchestra. I'd have to listen to a lot of jazz music to get the general idea of it, since I have relatively no experience with it whatsoever thus far, but I think it'd make for a neat composition, though I can imagine that I might run into some balance issues where the orchestra doesn't have quite as many different parts as the jazz band, and I'm not really interested in writing for a full orchestra- just a string orchestra. Sorry winds!



The other idea I have is one that I'm leaning toward actually using, because I'd be able to submit it for the Terra Nova thing and I'd like to at least take a shot at that. The inspiration for this, which I intend to write in several, short movements, comes from a little novel by Antoine Saint-Exupéry called 'Le Petit Prince.' I haven't decided on how many movements I want this piece to have, but I've got a few ideas for elements of the novel I can use as a motif or inspiration for a movement.

- Asteroide B-612. This is the name of the planet that the narrator of the story believes that le Petit Prince came from. It is very tiny- no bigger than a house, and he lived there alone before leaving, carried by a migrating flock of wild birds. On his planet are three tiny volcanoes, one of which is extinct, which rise only to le Petit Prince's knee, a few small flowers, baobabs which le Petit Prince digs up before they can grow to bee too big and one rose, a vain and selfish plant who eventually asks so much of le Petit Prince that he decides to leave his planet, despite how much he loves his rose.

- Les Sept Planètes. Le Petit Prince visits seven planets in total, including the Earth which is his final stop. He meets a man who lives on each small planet (Asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329 and 330) and begins to discover just how unlikable and trivial human adults are. The first is a pompous king who is obsessed with having subjects, the second is a vain man bent on being admired constantly, the third was a drunk, unhappy man who only wants to forget everything, the fourth a serious business man who counts stars believing that he owns everything he counts. The fifth a likeable, yet odd man who spends all his time following the order he is given- to light a lamp every night and put it out every day, though unfortunately for him, his planet is so tiny and turns so fast, each day is only a minute long. The sixth planet is inhabited by a geographer, who is more or less harmless until he tells le Petit Prince that he wouldn't mark a rose down on a map because it is ephemeral, which upsets the boy greatly. The last planet he visits, of course, is Earth. I'm not sure I would use any of this in a movement, because making up seven different themes and putting them all into one movement might be a bit much for such a short piece.

- Dessine-moi un mouton. The first thing le Petit Prince says in the book is this- <> as he asks the narrator to draw him a sheep. He wants the sheep to eat the baobabs which grow on his planet so that he won't have to work so hard digging them up. If he lets them grow too large, they'll take over his planet which is why he must pull them out when they are young. It is of great importance to le Petit Prince that the narrator draws a sheep, but he is worried by the fact that the sheep would eat a rose too, and resolves to have the narrator draw a fence and a muzzle too.

- Le renard et le serpent. Two animals that le Petit Prince meets, which are of great importance, are the fox and the snake. The fox is an odd little fellow that le Petit Prince eventually tames, upon its request. The fox gives le Petit Prince good advice, and the two become good friends before the boy leaves to explore more of the earth. He also meets the snake, who is wise though dangerous and caniving. It is the snake who convinces le Petit Prince that the earth is not a good place, and that he has the ability to send le Petit Prince back to his planet with a single bite.

- Puis-que c'est ma rose. One of the things that le Petit Prince learns from the fox is that he is responsible for everything that he tames, and that his rose is unique to him. While on the earth, he walked through a garden full of roses which were all just as beautiful as his and this upset him greatly, as he thought that his rose was truely unique and beautiful. The fox explains to him, however, that the roses in the garden mean nothing to him, as he has not taken care of them or made them unique to him in all the universe as he has his own rose, back on his planet.

- Pays des larmes. There are several times throughout this book where the characters are moved to tears. I plan to either finish with a movement which is thoughtful and sad, or have it be one of the later movements, to express the sorrow that can be drawn from this book.

- On se console toujours. This will probably be the main motif for the last movement, based around a speech le Petit Prince gives the narrator:
<<...Tu regarderas, la nuit, les étoiles. C'est trop petit chez moi pour que je te montre où se trouve la mienne. C'est mieux comme ça. Mon étoile, ça sera pour toi une des étoiles. Alors, toutes les étoiles, tu aimeras les regarder... Elles seront toutes tes amies. Et puis je vais te faire un cadeau... Les gens ont des étoiles qui ne sont pas les mêmes. Pour les uns, qui voyagent, les étoiles sont des guides. Pour d'autres elles ne sont rien que de petites lumières. Pour d'autres qui sont savants elles sont des problèmes. Pour mon businessman elles étaient de l'or. Mais toutes ces étoiles-là se taisent. Toi, tu auras des étoiles comme personne n'en a... Quand tu regarderas le ciel, la nuit, puisque j'habiterai dans l'une d'elles, puisque je rirai dans l'une d'elles, alors ce sera pour toi comme si riaient toutes les étoiles. Tu auras, toi, des étoiles qui savent rire ! Et quand tu seras consolé (on se console toujours) tu seras content de m'avoir connu. Tu seras toujours mon ami. Tu auras envie de rire avec moi. Et tu ouvriras parfois ta fenêtre, comme ça, pour le plaisir... Et tes amis seront bien étonnés de te voir rire en regardant le ciel. Alors tu leur diras: "Oui, les étoiles, ça me fait toujours rire !" Et ils te croiront fou. Je t'aurai joué un bien vilain tour... Ce sera comme si je t'avais donné, au lieu d'étoiles, des tas de petits grelots qui savent rire...>>

So those are my ideas. I may find other things in the book to add in this to possibly base a movement on, though I'll have to find a French copy of the book first. I went to Chapters to find it and they only had the English version which could suffice, but the French version is so much better. :)

Entry 6.

Hard to believe that the semester's pretty much halfway over- I've got my flight booked for home already too though part of me seems stuck in winter mood- I've had 'Rockin' around the Christmas Tree' stuck in my head for hours. I seem to have drawn the short straw this semester, and 2/3 of my exams are late but I guess to find the silver lining would be to find that I've just been given more time to prepare for my two later exams...Neither of which have much of anything to do with music...But this paragraph doesn't really either, which is why I'm going to change the subject now and write about compositions and stuff.

So I presented some new materiel in class today- the piece that I had in a dream last week while in a bit of an ill daze. I got some really good pointers today in class, especially regarding the instrumentation. I'd really like to use the vibes, but as it was pointed out, and as I had suspected myself, the notation would prove to be a bit tricky and there's not very much time left between now and the performance, so I think I might put what I've got written in the vibe part over onto piano, and write something different for vibes with the motor thing running to add to the texture. I should probably research it a bit first, to make sure that that's the sound I want, and how it can be modified.

A few things have been brought to my attention in the oboe part as well, which should be easy enough to fix- I took down bar numbers and will be more mindful of 'honking' notes on the oboe.

I've also been prompted to graph where I want the piece to go, seeing as I have relatively no idea right now. I'm just letting the texture and harmony of it waver all over the place, going where it wants to go, and I'm very relieved to hear that it's not tonal, despite the fact that it has a lot of tonal elements. I'll try and make some kind of graph to give myself a better idea of its path, hopefully It'll help me have a better destination in mind.

I've had a few other ideas come to mind to. We've been encouraged to introduce an aleatoric element to the music, and I haven't exactly done that. I've been toying with the idea of having someone read a text while the musicians play the music- whether I'll write the text or use one which already exists I haven't decided yet, though I'm leaning toward the former. I won't give the reader any indication of speed or rhythm for the words- I like the natural inflection better than notated rhythm, and it'll produce a different performance every time depending on the speaker. It's just an idea, though I'm beginning to like it more and more.

Entry 5.

I should be outside. Seriously though, we should all be outside- it's sunny and almost warm, despite the wind, and we all know by how just how scarce the sunshine can be around this time of year. But instead here I am, composing in one window and writing in another while trying not to be distracted by the sun coming in the windows from outside. I think I like house windows much more than I like computer windows right now, but we've all got to deal with these things one day or another.

So I had a bit of a change in plans...Almost. I'm not sure yet. I've been working away on my atonal composition- the one with the voice, vibraphone, tubular bells, bass, clarinet and piano, but am discovering that the way that I write for voice- as we discussed in class last time- is perhaps a bit too challenging for the vocal artist, unless they had perfect pitch. I'd like to tamper with this piece a fair bit and actually finish it, seeing as it's close to being three minutes long already and I am enjoying it, but obviously it needs to be made a bit more physically possible to sing. I found it highly amusing in last class though, when it was suggested that I sing the piece because I'm already familiar with the vocal line and have perfect pitch...Unfortunately, however, I refuse to do so on the grounds that I firmly believe I'd butcher it. Hold a gun to my head and I can, and will, carry a tune, but otherwise, don't bother, because I don't like to sing solo in public. I've toyed with the idea of making it a piece for people with perfect pitch, but that's kind of selective and discriminatory, and I don't want to do that- I'm all for diversity and equal rights.

On a slightly different note, though...I might have come up with something else...While asleep. It sounds weird, I know, and you're probably thinking right now that I am the ultimate dork for composing while sleeping, but it happens every once in a while and if I'm lucky, I can remember what I've written in my head while sleeping and write it down. Funny thing is that I don't usually realize that I'm the one composing the piece until after I wake up and go 'oh, well then, that was nice of me.' I usually dream that someone else had written the piece that I'm listening to, and am often made fairly jealous by said composer's style and flair. I've never quite been able to reproduce note for note what I've composed in a dream- not like Coleridge who somehow managed to write out 'Kubla Khan' in a somewhat similar state (I say somewhat because opium has had no play in my current, past or future state as far as I'm concerned) - but I like to try, and I can usually get the basis and elaborate upon it if I like it.

So my goal for Wednesday is this- to finish my first composition and get enough done on the second one so that the class can have an idea of what I'm working on. This one is for vibraphone, piano, flute, oboe and cello. It has much softer timbres and borders on being minimalistic, rather than the disjunct piece that I've got nearly completed. For once I think I've written something that's almost pretty...I've become a bit frustrated with my past few compositions, because the style I seem to be falling into is more dramatic, filled with turmoil and angst rather than being ethereal and pretty. Guess I just have to get in touch with my subconscious side which seems to surface while I sleep, and maybe share some ideas and tips over imaginary beer and nachos with it. It's worth a try, no?

Entry 4.

Newfound music- I think this was my favourite year out of the three I've experienced. I don't have to write anything about it for any other classes, but since this counts as a blog entry, I'm definately down for doing some good old rambling about what I went to this year.
1. Riley's 'In C.' I remember studying this very briefly in music history, and though that it was kind of nifty...I think it was even one of our listening examples, but it wasn't on the final exam (I don't think, at least) which sucks because it was one of the easiest pieces to pick out of the others. I was impressed that it stayed together without completely falling to pieces, and it actually sounded really groovy in some places, especially toward the end. I'm glad I got some of it on video- I'm not sure how much, seeing as my camera kind of died, but at least I got the beginning of it.
2. Scott's lecture on writing for high school band. It was really neat to hear about his experience writing for a band, though I had expected him to tell us how to write for band, not how he wrote for a band. Nevertheless, I did learn a lot from this session, especially from hearing what he wrote. My experience with a high school band was pretty terrible. I played french horn in grade 12 because no one else knew how, and I knew how to play five notes on it. Little did I know that I would be one of the better players in the band by the end of the year....How's that for a sad little story? We played at the rememberance day assembly that year, and after butchering Canon in D and making an incredible mess out of our own national anthem, the band hasn't been asked to play for another formal assembly since. With this in mind, I was leery about what I could write for a high school band, rather than what I wanted to write. In other words, my expectancies for a high school band were pitifully low, but I was enlightened by the recordings that Scott played and have a renewed amount of faith for high school bands which aren't absolutely decrepit. I'm really looking forward to this now, and definately agree with what was said in class- most of the repertoire for bands is too basic and unexciting, and the kids would be more apt to rise to the occasion of playing a slightly more difficult piece rather than slumping in their chairs while playing "Yankee Doodle," (another song that my band ruined). I also learned another important thing- get whatever money you can from the governement by whichever means possible. :)
3. Orchestra rehearsal- Yeah, so I was technically a part of this rather than sitting down and listening, but I was able to listen to what we played while playing, if that makes any sense. I think one of the best parts was getting to meet Cliff Crawley after having played a few of his pieces. I really liked what we played while we were in Russia a few years back- I can't remember what it was called, but it was something along the lines of "Down the Rabbit's Hole," or something like that...I know it had something to do with Alice in Wonderland, anyway, and I think that was my favourite thing written by him until I heard Tim and Nancy play 'The Lark.' That's something I'd really like to play someday.
4. Concert celebrating Cliff's 80th birthday- This was an awesome concert, and I enjoyed it from start to finish though I wish that I had been able to see the second half rather than sitting in the instrumental room playing the violin part on my viola and then trying to play the viola part on Tilly's cello to fill in the time before we went onstage. 'Not Waving but Drowning' is one of my favourite poems and it was features in the second half- which I missed- but hopefully it'll be performed again someday.

All in all I really enjoyed the Newfound Music festival this year, and am looking forward to seeing it again next year.

Entry 3.

I really feel as though I got a lot of good feedback on Wednesday, and am glad that I tried to write everything down so that I would remember it when I went to tweak my compositions again and so that I have some materiel to write about in here. Unfortunately my computer seems to have caught the same bug that everyone else's has, and is acting like a grumpy child who insists on throwing their rattle out of the pram and then whining about it. Its fits seems to have decreased, though, and this is the most that I've been able to write thus far without it pulling one of those 'windows is not responding' jokes...Let's just hope it's smartened up and decided not to throw any more child-size fits. Back to the notes...
- the fugue-like beginning seems to be liked, which makes me happy since it doesn't really fit in with the material I've used for the rest of the piece, but I wanted the introducting to give the instrumentalists something at least, rather than just being harmony and background noise behind the voice, and to set the mood.
- I've figured out what part the waltz-like section was from that Melissa liked, and had forgotten that I had initially planned on elaborating more on that...but then I forgot. Thanks for reminding me again, Melissa! I plan on extending that section a bit more today or tomorrow.
- The rhythm in the vocal line could stand to be more adventurous, and I completely agree. I've made it fairly deadbeat rhythm-wise, just because the notes are all over the place, but I might not be giving singers enough credit...heh, sorry! I'll work on that.
- The sextuplet part sticks out a bit, and I agree, though I kind of like it...Maybe I'll find a better transition, seeing as the direct one is...Well, direct. Go figure. This will hopefully give the piece more unity, as the changes are a bit abrupt and perhaps there are a few too many of them.
- and my piano writing is conservative...I just don't know what's physically possible and what isn't! I really wish I knew how to play piano better, that way I'd have a better idea of how to write accompaniments. I'll talk to Kim about it, and maybe even try my own hand at playing the piano part, just to see what it's like. I plan on looking at more piano music too, to see what kind of nuances there are that I like and can encorporate.
I've been thinking a lot about the next project as well, and have made a bit of ground on it though I haven't started writing anything yet. My natural inclination would be to write for an orchestra, which I've done on a few occasions before, but the competition thing is quite alluring, and if there's any chance that I might possibly win some money..Hey, it's got to be worth a shot, right? And then at least I'll have the experience of writing for band. My idea for the time being is to write a three-movement work inspired by Antoine Saint-Exupery's novel 'Le Petit Prince,' which is definately my favourite book. The first movement will be fairly minimalist I think, to invoke the image of le Petit Prince travelling through space with his white birds, the second will be....Uhm, I'll let you know when I have an idea...And the third movement I'm oping will be peaceful, beautiful and sad yet bittersweet. I still can't read the book without feeling very sad at the ending. I intend to use quotations from the book as the movement titles, but haven't really decided on them yet.

Well that's all for now,

J.