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- <
- 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. :)
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