Two in one

I've presented my piece twice since my last blog post and have recieved some very good helpful feedback during the two sessions. The presentation before last involved some technical points such as placement of the 8va symbol and the like. Aside from that the comments mostly centered around the use of dynamics and articulations, specifically as a means of varying material. During the following week I added these in and have been quite pleased with the results. I also added more material to the piece that week. I was thinking of this new material as a sort of B section for the piece however, Justin brought up the point that the two sections sound quite similar and that at the end of the "B" section it sounded like a point of transition. I agree with this idea and now plan to build a new, more contrasting B section from here. Also, at the beginning, it was suggested that I play around with the timbre of the repeat of the opening quintuplet figure. I have a couple of ideas concerning this and we will see how that goes.

An Experiment

I presented my piece to the class on Monday and it was fairly well received; bearing in mind, of course, that it was very much in the infancy stages. I've decided to step outside my comfort zone with this piece and compose it aprogrammatically. Generally, when I compose a piece I have an image in mind that helps me to shape the piece in form and content. This time I've decided to just dive in without an image in mind and it's proving to be very difficult. I feel like it lacks direction.

The comments that I recieved were that I should vary the material sooner using inversions, octave displacement and the like. It was also recommended that I make the opening rhythm easier to read by turning the quintuplet figure into a pickup and to also use the triangle to punctuate the rhythm and show the downbeat. This turned into an idea to use the triangle to play with the downbeat and fool the listener. The idea of using timbre changes as another means of variation was also suggested.

I'm trying to base this piece more so on rhythm and color than actual pitch or harmony as another step outside my element. It's hard going but I feel like it's good experience.

Composition 4100: take two

Having not been able to attend the second class of the semester I was unable to hear some of the music of my peers. Which is somewhat disappointing as I'm interested to hear how things are going. Hopefully we can come to some kind of agreement on a third session time that works for all.

I have an idea for my first composition of the term which is to compose a 12-tone piece using intervallic themes for the pitch class sets. That's about as developed as my idea is at this point but I hope to have something to present on Monday. I have yet to figure out exactly how to treat such an odd assortment of instruments, but I feel confident that if I can write music that works for this instrumentation then even just by virtue of the oddity of the ensemble, the piece will be unique. It certainly is exciting to write for such a rare group of instruments, and such a prestigious group of players.