Hep Cats Movement 3

The third movement is called "Tom" and it captures the aggressive, macho characteristics of a tom cat. It is in a fast rock tempo. The way this movement is constructed is by using short motifs that constantly interchange with each other and are varied by tonality, modality, interval, or by extension. I will identify the motifs for you below and leave finding where, when and how they are used up to you.

motive 1 - M. 1 beats 1 & 2
motive 2 - M. 1 beats 3 & 4
motive 3 - M. 2 beats 1 & 2
motive 4 - M. 4 entire measure
motive 5 - M. 7 beats 3 & 4
motive 6 - M. 8 beats 1 & 2
motive 7 - M, 12 beats 3 & 4
motive 8 - M. 14 beats 3 & 4

The overall form is an arch form with a short coda. For the center section M. 31-43, I felt I needed contrast to the outer sections that use the constant juxtaposition of the motives. I briefly toyed with the idea of using a more sustained melody but it didn't feel right. While doing my morning stretching, I was watching the weather channel and for the "Local on the 8's" they had rock music playing in the background that was using a repetitive riff. It was then that it dawned on me that a riff section is what I need to create the contrast. This middle section consists of 3 four measure phrases that are built off of a riff idea.

There are several climaxes throughout this movement. They occur at loud spots and/or high spots and they give the movement direction. Dynamic contrast is very important in making a composition for a solo single line instrument interesting.

I will be taking a real vacation between May 19 and June 27. I will be bringing my keyboard and computer with me as composing for me is very relaxing. I will be posting to my blog sporadically however as the next piece I work on develops. This may be a good time for those fairly new to my blog to read some of the previous posts and share your comments.

To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.hostrack.net/hepcatsblog.html
The score is transposed.

Dr. B

Hep Cats Movement 2

Today I am posting the completed 2nd movement. Whereas the first movement "Siamese" has a lively and playful, yet sophisticated quality, the second movement "Angora" is mysterious, aloof, and vain.

The movement begins with an angular, yet expressive 7/8 melody suggesting the Angora's superiority complex. This idea is then followed by a staccato, rhythmic ostinato idea in mainly 3/4 suggesting the cat's sneakiness. I commented in my last post about the difficulty in creating counterpoint with a single melodic line. I have played a wonderful piece by Fred L. Clinard called Sonata for Unaccompanied Euphonium that effectively uses counterpoint. He has a low rhythmic figure that is interrupted by a lyrical melodic phrase. The two alternate for an extended time giving the illusion of two separate lines. Even though the don't literally occur simultaneously, it creates the illusion that the bass line is continuing while the lyrical line is being played. I tried to do the same type of thing in this movement except mine is in a slow tempo and Clinard's is at a fast tempo. From M. 16-26, the rhythmic ostinato alternates with phrases of the 7/8 angular melody therefore creating a sense of counterpoint. M. 27-32 uses a variant of the rhythmic ostinato idea. The tempo picks up again for even more variety.

The movement is in an arch form. the apex of the arch is the lyrical line that represents Angora's beauty from M. 33-50. After the climax, we return to yet another variant of the ostinato idea from M. 51 - 64 and then finally back to the 7/8 angular idea to end the arch form AB(A + B) C B' A'.

This movement has a modern jazz ballad flavor, sort of a 3rd stream. The intervals are bluesy, but the inflections are more classical.

To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.hostrack.net/hepcatsblog.html
The score is transposed.

Dr. B

New Piece for Solo Eb Clarinet

I have been traveling again, this time to the University of Iowa for a premiere of my "Guatemaya" for marimba by Meggie Aube on her masters recital. We had a nice dress rehearsal together. The challenge was to make adjustments as Meggie had the piece memorized. She had to get the new changes (mainly dynamics and phrasing) into her mind, which is not as easy as marking the music with a pencil. She made the adjustments very quickly however. During the performance, Meggie had one memory slip at the very beginning of the piece, but after that, the performance went smoothly and was well received. While at the U of I, I meet with three graduate students with whom I have written pieces for recording projects.

I began to work on my next commission while in Iowa and finished the 1st movement today. This piece is for William Kelly, who is doing a CD of unaccompanied clarinet music. He wanted a piece for Eb clarinet, although this piece can be done on any clarinet. He also wanted a jazz influenced piece, therefore the title "Hep Cats". The title has double meaning, cats meaning jazz musicians, and also the feline species. I am a cat lover, so several of my pieces have cat titles and descriptions. I am sad to say that the latest member of our cat family "Siegfried" went to cat heaven on Monday. He was 18 years old and we had him for 16 years. He was a black cat with part Siamese in him. Therefore the first movement "Siamese" is written in his memory. It is an upbeat, swing movement and captures the joy "Siegfried" brought us. The other movements will be "Angora" which will be slow, moody and bluesy followed by "Tom" which will be in a rock style and be aggressive.

"Siamese" has a number of motives that are used in a flexible form. The challenge in writing a piece for a single monophonic instrument is that the elements such as harmony, counterpoint, and timbre variation are not readily available. One can hint at these, but the composer has to find most of the variety in the other elements. The movement begins with diatonic swing eighth notes which is the first motivic idea. In the second measure, the triplet motive is introduced, which adds rhythmic variety. These ideas interplay and change tonality slightly. In order break up the constant sound, I wanted a figure that used some rests. M. 7 introduces this motive and is used again, like in M. 10 & 11 for variety. The next motivic idea (M. 15 & 16) is a more chromatic version of the swing 8th notes, therefore adding a modality variation. The last new idea also takes advantage of silence (M 22). These ideas interchange freely as the movement moves towards the climax towards the middle at M. 39 and then again towards a climax at the end.

To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.hostrack.net/hepcatsblog.html
The score is transposed.

Dr. B

Goulash 3rd movement finished

Last week I finished Goulash, but decided to wait a bit before posting as I wanted to be sure I was finished. Because of my hectic schedule, my composing has been sporadic and it was hard to feel a sense of continuity in the piece. After reviewing the piece, I feel that I did create the continuity I was looking for.

M. 122-136 creates a transition back the more rhythmic portion of the slow section. It begins with a restatement of the main fast idea and then begins to develop it a bit before fragmenting some of the ideas. M. 165 winds down the slow section material and M. 171 suddenly brings the listener back to the fast section. M. 192 is a slight variation of this material that appeared earlier. M. 210 to the end is a fiery coda that extends the marimba idea at M. 198 for some technical fireworks.

During this movement, I found myself using the ends of phrases to start my new phrase. This is a way of unifying ideas and also creating variety. An example would be how the saxophone line that ends at M. 9 begins the phrase at M. 16 and then develops into its own melody. T.S. Eliot said "in my end is my beginning". That certainly applies in many places throughout this movement.

I am now working on preparing the parts for this piece and getting them off to the performers for their comments.

To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.hostrack.net/goulashblog.html
The score is transposed.

Dr. B

Goulash 3rd movement

In my last post, I discussed my getting started with the third movement of Goulash. This movement has been challenging to compose, partly because of all the interruptions I have been experiencing with my composing schedule and partly because I do not have a clear vision of the movement. I do have general idea of what I want to do. The opening slow section is now complete. At M. 25, I introduced a contrasting section that is imitative. At M. 32-42, I return to the material I used at M. 14-24 but the saxophone line is now more elaborate. A transition in the marimba at 43-64 brings the listener back to the opening material that gradually accelerates into the fast section at M. 61. The return to this opening section rounds out the slow opening nicely as it is free and exotic sounding before the stricter tempo of the fast section.

M. 61 begins the fast section with an angular, yet harmonically suggestive marimba pattern of eighth notes. The saxophone introduces the first melodic idea at M. 63. It has a dotted rhythm figure, some syncopation and some scale-wise flourishes. The last part of the idea uses imitation between the saxophone and marimba. At. M 71-83, the roles of the two instruments reverse and the last part of the idea is extended. M. 84 ushers in a variant of the idea with descending then ascending arpeggios in the marimba and scalar passages in the saxophone. Imitation once again completes the phrase. At M. 92-104, the roles reverse once again and the end of the idea receives an extension. M. 104 is another variant of the initial idea that incorporates both the eighth note arpeggios and the scalar 16th notes. The texture is all marimba at this point. At 113, the texture is now saxophone primarily with a few punctuations with the marimba.

Once again, the ideas seem to be working but I don't know where it will take me next. The challenge I am finding in writing for 2 instruments is to create variety of texture. I accomplish that by alternating lead in the two instruments, changing from harmophony to polyphony, and using one instrument only for phrases. Since I can't vary the texture like I could in an orchestral piece, I need to strive for variety in other ways, yet still maintain unity in the piece. This might suggest a return to the slow section briefly before the final virtuostic fast section. We will see if this happens as the movement progresses.

To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.hostrack.net/goulashblog.html
The score is transposed.

Dr. B

Marketing, Guatemaya and Goulash

The title of this post sounds like goulash, but it highlights the three things I'll be reflecting on.

Yesterday, I had a table to sell my music and CDs at a Tuba/Euphonium conference being held at Millersville University. Normally, I market through internet news groups but I thought I would try something different. My publishing company is a print-on-demand establishment, so my first task was to decide what music to print and bring with me. I settled on some of my euphonium and tuba duets. I also had some copies already left over from other seminars I have done, so I brought that music along even though it was not tuba or euphonium oriented. I also made catalogs of my tuba and euphonium music for distribution. All in all, I'd say the day was a positive experience. I would have attended this event anyway as I am a tuba player, and it was nice to share my music with some of the people in attendance. I actually sold some of my there music as well as some of my tuba and euphonium music. My setup consisted of a display board with my publishing company and Cd label name, plus some graphics of things we offer. I had nice display racks for my music and CDs. I had a credit card swiper from CDBaby for credit card sales and had my laptop computer and headphones with me so that people could hear recordings or MIDI versions of my music. I will consider doing this type of marketing in the future, but it does take time and can be expensive.

This morning, I made what I hope will be the final revisions to Guatemaya. I have had excellent correspondence with Meggie Aube, for whom this piece is written. She has sent me rehearsal recordings and with the help of her teacher, made some suggestions for changing some of the octaves in the piece. I also made some adjustments to a few measures to facilitate the technique. The biggest change is in the 3rd movement where I adjusted the tempo slower as its sounds more majestic and mysterious that way.This is a good example of how collaboration can work between composer and performer.

To see and hear the revision, go to http://www.cooppress.hostrack.net/guatemayablog.html

I have also been working on the third movement of Goulash. I have settled on alto saxophone and marimba for this movement. It will be in the style of a Csárdás beginning with a slow section with some freedom of tempo and followed by a fast, fiery section. I started in 6/8 time because I haven't used that meter in the other movements and I'm consciously trying to stay away from imitating the famous Csárdás by Monti. Even though I like what I have written thus far, I am not sure where this is going and whether it will sound like a Csárdás. As you can see and hear, the opening is quite free in tempo. In measure 6 & 7, I develop the triplet motive first stated at the beginning of m. 6 in the saxophone to lead to a climax at the end of measure 7. Measure 9 begins a transition to a section of steadier rhythm. The marimba part of harmonic eighth notes becomes a steadier rhythm at m. 14. The saxophone dotted rhythm motif that ends the section at m. 9 becomes another unifying factor in the new section.

To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.hostrack.net/goulashblog.html

Kansas State Premiere

I'm in Missouri on my way back from a very nice experience at Kansas State University. It was a luxury in the world of composers to have 3 rehearsals with the tuba/euphonium ensemble that premiered my "Suit Suite". There was a lot of growth with the interpretation of the music. The one drawback was that we did not have all 13 musicians together until the run-through prior to the performance due to schedule conflicts. But Steve Maxwell and the students really came through with a very musical and exciting premiere.

While I was there, I did a Low Brass Masterclass on "Getting Into the Composer's Mind" which is based on ideas from my book, "A Composer's Guide to Understanding Music". I also gave a masterclass to the advanced theory class and a few composition majors. We covered such things as the need for versatility, how to develop your own voice, and concerns I have about the dominance of craftmanship at the expense of expression. I also played several recordings of my music. With both these classes, it would have been great to try to reach more students and to have those in attendance ask more questions.

Thank you Steve Maxwell for arranging all this and to the other faculty who were gracious in hosting me.

Dr. B