Saxophone quartet with extra tenor

An exubérant sketch for saxophone quartet and solo tenor saxophone.

I have a meeting tomorrow to talk about my next work for saxophone(s) and I need to generate some ideas to discuss!

Caprice for String Orchestra

Hey everyone,

Here's a little Caprice I've been writing this afternoon for string orchestra. Definitely will be revisiting this!!

Score

3 pieces

Hey everyone,

I've been writing but not posting so here are mine from the past 3 days. I've written most of the first variation in my Fiddler on the Roof Variations, a klezmer improvisation (I've begun notating) and some lyrics for a new song for my friend about his moustache. Still need to write my piece for today!

Fiddler

Improv Draft Score

Improv Recording

Some draft lyrics for moustache song

Here upon my upper lip,

My little hairy landing strip,

Nestled in a cheeky grin,

He keeps me warm through thick and thin,

Trapping little scraps and crumbs,

He keeps me full my prickly chum,

He gets all fluffed when I sip my ‘cino

We share some secrets only we know,

No I’m not a fireman

No I’m not a cop,

No I’m not a bikie who owns a barbershop

some latin

I'm not a big fan of the bible - but I make personal exceptions if all of the offensive ideas are removed. This is my versions of Colossians 3, where we learn how to live our lives. Of course, I removed the instructions for women to submit to their husbands, for slaves to feel gratitude towards their masters, and some other details - I think what is left is quite nice.

490 words down to 25:

induite benignitatem humilitatem modestiam patientiam tibi

Clothe yourselves with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

subportantes invicem et donantes vobis ipsis

Bear with each other and forgive one another.

Super omnia caritatem, quod est vinculum perfectionis.

Beyond all is love, which binds perfectly.

Two-piano ostinato (Carnival of the Chinese Animals)

I needed a textural dimension to the beginning of Carnival.

Otherwise it's just long held notes, which would be great for an orchestra but isn't ideal for a chamber group, no matter how large. 

So today I wrote this ostinato for the two pianos, based on the actual tune (not shown here) that opens Carnival. 

The effect will be like a mensural canon between the texture and the tune.

Ghostly Chorale (maybe for Carnival of the Chinese Animals)

Anyone want to see why I don't typeset my own music? This is why!

(Hence I usually post handwritten scores). 

This piece is quite an ethereal, numinous chorale, but you can't tell from the way it currently looks like a 5 year old made it! I have Finale, Sibelius and Dorico and it’s so I can communicate with any copyist no matter what they use.

an arrangement of a piece from a few days ago, this time for solo piano

Chopping (from Three Bilitis Movements)

Today I continued with orchestration of Carnival, so there's really nothing interesting to upload compared to the last post on the subject.

So I thought I'd post this section from my piece for recorder and string quartet, for 2 reasons. One, it's being played at Utzon Room next weekend (Sunday 8th, concert details here). Two, today I was chatting with some composers on Facebook about how to notate 'chopping', which occurs in this piece.

'Chopping' is a bluegrass violin technique. You hit a string with the hair of the bow hard enough that it 'bites' and gives a percussive sound. When you lift the bow, you get a sound too because the rosined hair is sticky from digging deep.

There's no standard notation for chopping. I like to use a right-angle triangle as the notehead, because it looks like an axe when you see it with the note stem :) The passage is tricky to play but it's short. I've since typeset this passage but here's my handwritten page.  

Viruses (a Graphic Score for Song Company)

A first draft of a graphic score for the Song Company :) 

 The subject is viruses. All text is IPA, except for some technical terms that I haven't been able to transliterate yet.

Trio

hey everyone,

Here’s the beginning of a trio I’m writing for clarinet and two bassoons. This one will probably be performed in a recital in December.

It’s going to serve as a divertimento.

for solo trumpet

I'm putting a little effort into something that I really should be putting a lot of effort into. It's a trumpet piece and my goal is to compose it somewhat visually, basing my pitch choices more on the way it fingers on the instrument than on anything else. E is 1st+2nd key, F is 1st key, F# is 2nd key, etc, so the alteration between these combinations is part of what makes the music.

I once spent a long time writing a piece like this for clarinet, and found it so boring that I gave up the whole conceit. LMK if you'd like to see it...

Children’s song

Hi everyone,

I had a full day of teaching and thought I wouldn’t have enough time, but I thought why not include them in the process.

I asked 5 of my students to pick any two notes they like on the clarinet. Some very very very interesting results, have a look!

I combined each of their answers to get 2 interesting clusters. 

I was playing this on piano and think it would be a fabulous repeating figure to improvise or write a very languid melody over.

Feel free to listen and improvise over!
Piano playing

I’m thinking of doing this multiple times and writing a suite of songs based on the repeating figures.

Revisited Buddha orchestration (Carnival of the Chinese Animals)

Today I refined the draft orchestration for the opening section. 

It evokes the earth rustling and awakening as the Buddha arrives. 

another romance

A long day, lot of walking, lots of hanging out with Vatche who told me he might write a piece tonight...

I wrote some words for my cabaret but no music so here is an interim romance - 

Sketch (probably abandoned)

So much of composition is writing stuff that gets thrown out…. 

I really like what I wrote here but my instincts tell me this has no place in Carnival of the Chinese Animals. So maybe it’ll end up in a string quartet. 

Also, why is there no iOS app for Blogger. It is a pain to use on an Apple devices … Even with Chrome, Google’s browser. I’m tempted to upload my next post with all the istakes not corrects t because I can’t see what I’m typing   Like this. Honestly Wordpress. Leaves blogger for dead. Haha end of rant 

Choral Piece - And Yet I Sigh

Heyo! Tried my hand at writing some choral stuff today.

Score

What are your experiences with writing things like mouth sounds, breathing sounds or unconventional sounds for choir?

I initially wanted to write a whole piece for choir without notes but just contains various vowel sounds in inhalation and exhalation but got a bit too intimidated to do the whole piece like that, as I'm not sure if it would work.

In your experience do you reckon something like that would be effective? I don't have much experience singing in choirs or writing for them so your input would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Ollie

something new

This week I want to complete a project. It'll be my second little chamber opera of this month, another audio-only romp for future podcasting.

The plot as it stands is something to do with a couple stranded abstractly at sea, in a little boat with no propulsion. Their relationship is a lit match and we get to watch them douse it with gasoline. And it's all in a gothic Weill-like cabaret style.

This is somewhat of a prelude, piano only -

score and audio

I can only think of terrible titles. Save me from 'relationship-wreck' please

Sustained but pointillist. No animals were injured … so far.

Isn't it strange how you can't go very long before writing something with a touch of New Complexity… The woodwind parts are tonal and sostenuto but the piano part is a little NC, rhythmically anyway. I have no idea where this section goes. Maybe into the circular little filing cabinet… No animals were injured in the writing of this passage.

Ma Tovu + String Quartet

Hey guys,

Sorry for the absence. I've written two things today - the scoring is terrible but I at least wanted to get some stuff down! Ha

Ma tovu
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ge86fdrgps8axo7/Ma%20Tovu.pdf?dl=0

String Quartet ideas
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xlh4ds585080mjx/String%20quartet.pdf?dl=0

figment 4

I listened to a divorced couple argue for two hours about what they were going to get their kid for christmas. First they spent 25 minutes debating nintendo switch vs. playstation 4, then added chromebook into the mix. The following hour was spent arguing about whether they should give her a pet.



In the end, they decided to discuss it again "in the next meeting."

The way it was going, I think they're going to give the kid a switch.