Who needs copyists anyway …

This looks perfect. I hope the Song Company likes it. LOL!

Name that composer

Hey everyone, I’ve been playing a lot of a particular composer this week and love their music so wanted to try and write a melody in their style. I purposefully didn’t write their name - who do you think I was trying to emulate?

Playing with a new toy

I just purchased a subscription to east-west's composer cloud - this was an experiment, using east-west's Symphonic Choir instrument. It's fun that it makes words, but apparently the Hollywood Choir makes better ones. Downloading that tomorrow.

warning: very very cheesy

listen here

Action music (Carnival)

I've had to write some 'action music' or incidental music rather than themes for the narration of Carnival. This is largely unison music for woodwinds and cello.

More religious text setting

This one comes from the epic of Baal, one of the texts that inspired the writers of the bible - as the Lord of the Rings series is to Game of Thrones, if you will. As well as being an important supporter of good, Baal was a storm lord, and these words come from a proponent of his, the lady of the sea, mother of all gods.

I've read some sources who claim that the Baal cycle was 'sanitised' by its translators, removing some of the more sexual content. This seems pretty sexual to me - and it's worth remembering that the bible's writers rewrote his character into the literal devil.

I finally finished the Chris Gordon orchestration...

and here it is! Score and Audio too

It's for the leichhardt espresso chorus' Carols on Norton program this year - go see it! I won't be there, unfortunately, but it's always a lovely community event.

the piece I wrote based on the text from twenty days ago or so hahahahah

I wrote this piece vaguely using the text I wrote two weeks ago. It is sincere and cheesy and I am not ashame

I hope do not hate

bye xx

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.