Riding East

Romantic Variations

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:09:00 +0000

Well, I've had my hands full lately. Baby Sabine arrived in May, 2008. I started Smule with Ge in June, 2008. I had major surgery to repair my broken jaw in September, 2008, just before I took my qualifying exams (not pretty) at Stanford and launched Smule's first product, the Sonic Lighter. Coached Noah's basketball team (tough season!), now assistant coach on baseball team (go Red Sox!). Ocarina in November. Orals last month (brutal!). Working on Schumann's Waldszenen sporadically. Buried in there somewhere is my wife (she hasn't left me yet) and my daughter Charlotte .

Jonathan (God bless you Jonathan) is still hanging in there with me, and via his seminar Winter quarter, Livia and Janet will perform the first (and at this stage only) two movements from a new set of variations I'm writing for violin duet, having performed already back east at Fredonia . Modeled after Brahm's Schumann variations, I'm threading my own theme (really a bi-tonal harmonic progression) across a handful of works from other composers, in this case, Chopin and Debussy. The progression is never explicitly stated, only implied. Livia and Janet are performing the pieces tonight at Stanford. I'll be sitting on the back row.

Romantic Variations Score, April, 2008

Binaural Sound in Chuck

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:12:00 +0000

After spending considerable cycles last quarter developing a multi-channel class framework in the Chuck programming language, I began to wonder, in the end, how many people would actually be able to hear 16-channel pieces in a space like the ccrma listening room. I then decided it would be interesting to think about 3D audio spatialization over Chuck and a pair of headphones. So, in addition to convincing some friends to port Chuck to the iPhone (stay tuned), I spent some time reading papers on binaural sound models, including the paper published by Phillip Brown and Richard O. Duda in '98 titled "A Structural Model for Binaural Sound Synthesis".

I've come up with two implementations of binaural sound in Chuck now. The first is my own model built on approximations from my research. The second is a work in progress based on the Brown and Duda paper. As you scan the source, you'll notice how trivial it is to create binaural sound by creating a Chuck class that inherits from the BinAural class I've created. The demonstration code goes on to create sound buffers that load up wave files and buzz a bumble bee by your ears while a thunderclap cracks 130 meters above your head. Eventually it starts to rain. All referenced sound files for the demo are also available.

I will come back to this code shortly and finish implementing models for the pinna. Currently, I have ITD, ILD, and HRTF functions.

Version 1.0
Version 1.1

Data files (must be in a data subdirectory underneath Chuck)
BumbleBee
Thunderclap
Rain

Granados and Ravel

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:11:00 +0000

I recently performed again in the Stanford Noon Concert Series as part of Professor George Barth's studio. It has been a busy quarter, and so I was less ambitious this time around. Our new daughter Sabine arrived on May 12th. She is so unique and beautiful. Her cry has a quality of sweetness. In addition to finishing my last quarter of classes for my program, I'm also starting a new company, and have been spending a lot of time over at Bessemer Venture Partners in Menlo Park. And I'm coaching my son's little league baseball team. And so I was less ambitious for this concert.

I chose two Granados pieces because I promised recordings to my friends in the film school, specifically Charlene and Mike. They created a wonderful documentary film on the lives of three young people trying out for circus school in Montreal. We discussed some potential musical material, and in the end, they liked the Granados. In order to avoid copyright issues, I've made these recordings for their film. It will soon become obvious to Charlene and Mike that there is a gap between my skills and those of Alicia de Larrocha. I also performed the Ravel Waltz in the style of Borodin at the concert, and took the opportunity to record it again to compare how my technique and style have evolved over the past year.

Danza II, en do menor (Oriental), Enrique Granados

Danza V, en mi menor (Andaluza), Enrique Granados

A la Manière De. . . Borodin, Maurice Ravel

Bartok Variations Final Score

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:34:00 +0000

I've finally completed the score for my Bartok Variations, three movements for twenty strings + trumpet based on material from Bartok's own "Evening in Transylvania", no. 6 of his Ten Easy Piano Pieces. The three movements (Lento, Allegro agitato, and Scherzando) allude to rondo form and incorporate narrative-like techniques reminiscent of Schumann and Chopin, perhaps suggesting subtle shifts in the listener’s perspective of time throughout. The music features expressive polytonal harmonies in addition to polymetrical ideas, elaborations on Bartok’s own rubato from his piano piece.

Conductor Barbara Day Turner will premiere the work on May 18th, 2008 with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. The piece is dedicated to Professor George Barth at Stanford University.

Full Score

Parts
Trumpet Solo
Violin Solo
Double Bass
Viola
Violin 1
Violin 2 Div 1
Violin 2 Div 2
Cello Div 1
Cello Div 2
Cello Div 3

Nice Doggie

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:11:00 +0000

I'm not finished (ending doesn't work, trouble with one of the transitions), but here is my latest Chuck creation. I'm pleased with my work on the machine instruments. Of course to appreciate this piece you would need to be in a 16-channel sphere such as the listening room up at CCRMA.

Off to Chicago tomorrow AM and so time to upload and start packing. I'll come back to this full-time next week.

Thx to Dr. J. Berger and Ge Wang (Sir Chuck).

Nice Doggie
Nice Doggie Source (score)

Mass #1 Performance

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:59:00 +0000

The Stanford Memorial Church under the direction of Greg Wait along with Organist Robert Huw Morgan performed two movements of my Mass #1 this past November. As always, we could have used a few more rehearsals. In the Kyrie for example, the tenor and alto parts on the "Christe" phrases don't rise above the sopranos, possibly preventing an understanding of the conflict and resolution in these phrases. Yet I was pleased that the choir & Robert performed the pieces, and appreciate Greg taking on the challenge. I particularly enjoyed Debbie's solo in the Sanctus.

Mass #1 Kyrie
Mass #1 Sanctus
Score

Erika's family attended the performance.

Applebaum Variation Performance

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:26:00 +0000

As a follow up to a previous post, sfSound performed my Applebaum Variation at a concert at Stanford in November. Here is an MP3 of the performance, as well as a reference to my score for the piece.

The performance recording presents several challenges: it is not evident the performers understood the structure of the piece -- specifically the metrical relationships of the phrases. The balance is also a challenge -- in particular, the strings are not audible throughout vs the percussion. Of course there is the issue with the notes themselves. I don't believe an interpretation of the piece was therefore remotely possibe. After hearing a rehearsal the night before I proposed pulling the piece as it was evident sfSound had not practiced the piece (it's not obvious to me that they looked at the score prior to the rehearsal). I was persuaded to not pull the piece. And so, it was a learning experience, and I made sure I was properly sedated for the performance.

Applebaum Variation
Score

Chuck Engine Piece

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 05:30:00 +0000

I'm building out my Chuck toolbox. Recall Chuck is a Strongly-timed, Concurrent, and On-the-fly Audio Programming Language developed by Ge Wang and friends over at Princeton.

I think I may have the necessary tools for the engine fugue I contemplate. I now have a proof of concept for the piece. The building blocks for my fugue include:

- Creation of a metrical framework to allow all parts to highlight and modulate a given meter and phrase rhythm. In the attached example, I use a 'bar' of 2.5 seconds (just modify the 'bar' variable to change the meter). All drones and other sound sources are strict multiples of this bar. Of course the bar may briefly expand or contract, etc., but also by a relationship of this bar.

- Creation of complex metrical drones from concrete sounds. These drones will conform to the bar structure, and will echo or reverb as a multiple of the bar. All drones in this sample come from 'engines', including a lawnmower, hairdryer, hedgetrimmer, mixer, xBox360, and leafblower.

- Warping. This is the term I use to describe an iterative linear transformation of a sound source. In the case of the drones, a typical warp function varies the gain with the radius of a two pole filter. Variations of warping include oscillations, where a given drone will warp(x,y) and then warp(y,x) over a given time interval, T (which will always be a function of the bar length).

- Creation of a new panning class and four-channel (soon eight) sound. This new class allows me to write sophisticated multi-channel output from chuck. This class allows me to 'place' a sound source anywhere in a 'room', and can pan that sound location realtime. In the sample attached, you'll notice my lawnmower drone comes from the back-left and moves to the middle of the room before returning. Later, the mixer drone literally circles the room. Etc.

- And of course, Multi-Channel PanWarp. The concept of warping is applied in panning. Via sporking, the effects of Warping and PanWarping are combined with synchronized time intervals.

- Two Chuck instruments that I modified, including the TubeBells and StifKarp. With the TubeBells, I modify speed and depth as a f(sin(T)). This, in effect, modulates the bell, emphasizing a different sets of overtones. With the StifKarp, I've built 'slide', 'trill', and dynamice 'phrase generation' functions, allowing a linear warp of struck partial-tones between two pitches.

Here are example chuck programs that do 4, 8, 16, & 18 channel sound with panning:

Chuck 4-channel panning example (square)
Chuck 8-channel panning example (rectangle)
Chuck 16-channel panning example (sphere)
Chuck 18-channel panning example (sphere)

Here is the Chuck example program (about 1K lines of code):

Chuck Engine Example
Zip of data files for engine program (put in data/ directory)

Note that unless your machine and soundcard have serious horsepower, you should run the Chuck Engine program from your commandline with the -s option to generate the wave files.

Here are the four channel wave files output from this example:

Front Left
Front Right
Back Right
Back Left

Stereo version (not the same!):

Stereo MP3

Happy Chucking!

Chuck

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 05:51:00 +0000

I've enjoyed learning a new computer music language, Chuck, developed by Ge Wang and friends over at Princeton.

Here are a few of my latest experiments in building out textures with more complex metrical structures. I find the language to be extremely expressive as a metrical language, and plan to develop a piece using the concepts which I explore in these three texture fragments.

Chuck Rhythmic Experiment 1
Chuck Rhythmic Experiment 1 Source

Chuck Arhythmic Experiment 2
Chuck Arhythmic Experiment 2 Source

Chuck Drone Experiment 1
Chuck Drone Experiment 1 Source

Applebaum Variations

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:43:00 +0000

Mark Applebaum (who turned 40 on October 13th, 2007) wrote a "Theme in Search of Variations". As an exercise for his composition seminar, Mark asked each student to compose a variation to this theme. This score and MP3 (poor quality midi) represent my response to his theme.

Applebaum Variation
Score
All parts

As far a structure, I model the variation on his 'second' theme. I borrow one of his compositional techniques in the process, where I build a sequence, alternatively dropping his measures and splicing in a 'second' variation directly within his 'second' theme. If you look carefully, you'll see the second and third bars are the first and second of his second section, followed by two bars of my variation, followed by his bar, etc. The spacing algorithm: 1,2,x,4,x,x,7,x,x,x etc. where x is my new variation.

To build my variation, I used material from Prokofiev's 7th sonata (seemed a nice contrast to the 'grove' feeling of Mark's theme). Yet I have the metrically structure follow the metrical structure of his first section. Eventually we reach the end of Mark's second section, but before the last beat, a parenthesis is inserted with the substantial clarinet section. Of course, here is the first time Mark's bars (1,2,4,7) are played continuously, but only a monophonic line in the Crotales. When the finally beat of Mark's last measure is reached, then we have continuity for an abridged statement of my variation. If you note, the algorithm was broken initially, and so here finally repaired in the final...

SfSound will perform the piece on November 13th. I hope to post a recording of that performance here shortly.

Lander Pass

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 03:55:00 +0000

I built a sketch over the summer for a structure for a new piece that was modeled after a physical structure. The intent was not to produce sound images or something resembling the physical structure, but simply to use the actual structure as a model for building the piece. In this case, I chose a patch quilt. The idea was to use a handful of source materials that are clearly differentiated, and then to transition across patches of this material. Ideally, each patch of material evokes a discernable yet contrasting image of sorts (again not in the physical imitative sense). Use of time provides an alternative perspective of the patches, etc.

I was influenced by traditional Japanese dance. I saw a concert in Tokyo several years ago. It seemed that in the end, the art was not about the meter or even gestures, but rather a series of images that would be framed in your mind. And so, the question is whether this 'structural' plan would work in music. I believe it does.

Here's a link to my own piano performance with improvisation from sketches (no score yet exists -- coming soon):

Lander Pass
Sketch

In the summers, we now live on the Lander Pass route, a short-cut of shorts on the Oregon Trail. It turns out all of my ancestors were pioneers, most of them crossing the Rocky Mountains in the late 1840s. My great-great grandmother, Sarah Matilda Utley, pulled a hand-cart across the mountains at age 13. Several members of her family including her mother died during the crossing. As I continue to borrow from Ives (just finished learning his Thoreau from the Concord Sonata), I decided to drop in a quote of the quintessential Mormon pioneer hymn "Come, Come Ye Saints".

It's just a quote of course, or rather an attribution of sorts. If you end up defining some meaning for each image of the piece, that's just as well, but again this was not by design.

Mass #1: Final Draft

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 04:52:00 +0000

The final draft of my first mass is now complete. Many thanks to Giancarlo, Jonathan, & Greg for their input. I suppose this really isn't a final draft as Steve will be giving me some input in a couple days.

I compose and dedicate this Mass #1 to the memory of Erika Knight Fox. Erika, I remember our argument over religion freshman year. I thought I won at the time. I remember you bouncing down the stairs of Madera when we were moving into our dorm the first day of Freshman orientation. Could you be serious wearing those bright orange pants your first day of school? I certainly remember our times talking about life in the hammock. And I will always cherish our time listening to Faure's Requiem as we ate that silly chocolate covered cherry we got at the Stanford Shopping Center.

The Kyrie and Sanctus will be performed on November 18th, 2007 at Stanford Memorial Church by the Stanford Memorial Church Choir and Organist, Robert Morgan.

Kyrie
Kyrie Score

Gloria I
Gloria I Score

Gloria II
Gloria II Score

Credo I
Credo I Score

Organ Canon
Organ Canon Score

Credo II & Sanctus
Credo II & Sanctus Score

Benedictus
Benedictus Score

Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei Score

Evening in Transylvania: San Jose Chamber Orchestra

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 21:40:00 +0000

I've completed an arrangement of my Bartok variations for the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, who will perform this piece next spring -- May 18th I believe. This arrangement calls for a solo trumpet, a solo violin, 11 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, and a cello bass. I've included individual movements w/ midi, as well as conductor score and trumpet part.

Evening in Transylvania I: Lento Espressivo
Score

Evening in Transylvania II: Allegro Agitato
Score

Evening in Transylvania III: Scherzando
Score

All movements
Trumpet part

Evening in Transylvania I: Chamber Orchestra

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:08:00 +0000

I'm re-orchestrating this octet as the San Jose Chamber Orchestra will perform this piece next Spring. I have a ways to go. Here is the first cut at the first two movements. Arrangement for 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, a cello bass -- and one trumpet.

Evening in Transylvania I: Lento Espressivo
Score

Evening in Transylvania II: Allegro Agitato
Score

Evening in Transylvania III: Scherzando
Score

Mass #1: Agnus Dei & Organ Canon

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 05:53:00 +0000

The first draft of my first mass is now complete. I threw away the previous 'Dona' and wrote the new agnus dei movement from scratch. I also have inserted an organ solo in between the two movements of the Credo, and have rewritten the organ introduction to Credo II.

I need to let it sit for a bit, and then come back and fix the broken sections (for example the transition in the Agnus Dei).

Kyrie
Kyrie Score

Gloria I
Gloria I Score

Gloria II
Gloria II Score

Credo I
Credo I Score

Organ Canon
Organ Canon Score

Credo II & Sanctus
Credo II & Sanctus Score

Benedictus
Benedictus Score

Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei Score

Mass #1: Credo II & Santus

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Tue, 22 May 2007 04:33:00 +0000

Work on my first mass continues. I wrote the latest movements while hanging out with my family in Bellagio (Italy, not Vegas). I was inspired not so much by the view but rather by a barking dog. It seems the world, regardless of where you are, will never quite be silent.

Interestingly, the dog barked a minor third but then, every few iterations, it would reach a quarter-tone or so higher suggesting major third. He remained in d-minor (except for the D-major interludes) throughout the vacation, a convenient fact given the structure of the mass (as laid out in the Kyrie) moves from C# phrygian to D and then to E-Major -- so this movement more or less moves to D-minor.

I've combined the 2nd & 3rd movements of the Credo with the Sanctus. With the Benedictus already complete, I'm moving on to the first movement of the Agnus Dei.

Kyrie
Kyrie Score

Gloria I
Gloria I Score

Gloria II
Gloria II Score

Credo I
Credo I Score

Credo II & Sanctus
Credo II & Sanctus Score

Benedictus
Benedictus Score

Dona
Dona Score

Mass #1: Credo I

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:24:00 +0000

I've completed the first movement of the Credo. Still working on second & third movements of Credo.

Kyrie
Kyrie Score

Gloria I
Gloria I Score

Gloria II
Gloria II Score

Credo I
Credo I Score

Benedictus
Benedictus Score

Dona
Dona Score

Stanford Memorial Church Choir and Organ Performance

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 18:52:00 +0000

Greg Wait graciously agreed to perform my chorale #4 on April 22nd. The recording is not exceptional, but I'm greatful for it anyway. I also include Robert Huw Morgan's performance of two pieces in the same service.

I've included the revised score of the chorale #4. We found that sustained high Gs for the sopranos was not a good idea. Greg conducted the piece in 4/8 throughout; of course the rhythm is 3:2:3, etc. As always, a few more rehearsals would have helped (including mode switch in bass/tenor @ m 16 -- b-flat minor). But I thought our choir was exceptional, and I was thrilled to hear this work performed.

In retrospect, I've realized that I remain too harmonic (vertical), and I need to think more about voice leading, as well as allowing more liberties in the hyper meter, as well as phrase alignment with the meter, etc. I'm beginning to believe it not possible to write for choir unless you sing in one and participate in the performance of your own works.

Chorale #4
Chorale #4 final score

Robert Huw Morgan

Carillon by Herbert Murrill (1909 - 1952)
Grand Choeur Dialogue by Eugene Gigout (1844 - 1925)

Mass #1: Benedictus

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 04:50:00 +0000

Newest addition: Benedictus. Still working on Credo...

Kyrie
Kyrie Score

Gloria I
Gloria I Score

Gloria II
Gloria II Score

Benedictus
Benedictus Score

Dona
Dona Score

Mass #1: Gloria II

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 01:29:00 +0000

Newest addition: Gloria II. Credo sketch exists. It will be a while.

Kyrie
Kyrie Score

Gloria I
Gloria I Score

Gloria II
Gloria II Score

Dona
Dona Score

Mass #1: Gloria I

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 00:23:00 +0000

Newest addition: Gloria I. Gloria II under construction.

Kyrie
Kyrie Score

Gloria I
Gloria I Score

Dona
Dona Score

Mass #1: Dona

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:02:00 +0000

Still working on the mass. Bringing together some past material as well. I've now revised the Kyrie and contemplate the following Dona to close the Mass.

Kyrie
Kyrie Score

Dona
Dona Score

Mass #1: Kyrie

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 03:33:00 +0000

Not many posts recently as I focused most of my time preparing for my piano recital. I neglected to record the recital, but hope to go back and record some of the material. I was happy with the recital (on my 40th birthday, 3/11/2007), particularly my performances of Debussy, Ives, and my own works.

I've started a new project: a mass. I'm not catholic. I was raised LDS in Utah, and currently sing with my wife in Greg Wait's Memorial Church Choir at Stanford. The Memorial Church is non-denominational, but more Christian than otherwise. Greg has decided to perform my Chorale #3/Prelude #4 on April 22nd at the Church. I went back and rewrote this piece when I realized that the voice leading was so choppy -- the first time I confronted the fact that I'm a pianist and not a chorist.

Giancarlo sat down with me a couple weeks ago and explained the catholic liturgy, from Christmas through Christmas. I confess the liturgy has little meaning for me. But I respect the tradition, and don't yet feel comfortable with chorale music to push the scope too much.

I've spent a fair amount of time studying a few masses by Palestrina, including a four part Missa Sine Nomine (do - ma re, do re ma fa so le sa...). I'm also looking at Bach's Mass in B minor and Stravinsky's Mass for mixed chorus and double wind quintet. I recently studied Purcell's Dido and Aeneas -- I'm becoming more attached to prolonged suspensions and anticipations. The approaches to chromatic harmony in the early baroque seem compelling. Yes, this is all old school. But there is so much to learn and so why not. On the piano, I'm learning some Mendelssohn (op 30 no 5 & 6), and have moved on to the final movement of the Concord Sonata by Ives, Thoreau. I suppose whatever you are studying sinks in and ultimately influences what you write, not to mention other music you know.

I built the Kyrie largely on Phrygian C#, but freely move around, including C# minor etc. My goal was to use imitation throughout, with a defined but interrupted progression that never completes the phyrigian cadence until the final bar.

On the topic of old vs new, a few weeks ago I attended a lecture by the composer Christian Wolff. I found Mr. Wolff to be both brilliant & kind. I enjoyed the talk very much. I asked him why he, Cowell, & Cage found it so important to turn their back on the past and strive for the new unique sound. He said he wasn't sure, but it seemed important at the time. I believe him. But I wonder whether this compositional ethos ('must create the new sound'), which represents an important period of music and which I refer to as experimentalism, no longer drives the mainstream of new compositional thought.

For me, the challenge with experimentalism isn't so much the art and ethos, but rather our ability to comprehend this music. It has become so utterly detached from the 'human' side of the equation. Ironically, with the desire to not-conform, the experimentalists' collective and uniform extreme reaction to tradition has created the greatest period of conformity in music since Palestrina. So, perhaps a better term than experimentalist would be reactionist: as a group they are one.

I don't insist tonality must return as a musical language. But I accept that tonality worked -- we could comprehend. Give me something new and different, yet let me comprehend it -- allow my brain, with reasonable training, to pattern match. Moreover, let me want to listen again to learn more. I don't buy the arguments that we are so brainwashed by tonality that we can't possibly comprehend the new, the unique. We are products of our history and we simply can't ignore this. Tonality developed and evolved over several centuries. It wasn't an accident. Two of my favorite composers, Debussy and Ives, believed that in future generations children would whistle semi-tones, etc. It has not yet happened -- in fact, children today have less musical training, less 'sophisticated' ears than past generations.

Let me quote from a disciple of the famous musicologist Schenker, Felix Salzer, from his Structural Hearing, Chapter 1, pg 7:

"It is equally imperative that we be at all times receptive and responsive to the new, and I think we are now on the whole more open-minded than other periods have been. However, the tendency which we often observe to discuss modern compositions in vague generalities is not only unjust to contemporary composers, but is very detrimental to our attempts to meet the crisis. In the appraisal of new works, just as in the analysis of older compositions, there is an unfortunate tendency to be satisfied with vague categorizations according to such superficial stylistic criteria as "new-classic,", "neo-romatic," "linear," etc., or to describe their outer, visible appearance, so to speak, in terms of external aesthetic values. These terms, while having a definite place in the field of music criticism, hardly ever touch upon the actual musical utterance. Often terms such as "original," or "bold" or "interesting" are profusely used but do not succeed in covering up what is lacking either in the music itself or in the listener's understanding.

"Furthermore, it seems as though some musicians are so deadly afraid of "missing" a talent that they think it safer to praise most new compositions, thus demonstrating an appalling lack of judgment and discrimination. This curious attitude has indeed become a veritable obsession with all too many musicians, critics and teachers. Whether we are prejudiced and condemn or neglect works simply because they are new and sound unusual or for other narrow-minded reasons, or whether we go to the other extreme and lose our sense of judgment merely because the work is new and we are afraid to be blamed for not having recognized a talent -- both attitudes seem to me equally detrimental to the development of music. Either will delay more than promote the process of finding a definite language of musical expression."

While I deeply respect Schenker & Salzer's work, I don't believe music can so readily be explained with a single model, etc. I do find Salzer's above argument, however, not only to be compelling but also as relevant today as when he wrote it fifty years ago. It isn't to say that the experimental period of music was not necessary and or not important. I can't look at images of 1917 and 1945 without a profound desire to react to whatever culture created these abominations. I recently attended a concert where Anthony de Mare performed John Cage's The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs (1942), Nowth upon Nacht (1984), A Room (1943), Tossed as It Is Untroubled (1943) as well as Henry Cowell's The Banshee (1925) and Advertisement (1914) among other works. "A Room" was neither neo-classical, nor neo-romantic, nor linear. The texture and timbre which this piece creates on the piano are more than unique, in fact they are beautiful.

My four nocturnes were a reaction to the 'new art'; they were an attempt to embrace intrinsic human desires such as singing, dancing, pro-creating. Perhaps I don't grasp the artistic movements of our generation and I don't belong. Our existence seems so transient, hardened by technology, and alienated by the very mobility we seem to cherish so much. The proliferation of connectivity and information has created a wide-scale crisis of identity, and a resultant desire to demonstrate the unique. A humanistic (yes I've abused the definition here a bit) movement in music, by contrast, would represent the very anti-thesis of these trends. A humanistic movement would perhaps be the appropriate response to the post-modern era.

It seems appropriate, therefore, that music be allowed, once again, to look forward and backward, and most of all to be human. My three-year-old daughter loves to sing and dance. She is not the victim of brainwashing. She is human, all too human.

And so, in order to embrace the future I return to my study of the past. I will write a Mass. I don't care whether I create a new sound, defy the past, or embrace the past. I simply want to write a chorale work that includes the organ.

Kyrie
Kyrie Score

Schumann Fantasy in C Op 17

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:38:00 +0000

I finished a paper on Schumann's Fantasy in C. I'll be performing this piece at my recital, which strangely enough I've scheduled for the afternoon of March 11, forty years after the day of my birth.

I don't think I could have written this paper without having studied the piece in a performance capacity for the past year or so. I also don't think the insight would have been nearly as developed if not for the support of my advisor, Dr. Berger. The book by Nicholas Marston was extremely valuable, as was the biography of Schumann by Daverio.

I intend to record all three movements of the Fantasy over the coming weeks. Ultimately, my interpretation of the piece will be more representative of my views on the work rather than this paper.

Earth's Many Colored Dream: Schumann Fantasy in C Op 17

Briefly, I propose a new model of perceptual analysis to suggest that in fact an intuitive structure and form exists in the first movement.

Chorale #3

noreply@blogger.com (Riding East) — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:12:00 +0000

I've finished setting the text for Chorale #3 (otherwise known as prelude #4).

I wrote the chorale a year ago after my grandmother Evelyn visited memchu to attend service and hear us sing. We sang All Creatures that morning. To remember this day and her, I came home that afternoon and wrote this piece. Unfortunately she passed away a few months later; my mother played this chorale at her funeral.

While I've written a lot since this time, and my style has evolved to perhaps challenge tonality moreso, I still enjoy the simple pieces. Technically this is my fourth prelude, but my third chorale, so the name is a little misleading.

When I set the text to this piece (and I advise all to start with text not music!), I of course took the original St. Francis text "The Canticle of Brother Sun". I find he emphasizes Lord throughout, not to offend our modern people, but rather to perhaps offset his praise of 'sister earth, moon, brother sun, etc.'.

I couldn't help but think of Vera during the final stanzas, and so decided to expand the dedication to include her.

Modulations and rhythm require some care, but I think the voice leading is largely straightforward.

Greg Wait has offered to have our memorial church choir sing this work in a future performance.

Chorale #3
Score