Topic: Henning's Headquarters

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Here's a funny thing:  I worked on those two passages — mm.141-157 / mm. 158-169 — completely apart (though in order);  and the material from the first passage comes from "the new stuff" (this week), while the second passage is based on the cello line at [ C ] (p.7), and thus quite "old" material.  So while I was working yesterday, mentally I was thinking of all the "contrasts" between them . . . yet to my ears, the two passages are perfectly organically connected.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Quick footnote task:  arranged the Sanctus for tuba quartet.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

And hey!  My Wooster classmate likes the cl/pf adaptation of just what everyone was expecting!  So we shall play it at the reunion in June.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Another 40 seconds' progress:

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[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Probably it would not do any harm to the piece if I back the tempo down a bit at m. 170.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

In fact, I am absolutely certain that's what I want to do . . . .

[jochanaan]

Probably it would not do any harm to the piece if I back the tempo down a bit at m. 170.

And might that make it easier and more gratifying to play?

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Mais, bien sûr que oui!

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Probably it would not do any harm to the piece if I back the tempo down a bit at m. 170.

Yes, altering that to Poco più mosso and the quarter-note to 88, and it is (in my admittedly partial view) perfect.

[Cato]

Yes, altering that to Poco più mosso and the quarter-note to 88, and it is (in my admittedly partial view) perfect.

The orchestration of the piece keeps the ear guessing and guessing with delight.  The music dances and twirbles with the colors of a swirling bowl of Easter-egg dye!

And are we discreetly listening to the erasures themselves, or to what was left after the erasing?     I suspect the former, but it could be a mixture of  both!

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Let the twirbling go on!

Present state of the Erasures:

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[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Okay, today so far I have folded in Phases I & II of my notes from yesterday, and am very pleased with the result.  This evening is for rolling up the sleeves for Phase III, which I am content to run its course into tomorrow as needed — and I think the Discreet Erasures may be completed before sundown tomorrow!

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Okay, today so far I have folded in Phases I & II of my notes from yesterday, and am very pleased with the result.  This evening is for rolling up the sleeves for Phase III, which I am content to run its course into tomorrow as needed — and I think the Discreet Erasures may be completed before sundown tomorrow!

I was too cautious:  I think the piece is now done!  But the PDF file is too large to attach . . . will find a solution to that tomorrow.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

In the cold light of morning (and it is a cold morning) I still like it!  I do think 'tis done.  I am making some very minor typographic tweaks to the score.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

And here she is!

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

I've sent the Discreet Erasures to a conductor in the area, Yoichi Udagawa, who when he was director of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra had me write them a piece.  (I am not at all sanguine that the Erasures will suit a group that he is currently leading, but I wanted to refresh the contact.)  That done, I realize that I only have an old Finale file of the piece I had written for Quincy, The Wind, the Sky, & the Wheeling Stars, Op.46 . . . and that I have meant to produce a refreshed edition in Sibelius . . . .

[Cato]

I've sent the Discreet Erasures to a conductor in the area, Yoichi Udagawa, who when he was director of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra had me write them a piece.  (I am not at all sanguine that the Erasures will suit a group that he is currently leading, but I wanted to refresh the contact.)

Karl's work here is another great example of continuous variation: if you can handle an orchestral score, note some of the subtle touches, e.g. compare the swirling woodwinds at bar 46 ff. with a later echo at bar 221 ff.  or the polyphonic conversation at bar 54 ff. with a later one at bar 189 ff.

Any conductor not accepting the work needs to be conducted off the podium! 

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

A fellow Boston composer just humbled me with a rave response to the Erasures.

After church, I've spent most of the day working on the revision / Sibelius edition of The Wind, the Sky, & the Wheeling Stars.  It is altogether a homier piece than the Erasures, but I am finding that I still like very well.  I never did get a document of the first (and thus far, only, natch) performance. That performance was a little rough, but in abject candor, there were some bits which I notated unnecessarily difficult — hence the "new edition" aspect of this task . . . I originally wrote the piece 15-16 years ago, and, well, I have learnt a good deal in the interval.  Plus this was the first orchestral score I had to deliver to a conductor, so of course I committed my share of errors.  (The conductor wanted distance while he was rehearsing, so I was not in the hall with the band until the dress rehearsal;  so circumstances did not permit my "educating through" those errors into perfection.)

Anyway, I am not quite half finished with the present edition;  I am easily emending the things which wanted adjustment, and, modest though the piece be, I find it good for what it is.

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[k a rl h e nn i ng]

My first-year Music Theory teacher (and Music Director of the Wooster Chorus), Jack Russell is organist at an Episcopal parish not far from "my" church in Danvers.  I think it is time I paid a visit . . . .

[Szykneij]

I've sent the Discreet Erasures to a conductor in the area, Yoichi Udagawa, who when he was director of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra had me write them a piece. 

I go pretty regularly to the Melrose Symphony concerts. Fantastic conductor and very engaging personality.