Henning's Headquarters

[Karl Henning]

It won't surprise you that that ending perfect fifth was a tuning challenge!  But as you hear, my friends mastered it.

[Karl Henning]

I have listened to it twice with the score: it is a most excellent musical adventure!   Quickly: as I knew, the Flutterzunge idea for the execution scene (Letter S bar 241) was perfect, and the ending (bars 362 ff.)!  Also perfect: note the exact "B" intonation in the Soprano and the Soprano Recorder.  Marvelous moment!

I need to update the score to reflect two minor alterations:

p. 6, mm. 48 & 49:  since this actually does fall back into 3/8, I'm going to mark it in tempo, and "correct" the bass flute notation so that it matches both the meter and the tenor recorder . . . that was an unnecessary bit of confusion for the bass flute when we rehearsed it, at first.

p. 26, mm. 255 & 256:  this was a suggestion from Bobbie's voice coach when she brought the piece in to her lesson.  At first Bobbie sang it (as marked) in strict time, and her coach (thinking of the text) asked, "Wait . . . did the maiden just kill him?  Why rush that musical moment?"  So (and especially since the accompaniment is a sustained chord) we leave those two measures at the will of the singer, and start the Tempo giusto at m.257.

[Karl Henning]

This is the score of the cl/hn duos as originally composed, but my better-experienced eye does see various snares I managed to lay unto the hornist's feet, and that is particularly unfair considering that the idea was to write for young players.  So this occasion of reading them together with Pam prompts me to consider some modifications (or ossia passages?)

[Cato]

I need to update the score to reflect two minor alterations:

p. 6, mm. 48 & 49:  since this actually does fall back into 3/8, I'm going to mark it in tempo, and "correct" the bass flute notation so that it matches both the meter and the tenor recorder . . . that was an unnecessary bit of confusion for the bass flute when we rehearsed it, at first.

p. 26, mm. 255 & 256:  this was a suggestion from Bobbie's voice coach when she brought the piece in to her lesson.  At first Bobbie sang it (as marked) in strict time, and her coach (thinking of the text) asked, "Wait . . . did the maiden just kill him?  Why rush that musical moment?"  So (and especially since the accompaniment is a sustained chord) we leave those two measures at the will of the singer, and start the Tempo giusto at m.257.

I slow things down while listening mentally, and therefore I always have a "Celibidachean" impression of a score that I read through before hearing it for the first time.  It also struck me that a longer pause or slower tempo  (keeping in mind the limits of the lungs of the players: in my head wind instruments can easily become full of infinite wind!     ) might be considered.

And I note my mistyping: Flatterzunge!   

[Karl Henning]

There will be two 9^th Ear concerts in March, or one 9^th Ear concert, and one-quarter of a second concert which will have a 9^th Ear component.  So firstly, thinking of going back into the Pit for 19 March.  Secondly, I am starting to think of a quartet for clarinet, two guitars and double-bass, Things Like Bliss (title courtesy of Mandryka).

[Karl Henning]

In spite of a few "key absentees," and of the fact that most of those of us who did come to sing were a bit on the tired side, we got a great deal of work done at my church choir's rehearsal last night.

[Karl Henning]

Made a start

Well, I have at last printed out the full text of the scene . . . time to scribble memoranda through the libretto . . . .

[Karl Henning]

. . .  Secondly, I am starting to think of a quartet for clarinet, two guitars and double-bass, Things Like Bliss (title courtesy of Mandryka).

Started sketching this on the bus this morning.  This feels like it may be a rapidly written jeu d'esprit.

[Karl Henning]

A good start, I think.

[Karl Henning]

Improved Op.65

[Karl Henning]

Carol Epple (flutist for the Op.129) is keener than ever to press for a Kammerwerke commission and performance of The Young Lady Holding a Phone in Her Teeth. (She was practicing the flute 1 part, and told me one section in particular is "gorgeous.") They will read it in their rehearsal this Friday. I had asked if it would be of help to them, if I attend;  the feeling, though, is that the conductor's musical conservatism may be an object, and managing that will be easier without me there. A distinct possibility: if their conductor feels he could not conduct my score, they will suggest having the composer guest-conduct.

Carol writes that response was generally positive (often very much so), and that we will go forward with the piece.

[Karl Henning]

Okay, the new edition of the Op.129

[Karl Henning]

Re-post & refresh:

Variations on Wie lieblich est, S.10 (oboe & organ)

Time Was, Op.4 (pf solo)
№ 1: Prelude (Charlottesville)
№ 2: Dance (Barefoot Amid Dandelions)
№ 3: The Myth of Motion II:  Toccatina (on the Ekaterininsky Canal)

Pictures Only I Can See, Op.11 (pf solo)
№ 1: Spring in Her Step
№ 2: The Bronze Girl's Spilt Milk
№ 3: The Myth of Motion I:  Chorale
№ 4: The Sleep-Pavane at the Foot of Frozen Niagara
№ 5: Petersburg Nocturne || MIDI on YT

Little Towns, Low Countries, Op.18 (pf solo)
№ 1: Invention (Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester)
№ 2: Aubade (Lake Canandaigua)
№ 3: Gigue (Glasgow Street, Cornhill)

Night of the Weeping Crocodiles, Op.16 (cl/vn/pf)

Night of the Weeping Crocodiles, Op.16a (cl/pf/prc)

To Melt From a Distance, Op.21 (pf solo)

Gaze Transfixt, Op.23 (pf solo)

Lutosławski's Lullaby, Op.25 (pf solo)

Fancy on Psalm 80 from the Scottish Psalter, Op.34 № 3, performed by Carson Cooman, on YouTube.

O Beauteous Heavenly Light, Op.34 № 2, performed by Carson Cooman, on YouTube.

Journey to the Dayspring, Op.40 on YouTube

'Tis Winter Now (Danby), Op.45a (mezzo-soprano, flute & organ) at Amazon

Initiation of Barefoot on the Crowded Road, the former Op.41 (now the Discreet Erasures, Op.99, below)

Danse antique, Op.44

The original Born on Earth to Save Us, Op.52 for Bill Goodwin.

Born on Earth to Save Us, Op.52a for HTUMC.

Joseph and Mary, Op.53a for HTUMC.

Score of The Wind, the Sky, & the Wheeling Stars, Part I

Score of The Wind, the Sky, & the Wheeling Stars, Part II

Counting Sheep (or, The Dreamy Abacus of Don Quijote), Op.58a for Pierrot-plus ensemble [ score, part I ].

Counting Sheep (or, The Dreamy Abacus of Don Quijote), Op.58a for Pierrot-plus ensemble [ score, part II ].

I Look From Afar, Op.60 for choir, brass quintet, organ & optional timpani

Blue Shamrock, Op.63 for clarinet unaccompanied, at Amazon.

Three Things That Begin With "C", Op.65, clarinet & horn :: Original | Revised

Sweetest Ancient Cradle Song, Op.67 for choir, brass quintet, organ & optional timpani 1^st half | 2^nd half

Sweetest Ancient Cradle Song, Op.67 for choir, brass quintet, organ & optional timpani ::  Choral Score 1^st half | 2^nd half

Timbrel and Dance, Op.73 [ St Paul's choir plus ].

Scene 1 from White Nights, Op.75 № 2

Scene 2 from White Nights, Op.75 № 3

Scene 3a from White Nights, Op.75 № 4

Intermezzo I from White Nights, Op.75 № 6

Intermezzo I from White Nights, Op.75 № 6, arr. for saxophone choir

Scene 4 from White Nights, Op.75 № 7

Scene 5 from White Nights, Op.75 № 8

Before-&-after, Finale-VS.-Sibelius exhibits from the Op.75 № 8| A | B | C | D

Scene 7 from White Nights, Op.75 № 10

Canzona, Op.77a № 1 (org solo)

Gigue, Op.77a № 2 (org solo)

26 February De profundis, Op.78 [ Jaya Lakshminarayan & friends ]

Mirage, Op.79a (alto fl, cl, pf)

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, Op.80 carol for choir, brass quintet, organ & timpani

Moonrise, Op.84 for brass quintet. And MIDI

Moonrise, Op.84a for flute choir in six parts. And MIDI

15 March Passion rehearsal A [ Sine Nomine ]

15 March Passion rehearsal B [ Sine Nomine ]

15 March Passion rehearsal C [ Sine Nomine ]

Conclusion of the 19 Mar 2010 performance by Sine Nomine of the St John Passion, Op.92:

http://www.youtube.com/v/8netMuAHFkI

12 May recital [ k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble (Bloom/Henning/Cienniwa) ]

18 May recital [ Bloom/Henning ]

23 May pre-concert rehearsal [ Sine Nomine ]

22 June recital [ N. Chamberlain/B. Chamberlain/Henning ]

Love is the spirit of this church, Op.85 № 3

Nicodemus brings myrrh and aloes for the burial of the Christ, Op.85 № 4 for cello & piano | Recording on SoundCloud

For God so loved the world, after Op.87 № 9 {Would you like the Doxology with that?} Yes | No | Recording on SoundCloud

The Passion According to St John, Op.92 (on MediaFire, courtesy of Johan)

Lutosawski’s Lullaby, Op.96a № 1 (string quartet)

Marginalia, Op.96a № 2 (string quartet)

Après-lullaby, Op.96a № 3 (string quartet)

Score of Fair Warning [Viola Sonata, mvt 1]

MIDI of Fair Warning [Viola Sonata, mvt 1]

Score of Suspension Bridge (In Dave's Shed) [Viola Sonata, mvt 2]

MIDI of Suspension Bridge (In Dave's Shed) [Viola Sonata, mvt 2]

Score of Tango in Boston (Dances with Shades) [Viola Sonata, mvt 3]

MIDI of Tango in Boston (Dances with Shades) [Viola Sonata, mvt 3]

Cato's analysis of the Viola Sonata

Johan's MediaFire folder, including the whole of Dana's première performance of the Viola Sonata

Discreet Erasures, Op.99 for orchestra

Angular Whimsies, Op.100a (bass clarinet, percussion [two players] & piano)

Whimsy brevis, Op.100b (bass flute & piano)

http://www.youtube.com/v/OAp3w15ISl4

How to Tell (Chasing the Tail of Nothing), Op.103 (alto flute, clarinet & frame drum); 7 June 2014 performance

These Unlikely Events, Op.104 № 4

These Unlikely Events, Op.104 № 5

Kyrie, Op.106 № 1

Gloria, Op.106 № 2 :: work-in-progress, March 2015

Credo, Op.106 № 3

Sanctus, Op.106 № 4

(The Sanctus, arranged for tuba quartet)

Agnus Dei, Op.106 № 5 || Première by Triad

Brothers, If They Only Knew It, saxophone quartet (after Op.106 № 5)

In the Artist's Studio, Op.107, for 17 winds & harp

Organ Sonata, Op.108
Mvt 1: Eritis sicut Deus
Mvt 2: . . . scientes bonum . . .
Mvt 3: . . . et malum

Thoreau in Concord Jail, Op.109 for clarinet solo

http://www.youtube.com/v/OnLYQ748aEg

Airy Distillates, Op.110 for flute solo

Annabel Lee, Op.111 for vocal quartet

http://www.youtube.com/v/tN3aMOrzEb8

Misapprehension, Op.112 for clarinet choir

Misapprehension, Op.112a for strings

The Mystic Trumpeter, Op.113 № 1 for soprano & clarinet

Après-mystère, Op.113 № 2 for flute & clarinet And MIDI

http://www.youtube.com/v/7RhH161HhlA

just what everyone was expecting, Op.114 № 1 for clarinet & marimba

(very nearly) what everyone was expecting, Op.114 № 5 for bass clarinet & marimba

just what everyone was expecting, Op.114a for clarinet, mandocello & double bass

My Island Home, Op.115 for percussion ensemble

http://www.youtube.com/v/hlh61D6COvU

Plotting (y is the new x), Op.116 for violin & harpsichord

http://www.youtube.com/v/2vKGfppo0o8

Jazz for Nostalgic Squirrels, Op.117 (fl, cl in A, gtr & cb) [ and at Soundcloud ]

When the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy, Op.118 № 1 (shakuhachi, drum & handbell choir)

http://www.youtube.com/v/79tPHWpH3UI

Divinum mysterium, Op.118 № 2 (choir unison & handbells)

http://www.youtube.com/v/MPr7NhE2-Bs

Easter Stikheron, Op.118 № 3 (choir SATB & handbells)

Welcome, Happy Morning!, Op.118 № 4 (handbells)

My Lord, What a Morning, Op.118 № 5 (choir & handbells)

http://www.youtube.com/v/AJzV-RxXiIk

Hymtunes Moscow & Te Deum, Op.118 № 6 (handbells)

Musette, Op.118 № 7 (handbells)

Psalm 130, Op.118 № 8 [ I think ] (clarinet & bass voice) [work-in-progress]

The Crystalline Ship, Op.119 № 1 (mezzo-soprano & baritone saxophone)

I Saw People Walking Around Like Trees, Op.120 (flute, clarinet, double-bass & frame drum)

http://www.youtube.com/v/E0_-CTvtSS8

... illa existimans quia hortulanus esset ...., Op.121 (vc/pf)

Le tombeau de W.A.G., Op.122a (flute, clarinet, double-bass & frame drum) Audio

A Song of Remembrance, Op.123 (mixed chorus SAB & pf)

http://www.youtube.com/v/kYWAm11MX4s

The Mysterious Fruit, Op.124 (mezzo-soprano & marimba)

The Mysterious Fruit, Op.124a (mezzo-soprano & pf)

Tiny Wild Avocadoes, Op.125 (2 vn/va)
№ 1 "Children's Song"
№ 2 "Autumn Leaves (Wind Effect)"
№ 3 "Scampering Squirrels"
№ 4 "Pond at Twilight"
№ 5 "The Gnomes (Paul's Garden)"
№ 6 "Cheerful Song on the Wing"
№ 7 "The Avocado in Winter"

In the shadow of the kindly Star, Op.126 № 1 (violin solo and handbell choir)

I Want Jesus to Walk With Me, Op.126 № 2 (choir SATB unaccompanied)

Variations on a Basque Carol, Op.126 № 3 (clarinet unaccompanied)

Beach Balls (Red) , Op.125 № 5 (org solo)

Pat-A-Pan, Op.126 № 6 (handbell choir)

Little Suite, Op.127 (vc & pf)
№ 1 "Summer Song"
№ 2 "Valentine"
№ 3 "Sparrows Hopping on the Wet Sidewalk" || MIDI on YT

Notebook for Elaina & Anna, Op.128 № 1 "Out for a Walk" (fl/a sx)

From the Pit of a Cave in the Cloud, Op.129, soprano & chamber group

http://www.youtube.com/v/H1GX6gAmom8

The Young Lady Holding a Phone in Her Teeth, Op.130 {work-in-progress}

Visions fugitives de nouveau, Op.131 (pf solo)
№ 1: One Leaf
№ 2: Versuch eines Milonga
№ 3: Beneath the Clear Sky
№ 4: That Tickles!
№ 5: Stephen Goes to California
№ 6: Kay's Blue Crabs
№ 7: Questionable Insistence
№ 8: Morning Prayer
№ 9: Bunny Keeping Still
№ 10: Gamboling Squirrels
№ 11: The Street Musician
№ 12: The Shade of an Oak
№ 13: "Could you change one more thing?"
№ 14: Waiting
№ 15: Bicycling in Boston Common
№ 16: Mist on the Harbor
№ 17: Peter Moves to Montréal
№ 18: Seeing a Long-Since-Cancelled Stamp
№ 19: ... but his mind is elsewhere
№ 20: Starless Summer Night || MIDI on YT

Neither do I condemn thee, Op.132 for flute duet

A whimsical Canon:

http://www.youtube.com/v/B6xeqrcavUQ

Saltmarsh Stomp, Op.134 for clarinet choir in 15 parts

http://www.youtube.com/v/7DCc2sD2KAk

Ear Buds (The dream of a young man in the woods, listening), Op.135 for young symphonic band

Darkest Doings, Op.136 {work-in-progress}

http://www.youtube.com/v/ZSMo90L5xJA

8 Oct 2013 recital at King's Chapel

Henningmusick at ReverbNation.

Henningmusick at Instant Encore.

About an hour's worth of Henningmusick, too, at SoundCloud

The 9^th Ear at SoundCloud.

And: Maria appears on the evening news in DC.

Maria's harpsichord

[Karl Henning]

Improved Op.65

A Facebook acquaintance (clarinetist), to whom I had sent both the old version (back in January) and now the new, sent the revised horn part on to her friend, and reports that he enjoyed playing it very much . . . so they will perform the set of three, sometime.

[Cato]

Some of my readers have responded to me after seeing the performance of
From the Pit of a Cave in the Cloud: 

Wow!  Really powerful work!  You were right about the flutter-tongue section: fits perfectly!  I just hope ISIS and Boko Haram's knowledge of English is poor enough that they don't hunt you down!

No worries about that!   0:)

I listened to Karl Henning's You Tube video From the Pit of the Cave in the Cloud. Most impressive!  I then reread the words that you composed on the actual sheets of music.  The words were powerful the first time that I read them, but listening to the video brought a stronger response for sure.  You can definitely feel the turmoil and struggle.  You can be proud of your part in this piece!  It must feel gratifying to see your name listed at the top of the music!  Congratulations!

It is interesting to note that the image of a pit reminded me of a big part of my cancer journey...the music expressed the anger and fear I felt back then, and your text has a taste of the despair I felt too.

[Karl Henning]

When (in order to give the instrumentalists and idea of what they were in for) I sent 'round the first half of the score, Peter did remark on whether performing this work might land us on a "no-fly" list ....

[Karl Henning]

Very good rehearsal of Nuhro last night, even though we were missing half or almost half of each the soprano and bass sections.  I am especially pleased that Thomas is conducting it at the more relaxed tempo of the score (as distinct from the just-a-little-rushed pace of the St Paul's performances).

The piece which I am conducting is still a work-in-progress, since we had only read it once, and then I was absent from two rehearsals thanks to the wicked cold which laid me low.  It is for three-part treble chorus and piano (augmented by an alto xylophone on the pulsating G) . . . so the absentees further complicated our efforts last night.  But we did make our way from start to finish, and the singers now have some experiential basis for preparation this week;  the piece will certainly be a smash at the concert, and I think even next rehearsal will be sufficiently strong to inspire confidence.

[Karl Henning]

Program notes adapted from a blog post (itself, it may well be, an adaptation of a post here):

When Mark T. Engelhardt served as Director of Music at Boston's Cathedral Church of St Paul on Tremont Street, he invited me to provide Henningmusick for a Choral Evensong at the Cathedral (Nov 2003).  Nuhro was one of the pieces I composed for this occasion.  It was something of an unconventional substitution, in part because Nuhro (the Hymn of Light) is part of the Morning Prayer Liturgy in the Maronite tradition.  But I always found it an exceptionally beautiful prayer text, and I suggested substituting this for the Phos Hilaron (O Gracious Light) which is traditional to the Western Evening Prayer service.

The piece's broad pace owes much to my ears' immersion, when I was in St Petersburg, in Russian Orthodox Liturgical music.  There is also a debt to a conversation with a violist.

The Kronos string quartet played a concert in Tallinn while I was there, and of course, I had the nerve to go backstage afterwards and introduce myself to them.  This was the time of the first crest of the "World Music" rage-wave, and violist John Sherba, with only a hint of well-earned annoyance, gave me to understand that in perhaps 67% of the scores which were sent to them, there would be a drone;  and that roughly 115% of these would assign the drone to the viola.  So that reading prospective scores was not always a gratifying prospect for the violist.

The lesson I took from this tale of mind-numbing horror was:  yes, drones can be a beautiful, even a powerful musical effect;  but the composer still has responsibilities both to the health and wellness of the performer, and the sonic stimulation of the listener.

As I worked on Nuhro with its drones, pedal-tones (or pedal-intervals), and unhurried tread, I paid close attention to the pacing, I made a point in the unfolding design of varying the textures, and of shifting around the centers of registral gravity.

When at last, I reached the end, and I thought, and reconsidered, and wondered if it really were done, if there really remained nothing which I ought in good musical conscience to adjust or improve, it was August, and my wife asked me if I did not want to go to the beach.  I certainly did.  The final stage of composing Nuhro, of weighing the question whether it really were done, was the composer wading out calmly into the surf, and replaying the nascent piece in his inner ear, and feeling a profound harmony between his outer and interior experiences.

[Karl Henning]

Improved Op.65

Reading these with Pam tonight.

[jochanaan]

Reading these with Pam tonight.

Well?