Klavierstück (2010) and more

[rappy]

Hey,

thanks Luke and Karl!!
The 8va sign ending a note too early is an error, of course. But I'm anway not too convinced by the second section yet. I wanted to resolve the tritones of the first and blur an endless melodic line similiar to the one of the first section into it. But the line I began is absolutely intuitively written, while I used a group of notes for the first section which I transposed 5 times (always a whole step higher). I first switched between the original "note stock" (what's the word - you know what I mean? Tonvorrat in German) - for the upward moves - and the third transposition - downwards. Then the second and fifth and back to original/3.
That allowed me to use a freer method in composing concerning the other parameters.

[rappy]

So here's a draft of a string quartet (first movement). I think a weightier slow movement could most effectively conclude the piece.

What do you think?

[(poco) Sforzando]

So here's a draft of a string quartet (first movement). I think a weightier slow movement could most effectively conclude the piece.

What do you think?

Definitely. Those are some wild quadruple stops. Are you a string player?

[rappy]

I play the violin (if not too well...) and I tried out every note. I even have a viola here at the moment. 
Should be playable (though demanding very good players)!

[Guido]

Blimey - that's going to be an absolute bear to play! No problems as far as I could see with the double stops, though some really unfair registral shifts in the cello part. Nothing impossible however. Do post a recording when you convince a quartet to do it - dying to hear it! And a slow movement is surely the right idea after this explosive phantasmagoria!

[rappy]

Thanks, Guido! Here is a draft of the very beginning of the second movement. I think a little bit more activity would be already too much - at least at the beginning. There is a brief, shy glance at Beethoven op. 111

[(poco) Sforzando]

Thanks, Guido! Here is a draft of the very beginning of the second movement. I think a little bit more activity would be already too much - at least at the beginning. There is a brief, shy glance at Beethoven op. 111

Must be shy indeed. I know 111 backwards, but don't see your glance anywhere so far.

[rappy]

It's just the idea of movement order... (like in Prokofiev #2)

[(poco) Sforzando]

It's just the idea of movement order... (like in Prokofiev #2)

Oh! (which was so obvious I took it for granted already).

I thought you meant some kind of allusion to 111 in your actual texture.

[rappy]

Hm, I simply have no idea what to do with the piano piece of which I uploaded the first draft a while ago. The attachment is already my fourth attempt at working it out, but I am not convinced at all.

The only thing I'm sure about are the first three staves, but I dunno what to make of them... maybe you've got some better ideas than me?

And then, concerning the second movement of my string quartet, my teacher complained that the players hold the notes too long, which is boring. But what can I do without damaging the idea of having a very passive atmosphere with only one note which gradually splits up?

[rappy]

Anyone here who plays the trumpet, trombone or percussion?

I'm not sure about the playability, e. g. the timpani part of movement 1.

!! These are only drafts !!

http://www.cdeclan.de/trio1.pdf
http://www.cdeclan.de/trio2.pdf
http://www.cdeclan.de/trio3.pdf

[Luke]

Playable, I think. Looks very meaty, too! Nice work!

I would suggest that you take a look at the timpani obligato movement (But that night, while on my bed I lay') from Britten's almightily wonderful Nocturne for some similar writing - i.e. pretty continuous semiquavers with pedal transitions sounding as glissandi. The only thing I'd say, and it might be a major point - I'm not a timpanist and can't be sure - is that as far as I remember (I'm not near my copy of the score) Britten doesn't retune one drum whilst playing on another, which is something your part does frequently. I can't see why it shouldn't be possible to do as you've written, but as I say, I'm no timpanist, and Britten is very careful not to do it, so...  IOW -   !!!

For some more fun timpani writing, if you ever get a chance to look at the opening of Ferneyhough's Transit, check it out! Ultra-complex writing for dozens of drums playing in harmonics and calling for virtuoso hands and feet!

[Luke]

PS - finish this one! I would love to hear it! It looks fabulous so far...

[rappy]

Thanks, Luke!! That motivates me to go on writing. I'll try to find the scores you mentioned - I already stole a bit from Carter's timpani pieces.

[Luke]

That Britten piece is just a compendium of great instrumental writing - the horn obligato, which precedes the timpani one, is full of wonderful sounds, for instance, but they never, ever, stray beyond what is natural and necessary and idiomatic and into the realm of superfluous special effects. What is wonderful about Britten here and elsewhere is the way he finds just the perfect musical image, and binds it to his text so that it seems the two were always together. The timpani movement, for instance, sets the Wordsworth text

But that night
When on my bed I lay, I was most mov'd
And felt most deeply in what world I was;
With unextinguish'd taper I kept watch,
Reading at intervals; the fear gone by
Press'd on me almost like a fear to come;
I thought of those September Massacres,
Divided from me by a little month,
And felt and touch'd them, a substantial dread:
The rest was conjured up from tragic fictions,
And mournful Calendars of true history,
Remembrances and dim admonishments.
"The horse is taught his manage, and the wind
Of heaven wheels round and treads in his own steps,
Year follows year, the tide returns again,
Day follows day, all things have second birth;
The earthquake is not satisfied all at once."
And in such way I wrought upon myself,
Until I seem'd to hear a voice that cried
To the whole City, "Sleep no more."

in which Wordsworth describes how he felt to be in Paris at the time of the revolution. Britten sticks remorselessly to his chosen notes, no retuning, until the central section of the poem - 'the rest was conjured up'y - at which point, as Wordsworth fevered nightmarish imagination begins to runs wild, the timpani too lose their firm grip on 'reality' and start to slip into new tonal (and microtonal) worlds. It's a remarkable effect, and one which only the timpani could have achieved, not just because of their specific timbre and volume, but because of this associative quality they have of being fixed remorselessly to their pitches, and the unique sensation when that fixed surety begins to crumble. I wrote an analytical essay on this piece, just for fun, when I was about 13, it inspired me so much (and as i remember it, it was actually quite good!), and another, more complete and much better, a few years back for a planned 'listening group' on the piece, here or on another board, though it never got posted in the end. I wonder where it is...

[Luke]

From the Mystery scores thread - my 106, from years ago, is part of the timpani section of Ferneyhough's Transit I was talking about; funnily enough, in the same batch I posted 108, from Britten's Nocturne, though not from the timpani movement:

[Luke]

The Britten....

this logout thing is getting annoying.... 

[rappy]

Great, Luke! The Ferneyhough looks insane (as usual).

My timpani part got some problems concerning the playability in the second and third movement. I asked a timpani player and his first suggestion was to use a five-part set. Given this, most of it should work. We'll see...

Here's a first finished draft:
http://www.cdeclan.de/trio1.pdf
http://www.cdeclan.de/trio2.pdf
http://www.cdeclan.de/trio3.pdf

AND finally I finished my symphony, which I now call "Sinfonische Fantasie" - do you agree with me this being a better title?
The piece is written in a more traditional "style".

http://www.cdeclan.de/sf.pdf

[rappy]

By the way, how much time does a harp player need to press a pedal? It concerns the short passage on page 38/39.

[rappy]

http://www.dgsp-rheinland-pfalz.de/cello.png

I want a whirring background in this passage, displaying a mass of nervous people. Therefore the quick scales the bass clarinet and cello have to play. I wonder whether this will give an appropriate sound - maybe it's a little bit too hectic for a background layer?