Jess' Compositions

Started by ComposerOfAvantGarde, October 14, 2015, 01:37:37 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

North Star

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

shirime


shirime

I've been listening to it again quite a few times this morning, and I'm very satisfied with how it is at this point in my development and understanding of music. It still feels quite fresh, young and naïve, so feedback would be greatly appreciated on how to 'mature' my style a bit more.

schnittkease

#263
Quote from: shirime on October 12, 2018, 03:58:06 PM
I've been listening to it again quite a few times this morning, and I'm very satisfied with how it is at this point in my development and understanding of music. It still feels quite fresh, young and naïve, so feedback would be greatly appreciated on how to 'mature' my style a bit more.

First off, I am for the most part a musical layman, so take my words with a grain of salt.

Points of interest for me:

  • I really liked the beginning dialogue between the flute and clarinet and the unique textures it created.
  • The fff piano entrance against the accented clarinet and cello in m. 26 really peaked my interest. (I wish you had explored that further!)
  • I thought the start/stop idea explored m. 81 onwards was a nice change of pace.

As for maturity, don't sweat it. This didn't sound naïve to me at all -- that being said, it is tough for me to identify naïvety in this vein of music where composers are so secretive in showing their hand (so to speak). You may want to aim for something similar to what Ferneyhough did 18:30 into his 6th String Quartet; the sudden change of texture is breathtaking. (Though you already did that to an extent in m. 81.)

I am excited to hear what you come up with next!

shirime

Quote from: schnittkease on October 12, 2018, 05:31:39 PM
First off, I am for the most part a musical layman, so take my words with a grain of salt.

Points of interest for me:

  • I really liked the beginning dialogue between the flute and clarinet and the unique textures it created.
  • The fff piano entrance against the accented clarinet and cello in m. 26 really peaked my interest. (I wish you had explored that further!)
  • I thought the start/stop idea explored m. 81 onwards was a nice change of pace.

As for maturity, don't sweat it. This didn't sound naïve to me at all -- that being said, it is tough for me to identify naïvety in this vein of music where composers are so secretive in showing their hand (so to speak). You may want to aim for something similar to what Ferneyhough did 18:30 into his 6th String Quartet; the sudden change of texture is breathtaking. (Though you already did that to an extent in m. 81.)

I am excited to hear what you come up with next!

Thanks for the comments. I'll have another listen to the Ferneyhough. :)

shirime

#265
A few things that have happened recently. For these pieces, I no longer use a computer notation software to 'help' me compose or to hear how it sounds using the playback function. I don't use piano to test chords on. I only use instruments to test extended techniques. Here's what's been going on in the last few months.......................

6th of August: Premiere of a solo clarinet piece called Mit den Augen Kirchners. Performed by the associate principal clarinettist of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and commissioned by the MSO and National Gallery of Victoria for a special event concert that pairs modern music with visiting works of modern art from MoMA, NY.
Achievement unlocked: first successful composition of mine where I engraved it entirely on LilyPond without any audio playback to 'help'.
Achievement unlocked: I now understand clarinet multiphonics
Achievement unlocked: first, and hopefully not the last, commission through the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

16th of September: Premiere of Palimpsest in Hannover, Germany. It's a string quartet, written over the top of the basic structure and has themes derived from the fourth movement of Mozart's string quartet no. 19. Reviews (in German) here and here.
Achievement unlocked: My first international commission and premiere (and I still haven't heard it yet because I wasn't in Germany for the concert, but they will send me a recording).
Achievement unlocked: Described as a 'murderous Australian' (mordlustigen Australien) in German press.
Achievement unlocked: Worked out how to accept money into my bank account from overseas.

18th of September: Premiere of Auditorium for choir back in Melbourne, as part of a student composition concert. I wrote the piece from 12:30am to 2am the morning of the performance, and the cobbled-together choir ran through it twice and then performed it that evening. I also performed a guitar improvisation called Playing Without Memory.
Achievement unlocked: Ink still wet on the page as musicians sight read for a concert the same night it was composed. (to be fair, this was a text score and very much a 'strict, guided improvisation').
Achievement unlocked: I can now improvise a coherent and cohesive composition on guitar and fool my composition teachers into thinking it's a notated composition!  >:D

23rd of September: Premiere of Peripeteia for solo guitar at the Melbourne Guitar Festival, performed by Dan McKay in a recital of recent Australian works for solo guitar. This was actually a piece I wrote back in April.
Achievement unlocked: First solo guitar piece I am actually feeling quite happy with! It's a beast of an instrument, and very difficult to write idiomatically for.
Achievement unlocked: Discussion about a commission from another guitarist whom I greatly admire, by the name of Harold Gretton........more on this to come.....

11th of October: Read-through and workshop of Kōan, written for some really fantastic local musicians who are a new music ensemble together. It's a 'pierrot plus percussion' ensemble and I have to say that this is probably my proudest achievement as a student composer. I have a lot to learn from here, but I think this is a good start in the direction I want to head.
Achievement unlocked: My best composition yet
Achievement unlocked: I can now hear densely contrapuntal, atonal works in my head and notate them exactly how I hear them on the page without having to work out any notes on piano or on the computer. After I composed it, I engraved in LilyPond after without any MIDI playback necessary.

16th of October: This one is a bit of a sad one. My recent piece A Spell Had Touched (for soprano, flute and xylophone) was cancelled for performance because of musicians being ill, transporting a xylophone to the venue being too problematic and ultimately not having enough rehearsal time. I'm hoping to reschedule the premiere for early 2019. In place of this piece, I am performing another guitar improvisation, probably called Playing Without Memory No. 2.
Achievement unlocked: First cancellation of a premiere.

So, after all this, and now that GMG seems to be running properly again and is getting busier, I am back on GMG to contribute some more and take part in discussions. After spending some time in life, forums really catch up on you sometimes!

North Star

Quote from: shirime on October 12, 2018, 02:14:10 PM
Thanks! I hope you enjoyed the piece. :)
I did! Keep up the good work.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

shirime

By the start of November I will have a new electroacoustic piece finished that I can post..........got no clue when I'll start working on it but the due date is coming up! Tonight I'm giving a concert doing a guitar improvisation called Playing Without Memory no. 2 and I'll be wearing black shoes, beige trousers, a button up shirt with a pattern of multicoloured rhombus-shaped 'rings' on a navy blue background, a black jacket and red sunglasses.

shirime

Also, starting work on a new piece for solo guitar (sorry I haven't been around too much lately, house caught fire) for one of the best musicians I've ever had the opportunity to compose for: Harold Gretton. It will probably be about 11 or 12 minutes long, looking at Scriabin sonatas for ideas on how to construct a single movement sonata of that length.

Also I have a piece about 5 minutes in duration for another guitarist friend of mine who will be performing it around Europe when he is over there at some stage later.

And also I've been fascinated with wind symphony/concert band (what's it called?) as an ensemble. There's a call for scores I have come across looking for new works for that ensemble due next year, I might compose something for that

shirime

There's a Wind Symphony nearby who have an annual call for scores! Looks like I'm gonna be composing something to submit to that over the next few months. I'm not too familiar with this repertoire, but I know that there's a great piece by Dai Fujikura I can have a look at. Does anyone know of any contemporary/experimental works for that ensemble worth checking out?

Karl Henning

Quote from: shirime on November 11, 2018, 03:51:16 PM
There's a Wind Symphony nearby who have an annual call for scores! Looks like I'm gonna be composing something to submit to that over the next few months. I'm not too familiar with this repertoire, but I know that there's a great piece by Dai Fujikura I can have a look at. Does anyone know of any contemporary/experimental works for that ensemble worth checking out?

Great!  Good luck!

FWIW, this is my recent effort in that medium:

http://www.youtube.com/v/HAK0BwHRTxM
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

shirime

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on November 11, 2018, 04:07:58 PM
Great!  Good luck!

FWIW, this is my recent effort in that medium:

http://www.youtube.com/v/HAK0BwHRTxM
Thank you, I'll have a listen. :)

shirime

Recording of Palimpsest came through

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/e61u4r63qo0llh3/AADHgtvEHg3BrwhY8yGdm_Qra?dl=0

Honestly, not my best work, but I reckon that's definitely my best opening 45 seconds.  8)

shirime

Actually, it's a good thing this recording came through today because I'm starting work on another piece for string quartet to send off to a call for scores/composer development programme run by Flinders Quartet back in Melbourne. There are many things I've learnt from Palimpsest that I can put towards writing an even better piece.

schnittkease

Haha, that was great! I love the Schnittkesque blend of tonal centers and aggressive dissonance. It does seem odd, however, to end the piece on such a diatonic passage: is this 'light' at the end of a tunnel? Or is the etched off tonal material on your musical palimpsest still visible underneath all the chaos?

shirime

Quote from: schnittkease on December 02, 2018, 10:41:12 AM
Haha, that was great! I love the Schnittkesque blend of tonal centers and aggressive dissonance. It does seem odd, however, to end the piece on such a diatonic passage: is this 'light' at the end of a tunnel? Or is the etched off tonal material on your musical palimpsest still visible underneath all the chaos?

The 'etched off tonal material still visible' was the intention, yes, but 'light at the end of the passage' is also a valid interpretation of course. :) I'm very glad you enjoyed it!

shirime

gaaahhh I am supposed to be working on a guitar sonata for this fella but I can't get started

I think he's amazing goddam what a musician

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88uII0G6tmQ

He's recorded Berio's sequenza so I know he can shred modern stuff really good too

Rons_talking

Quote from: shirime on December 02, 2018, 08:25:29 AM
Recording of Palimpsest came through

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/e61u4r63qo0llh3/AADHgtvEHg3BrwhY8yGdm_Qra?dl=0

Honestly, not my best work, but I reckon that's definitely my best opening 45 seconds.  8)


I like this piece! Be careful not to be self-critical; Tchaikovsky considered his "Dutch Overture " to be his strongest piece. Never heard of it? Me neither. I like what you are doing rhythmically in conjunction with the musical lines. What do you do in terms of "pre-composition"? Are there numerical ratios or patterns...same with pitch and texture???

jess

Hello, dear moderators, is there a way to change the title of this thread to Jess's Compositions? And also perhaps de-activate the 'shirime' account?

jess

Anyway i do just want to mention quickly some updates:

Black Cat Sonata in its very first version was given a premiere at the Melbourne Guitar Festival in September this year and it was certainly fantastic to see! I will be composing two more short movements to this whenever I have time, fleshing the piece out to around 14 minutes I hope.

I also had a commission (I may have mentioned it before? i can't totally remember though) for a piece which I ended up calling Electric Revolution which was written for the theremin player Thorwald Jørgensen and the Acacia String Quartet and that was premiered in the Albury Chamber Music Festival a week ago. I was so so nervous with this piece because I had purposefully written something hard edged, raw and with a very violent energy creating a stark contrast with other pieces on the programme (which were more neo-romantic or minimalist in style), but the audience reception was shockingly and unexpectedly good! There will be more to come from this piece in further revisions: a revised version for theremin and string quartet as well as a version for theremin and string orchestra of that revision. The first revision I will be doing is really just to neaten out some of the transition sections; I'll probably be adding a minute to the total duration of the piece.