A Work by CATO, Who Is NOT A Composer! (?)

Started by Cato, December 31, 2016, 04:43:11 AM

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Cato

Quote from: philoctetes on April 21, 2021, 06:41:11 AM
Regarding Exaudi Me:

In this piece, I hear the chromaticism of the Renaissance, Arvo Part and Frank Martin, and this is the kind of music that I feel should be playing in the Rothko Chapel – contemplative and meditative – a piece that won't allow you to relax and impels the audience to listen.

Your ability to compose a piece of this length and maintain coherence and cohesiveness is no mean feat, and the sound pierces my skull, which is my preference and why I tend toward contemporary and pre-classical period. The sound sticks and lingers, and it forms a near perfect loop, which, even if unintentional, is truly lovely.

Overall, Bravo! 😊


Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 21, 2021, 06:51:18 AM
Indeed, a magnificent accomplishment.

Oh my!  I did not realize that Philoctetes had written this here!

His praise and Karl's are most humbling!

For newer members who want to give it a try - and for those who want to refresh their memories - here are the links:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/db79ny3b2wqd4re/Exaudi_Me_%25283%2529.mp3/file

https://www.mediafire.com/file/bgm446csffvy8hy/Schulte_Exaudi_Me_with_keybd_-_2016-07-16_%25282%2529_%25281%2529_%25281%2529.pdf/file

Many thanks again to Karl who edited the score and provided the 2-piano version at the bottom of the score!
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

philoctetes

Finally, listened to New Year's Resolution (I apologize for the delay).

If I was to compare this piece to the other one that I listened to (Exaudi Me), I find this one to be far more bold, but less-refined, in that your choices were much more daring, and any time we dare, therein lies the need, the demand, to revise. While I like both pieces, this piece (New Year's Resolution) feels like the more interesting one due to, in my estimation, compositional complexity, but I am also more partial to the instrumental lineup in New Year's Resolution, so that could also be playing a role. Now that the generalities are out of the way, let's get to the specifics.

First and foremost, while I used to study music theory/composition that was a lifetime ago, so do forgive me if I make any errors (also, Karl and others more up-to-date can correct any of my mistakes).

For me, the complexity comes from two places mainly, which I love: the piano, which is played almost entirely in a dissonant mode, and the strings, which are in continual contrapuntal conversation with each other, and when these are combined together, as you do here, what emerges is what I would consider dissonant counterpoint, which, I feel, is the most interesting version of counterpoint. The composer I kept thinking of while listening to this was Shostakovich, specifically in his Piano Concertos, but then the atonality would strike me clearer, and I would feel the sense of Schoenberg, specifically his Chamber Symphonies and his piano pieces, and here I admit a bias, as these are two of my favorite composers alongside my favorite pieces by them, so I am most definitely persuaded by your work if I am lumping/clustering it with theirs.

Most importantly for me, none of this felt like something that I had heard before. Yes, it is similar to the work I listed, but I would view this as an extension or a corollary to their work not mere repetition or derivation. I especially loved the ending where everything was brought together and the dissonance was heightened, and then the sudden shift back to the single-keyed piano playing the last of its haunting melody with the soft drone of the strings in the background, and finally the the last three individual notes played by the piano without accompaniment, and it ended with me wanting more, which is the ending that I prefer over all others.

In short, I loved it, I loved it all. :)

Cato

Quote from: philoctetes on May 03, 2021, 11:17:46 AM
Finally, listened to New Year's Resolution (I apologize for the delay).

If I was to compare this piece to the other one that I listened to (Exaudi Me), I find this one to be far more bold, but less-refined, in that your choices were much more daring, and any time we dare, therein lies the need, the demand, to revise. While I like both pieces, this piece (New Year's Resolution) feels like the more interesting one due to, in my estimation, compositional complexity, but I am also more partial to the instrumental lineup in New Year's Resolution, so that could also be playing a role. Now that the generalities are out of the way, let's get to the specifics.

First and foremost, while I used to study music theory/composition that was a lifetime ago, so do forgive me if I make any errors (also, Karl and others more up-to-date can correct any of my mistakes).

For me, the complexity comes from two places mainly, which I love: the piano, which is played almost entirely in a dissonant mode, and the strings, which are in continual contrapuntal conversation with each other, and when these are combined together, as you do here, what emerges is what I would consider dissonant counterpoint, which, I feel, is the most interesting version of counterpoint. The composer I kept thinking of while listening to this was Shostakovich, specifically in his Piano Concertos, but then the atonality would strike me clearer, and I would feel the sense of Schoenberg, specifically his Chamber Symphonies and his piano pieces, and here I admit a bias, as these are two of my favorite composers alongside my favorite pieces by them, so I am most definitely persuaded by your work if I am lumping/clustering it with theirs.

Most importantly for me, none of this felt like something that I had heard before. Yes, it is similar to the work I listed, but I would view this as an extension or a corollary to their work not mere repetition or derivation. I especially loved the ending where everything was brought together and the dissonance was heightened, and then the sudden shift back to the single-keyed piano playing the last of its haunting melody with the soft drone of the strings in the background, and finally the the last three individual notes played by the piano without accompaniment, and it ended with me wanting more, which is the ending that I prefer over all others.

In short, I loved it, I loved it all.
   :)


Many thanks for taking the time to review this work: it began c. 40 years ago as incidental music for a play called New Year's Resolution.  The original music was destroyed in the The Great Purge of 1993 (or thereabouts), but I came across the sketches later in an archive, and decided to rework the music as the Trio, which became quasi-symphonic in size and form.


For those who would like to (re)visit the work:

A MIDI "performance" of it:


https://www.mediafire.com/file/y53ua1yug5by5cy/New_Year%2527s_Resolution_%25282%2529.mp3/file


The score:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/wnh1zexs3k2e9qv/New_Year%2527s_Resolution.pdf/file
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Cato

Quote from: philoctetes on April 21, 2021, 06:41:11 AM
Regarding Exaudi Me:

In this piece, I hear the chromaticism of the Renaissance, Arvo Part and Frank Martin, and this is the kind of music that I feel should be playing in the Rothko Chapel – contemplative and meditative – a piece that won't allow you to relax and impels the audience to listen.

Your ability to compose a piece of this length and maintain coherence and cohesiveness is no mean feat, and the sound pierces my skull, which is my preference and why I tend toward contemporary and pre-classical period. The sound sticks and lingers, and it forms a near perfect loop, which, even if unintentional, is truly lovely.

Overall, Bravo! 😊




Quote from: Cato on April 21, 2021, 01:39:37 PM

Oh my!  I did not realize that Philoctetes had written this here!

His praise and Karl's are most humbling!

For newer members who want to give it a try - and for those who want to refresh their memories - here are the links:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/db79ny3b2wqd4re/Exaudi_Me_%25283%2529.mp3/file

https://www.mediafire.com/file/bgm446csffvy8hy/Schulte_Exaudi_Me_with_keybd_-_2016-07-16_%25282%2529_%25281%2529_%25281%2529.pdf/file


Many thanks again to Karl who edited the score and provided the 2-piano version at the bottom of the score!


Quote from: philoctetes on May 03, 2021, 11:17:46 AM
Finally, listened to New Year's Resolution (I apologize for the delay).

If I was to compare this piece to the other one that I listened to (Exaudi Me), I find this one to be far more bold, but less-refined, in that your choices were much more daring, and any time we dare, therein lies the need, the demand, to revise. While I like both pieces, this piece (New Year's Resolution) feels like the more interesting one due to, in my estimation, compositional complexity, but I am also more partial to the instrumental lineup in New Year's Resolution, so that could also be playing a role. Now that the generalities are out of the way, let's get to the specifics.

First and foremost, while I used to study music theory/composition that was a lifetime ago, so do forgive me if I make any errors (also, Karl and others more up-to-date can correct any of my mistakes).

For me, the complexity comes from two places mainly, which I love: the piano, which is played almost entirely in a dissonant mode, and the strings, which are in continual contrapuntal conversation with each other, and when these are combined together, as you do here, what emerges is what I would consider dissonant counterpoint, which, I feel, is the most interesting version of counterpoint. The composer I kept thinking of while listening to this was Shostakovich, specifically in his Piano Concertos, but then the atonality would strike me clearer, and I would feel the sense of Schoenberg, specifically his Chamber Symphonies and his piano pieces, and here I admit a bias, as these are two of my favorite composers alongside my favorite pieces by them, so I am most definitely persuaded by your work if I am lumping/clustering it with theirs.

Most importantly for me, none of this felt like something that I had heard before. Yes, it is similar to the work I listed, but I would view this as an extension or a corollary to their work not mere repetition or derivation. I especially loved the ending where everything was brought together and the dissonance was heightened, and then the sudden shift back to the single-keyed piano playing the last of its haunting melody with the soft drone of the strings in the background, and finally the the last three individual notes played by the piano without accompaniment, and it ended with me wanting more, which is the ending that I prefer over all others.

In short, I loved it, I loved it all. :)

Quote from: Cato on May 03, 2021, 01:12:12 PM

Many thanks for taking the time to review this work: it began c. 40 years ago as incidental music for a play called New Year's Resolution.  The original music was destroyed in the The Great Purge of 1993 (or thereabouts), but I came across the sketches later in an archive, and decided to rework the music as the Trio, which became quasi-symphonic in size and form.


For those who would like to (re)visit the work:

A MIDI "performance" of it:


https://www.mediafire.com/file/y53ua1yug5by5cy/New_Year%2527s_Resolution_%25282%2529.mp3/file



The score:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/wnh1zexs3k2e9qv/New_Year%2527s_Resolution.pdf/file



I am reviewing the reaction of Philoctetes - and offering the links again - because a different reaction came in yesterday from Germany.

The reviewer has known me for c. 30 years through my student exchange program with her Catholic school in Germany.  Some months ago I sent her a CD with these works, along with my Organ Prelude
, which latter piece she found very praiseworthy.

However, this was her comment about the Exaudi me and New Year's Resolution:


"The other two pieces were so spiritually disturbing that they sent my soul into great turmoil.  It is not so easy for me to endure such things."



"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Cato

After a nice meeting with several members today,I have revived this topic about works salvaged from the past: both date from c. 50 years ago and were reconstructed from sketches and memory.


The motet Exaudi me is for SSAATTBB and a solo soprano:



Quote from: Cato on April 21, 2021, 01:39:37 PMOh my!  I did not realize that Philoctetes had written this here!

His praise and Karl's are most humbling!

For newer members who want to give it a try - and for those who want to refresh their memories - here are the links:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/db79ny3b2wqd4re/Exaudi_Me_%25283%2529.mp3/file

https://www.mediafire.com/file/bgm446csffvy8hy/Schulte_Exaudi_Me_with_keybd_-_2016-07-16_%25282%2529_%25281%2529_%25281%2529.pdf/file

Many thanks again to Karl who edited the score and provided the 2-piano version at the bottom of the score!




New Year's Resolution is a Trio for 2 violins and a piano, but is more like a symphony for three players.

Quote from: Cato on February 18, 2019, 02:47:46 AMThanks for the review, Karl!  I like that phrase "geometric severity" !   0:)   


For those who are new to Good Music Guide, or who have not yet had a chance to listen to New Year's Resolution:

The score:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/wnh1zexs3k2e9qv/New_Year%2527s_Resolution.pdf/file

The mp3 MIDI (which has problems following the score, but...)

http://www.mediafire.com/file/y53ua1yug5by5cy/New_Year%2527s_Resolution_%25282%2529.mp3/file





Please visit previous pages for more information and comments from fellow members!

I have just finished a novel, the third of "a kind of" trilogy, (i.e. one does not necessarily need to read them in succession, since each novel has a story different from the others) and am enthused abut starting a novel about Ancient/Early Medieval Rome c. 450 A.D.

It is possible I might reconstruct a 1960's Piano Sonata, or a Symphony for Organ from that time, or create other works...I am not yet sure, though, if I will be alone enough to concentrate on such things.
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)