Ottevanger's Omphaloskeptic Outpost

[lukeottevanger]

This is all very interesting to hear! I'm sure I would be interested in the cello pieces. Had you had any teaching in counterpoint/harmony/composition before you reached university?

No, none at all worth speaking of. And actually, not very much whilst at university either. In the first year there were very old-fashioned (and very scary) counterpoint lessons with Stephen Cleobury in Gibbs' building, but these didn't help with anything practical. Later on there were some fun composition supervisions with Andrew Lovett, who liked my music and was very uninterventionist. But other than that, no, nothing.

I cam accross accross a glut of little fragments that I had notated between the ages of 13 and 16 - never turned into pieces as I was never as organised/driven as you appear to have been, but there are some nice ideas there too. Unfortunately I have moved no furthur with my abilities!

Dig them out, Guido. Guido's Guide Camp has a ring to it, wouldn't you say? 

[Guido]

No, none at all worth speaking of. And actually, not very much whilst at university either. In the first year there were very old-fashioned (and very scary) counterpoint lessons with Stephen Cleobury in Gibbs' building, but these didn't help with anything practical. Later on there were some fun composition supervisions with Andrew Lovett, who liked my music and was very uninterventionist. But other than that, no, nothing.

Interesting. That reminds me - Lovett has written a piece for cello, keyboard and electronics (excitingly called Unknown Terrors) which I heard about somewhere and have been meaning to have a look into. The description of it was very impressive as far as I remember...

Dig them out, Guido. Guido's Guide Camp has a ring to it, wouldn't you say? 

Guido's Guild Guide? Guido's Gooey Dough? They're not really place-namey enough. Guido's... Garrison, Grange?

When I say fragments I usually mean two or three bars - really not worthy of a thread, but as I say, I like the ideas. I'd love to continue a few of them, but alas, my compositional skills are not up to it. This more than anything, is why I wish I played piano. Maybe I'll put them into Sibelius anyway so that I won't loose them.

[lukeottevanger]

Just in case you need to know now, Karl - two misprints in the score that I've just spotted:

b 27 - soprano is A, not A flat (this is the chord Johan mentioned liking, but it's not right!)

b 34 - soprano last note is G, not E. Thought that sounded wrong!

Small changes, but they make a lot of difference!

[lukeottevanger]

There are some Lovett scores at the BMIC site, but I have them on a disc somewhere too...

[lukeottevanger]

Yes, they have loads - just stick 'Lovett' in the search engine

A treble clef beside a piece's name means there's a score available to download (or sometimes just a sample). Unknown Terrors is viewable but not (easily) downloadable.

[Guido]

There are some Lovett scores at the BMIC site, but I have them on a disc somewhere too...

Yes I just found it... How does one save it?

[lukeottevanger]

If you click on the piece name, rather than on the treble clef, you can see the root page for the piece. It will give a 'download score' option if that's available. You need to be registered to do so (but it's free and no-hassle).

[karlhenning]

Just in case you need to know now, Karl - two misprints in the score that I've just spotted:

b 27 - soprano is A, not A flat (this is the chord Johan mentioned liking, but it's not right!)

b 34 - soprano last note is G, not E. Thought that sounded wrong!

Small changes, but they make a lot of difference!

When you've got a fresh score . . . hang on, I'll send e-mail.

[lukeottevanger]

Better?

[karlhenning]

I'll look later; Mamochka is calling me to dinner. 

[lukeottevanger]

Slightly better sound file, too. NB the 'slightly' - but the notes are right, this time!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Just in case you need to know now, Karl - two misprints in the score that I've just spotted:

b 27 - soprano is A, not A flat (this is the chord Johan mentioned liking, but it's not right!)

b 34 - soprano last note is G, not E. Thought that sounded wrong!

Small changes, but they make a lot of difference!

Already killing my darlings, are you? 

Thanks for the revised PDF and MIDI!

[lukeottevanger]

Ha! Actually, the correct version of the chord is much better, I think - a fairly pungent, painful dissonance for the word 'pain'. One of the things I think this piece succeeds in is in the way it modulates the level of dissonance carefully and accurately, so that it can move from diatonic writing to fairly dissonant stuff without jarring. I remain pleased with it nearly 15 years after writing it - that's practically unprecedented for me.

Of the many other pieces I've looked through today, there are one or two others which could do with dusting down and maybe a tiny tweak here and there. Then we might have some presentable stuff. There are two cello+piano 'Elegies' of which the second is much better and quite well done, I think, though the central bars may need a little rationalisation. Guido might want to see this one, so I'll work on a score tomorrow, if I can satisfy myself on the matter of that middle section.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Ha! Actually, the correct version of the chord is much better, I think - a fairly pungent, painful dissonance for the word 'pain'. One of the things I think this piece succeeds in is in the way it modulates the level of dissonance carefully and accurately, so that it can move from diatonic writing to fairly dissonant stuff without jarring. I remain pleased with it nearly 15 years after writing it - that's practically unprecedented for me.

Having listened, I agree. The chord is 'cleaner', less purple (if you know what I mean). The effect is the same, though.

[lukeottevanger]

Good! Yes, exactly, more astringent, but the same harmonic roots.

[lukeottevanger]

BTW, Johan - Guido was right a couple of pages back: 'what I was thinking' was that I wish we could get a look at your writing, though obviously there is a language barrier which most of us can't easily surmount. So - thanks for the posting of your short story. As yet, I've had no chance to print it out and read it at my leisure, but I snuck a look at the first couple of paragraphs. That's quite an opening, isn't it! Quite a set of images - I'm really looking forward to allowing myself to sink into it further. Thanks again.

[karlhenning]

BTW, Johan - Guido was right a couple of pages back: 'what I was thinking' was that I wish we could get a look at your writing, though obviously there is a language barrier which most of us can't easily surmount. So - thanks for the posting of your short story. As yet, I've had no chance to print it out and read it at my leisure, but I snuck a look at the first couple of paragraphs. That's quite an opening, isn't it! Quite a set of images - I'm really looking forward to allowing myself to sink into it further. Thanks again.

Johan, I've had my typical preoccupations; please remind me of this link/document.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Johan, I've had my typical preoccupations; please remind me of this link/document.

Look here, Karl:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,44.msg232435.html#msg232435

And thanks for your reaction, Luke. This story is only the tiniest part of a much larger whole. Still, it is representative. I have done my best on the translation, and I am not wholly dissatisfied with the result...

[Guido]

The new midi voices are much better! I like the piece much more hearing it now.

[lukeottevanger]

The new midi voices are much better! I like the piece much more hearing it now.

That's interesting, because the sounds I used are exactly the same as before! What must have happened is that, the first file being a MIDI file, your computer played it with its own MIDI settings, and they didn't match mine. But the second file was an mp3 of the MIDI file as it appears on my computer, so that it sounds the same for you as for me.  Must remember to do it the mp3 way in future!