Topic: Henning's Headquarters

[krummholz]

I've repaired Bicycling Into the Sun (Feel the Burn) ... Mysteriously, when I exported the flute and viola parts, Sibelius moved a couple of rehearsal marks to other measures. It seems that this ought not to happen, but it now seems not to be impossible. Just spoke to Peter, who did not say, "there was no problem with Swiss Skis," but, "I forget what the problem with Swiss Skis was." If I were to hazard a guess, it has to do with all the double-stops in the viola. I am hoping that, rather than it being any matter of the part being "impossible," it's just that it's a part that Frank will have to work up, and that the "problem" when they got together to read, was that Frank was faced with a part which it was in no way practical to sight-read. We Shall See.

I dunno the reason, Karl, but that happened to me as well, when I copied and pasted Sinfonia Solenne from the string orchestra score into the orchestral score (prior to orchestration). I did this little by little, adding more and more bars and pasting sections into the expanded score. Rehearsal marks tended to move every time I added bars to the end of the new score, and eventually I gave up trying to adjust them and just recreated the whole lot when I was done pasting.

Sibelius has enough bugs to make me strongly consider switching to Dorico. Another bug: displaying the pages of your score vertically can cause Sibelius to auto scroll to the first page the instant you use the mouse to edit anything, whether it is a note value, or spacing between staves or positioning of barlines... anything. That one drove me nuts until I was advised to display them horizontally. Does it make sense that a documented and supposedly supported feature of an app is broken and has been for several releases now? Rhetorical question... :-/

[aligreto]

It is good to be reading about your music again on these pages, Karl.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

I dunno the reason, Karl, but that happened to me as well, when I copied and pasted Sinfonia Solenne from the string orchestra score into the orchestral score (prior to orchestration). I did this little by little, adding more and more bars and pasting sections into the expanded score. Rehearsal marks tended to move every time I added bars to the end of the new score, and eventually I gave up trying to adjust them and just recreated the whole lot when I was done pasting.

Sibelius has enough bugs to make me strongly consider switching to Dorico. Another bug: displaying the pages of your score vertically can cause Sibelius to auto scroll to the first page the instant you use the mouse to edit anything, whether it is a note value, or spacing between staves or positioning of barlines... anything. That one drove me nuts until I was advised to display them horizontally. Does it make sense that a documented and supposedly supported feature of an app is broken and has been for several releases now? Rhetorical question... :-/

Ah! They moved as a result of adding bars at the end? Not that that should happen (it shouldn't) but that explains it ... I had composed some 200 mm. of Bicycling, and then "cannibalized" a short already-written piece, originally called sand dance, which had gone nowhere in the call to which I had submitted, but which was a musical idea I really liked.


My friend Pam hasn't found Dorico user-friendly, FWIW.

It is good to be reading about your music again on these pages, Karl.

Warm thanks, Fergus!

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

I think I've found the efficient method of clearing up The Lungs, as it were.

[krummholz]

Ah! They moved as a result of adding bars at the end? Not that that should happen (it shouldn't) but that explains it ... I had composed some 200 mm. of Bicycling, and then "cannibalized" a short already-written piece, originally called sand dance, which had gone nowhere in the call to which I had submitted, but which was a musical idea I really liked.

Yes, my takeaway from the experience was that until the score is basically finished, there is no good reason to add rehearsal marks anyway. So I wasn't too upset by this bug - though of course it IS a bug and shouldn't happen, as you say. But I am much more underwhelmed by having to display my scores horizontally. I prefer vertically because then I can scroll through the score using the scroll wheel on my mouse. With horizontal display, the only way to move more than one or two pages is by grabbing and dragging the scroll "thumb". But guess where Sibelius ALWAYS puts the "keypad" on startup? (i.e., it NEVER remembers where I put it last time, but insists that it belongs at the lower right corner, right over both scrollbars).

My friend Pam hasn't found Dorico user-friendly, FWIW.

I'd be curious to know in exactly which ways. I'm relatively tolerant of software that has a learning curve but that, once adjusted to, lets me work efficiently and easily. Outright bugs that render documented features unusable are another matter.

One thing about Dorico that has kept me from taking the plunge is the lack of support for glissandi on playback. Since my string quartet has a couple, that's a bit discouraging.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

And I've reached out to a "virtual acquaintance" of many years, who is a violist, to ask his opinion as to "doability."

[vandermolen]

Thanks for the update, Karl. I hope you get more performances soon!

+1

[aligreto]

I think I've found the efficient method of clearing up The Lungs, as it were.

Take a very deep breath, Karl, and proceed with positivity 

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

(* chortle *)

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

And I've reached out to a "virtual acquaintance" of many years, who is a violist, to ask his opinion as to "doability."

To my great relief, he writes: Everything works. The chord on the and of beat 2 in measures 55 and 58 is awkward but can be done.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

To explain the "homework" I mentioned: Some years ago, the cellist wife of a friend invited me to write pieces for four cellos. I sent her three pieces: one was an adaptation of a very old piano toccata of mine called Lutosławski’s Lullaby, and I wrote two new companion pieces, a one-pager (that is, the four players would not have individual printed parts, but would all read from score ... called Marginalia, and a concluding piece I called Après-Lullaby. The three pieces together I denominated my Opus 96, collectively called It's all in your head (not that that's a bad place for everything to be.)

However (and, as often happens) the piece was never played. Not even when I later adapted it for a standard string quartet.

So, now I'm writing a piece for string orchestra ... at one point, I decided to incorporate the Marginalia from my Op. 96. I thought then, too, that I would bring the piece to a point where I might incorporate the Après-Lullaby. The thought naturally crossed my mind, "What about Lutosławski’s Lullaby?"At the time, I dismissed that thought, but now I have decided to go ahead and allow the string symphony completely to cannabalize the Op. 96. I'll let Op. 96 stand, too (you never know, someone may see light and perform it) and there is ample new material unique to the Symphony, that it is "more than the sum of its parts." So my homework is, that I want to make an entirely fresh rhythmic adaptation of Lutosławski’s Lullaby, so I'm going back to the source and making a harmonic reduction of it to work from. It just takes a little juggling, which I may do this afternoon.

After rather a hiatus, I've been getting some work done at last. First there was the need to get the Opp. 161 & 163 in complete order for Ensemble Aubade, then there was the unfinished business of getting the score of The Lungs just about Press Ready. While it feels like no fanfare at journey's end, I am gratified that the Op. 148 is done now, too.

I've at last finished "reducing" Lutosławski’s Lullaby to its harmonic skeleton. (and since I wrote the Lullaby in the wake of the news of the Polish composer's passing, the appropriation of the material for a piece in Louis' memory is at least apt.
I'm now reviewing what is presently done of the piece—the first nine minutes, and the very conclusion (one minute) I am approaching a motivated condition.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Don't think I'll do any more work today ... will let what I've got "marinate" mentally a bit.

[aligreto]

Don't think I'll do any more work today ... will let what I've got "marinate" mentally a bit.

To quote someone familiar to us all "(* chortle *)" 

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Hah!

[Cato]

I sent this to Karl about The Lungs:

"...I remain as enthusiastic as ever!  The first half recalls the playfulness of Ives without imitating him, and evokes a weird and uncanny journey into the mysterious physics and chemistry of breathing.  The second part (from E onward) follows the mystical idea that the spirit is connected to breathing (in fact spiro in Latin = "I breathe."

And in German, atmen (also "to breathe") goes back to Sanskrit's Atman "breath" and "soul")."   

So, the work is much more than a musical Fantastic Journey into the alveoli!   

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

I sent this to Karl about The Lungs:

"...I remain as enthusiastic as ever!  The first half recalls the playfulness of Ives without imitating him, and evokes a weird and uncanny journey into the mysterious physics and chemistry of breathing.  The second part (from E onward) follows the mystical idea that the spirit is connected to breathing (in fact spiro in Latin = "I breathe."

And in German, atmen (also "to breathe") goes back to Sanskrit's Atman "breath" and "soul")."   

So, the work is much more than a musical Fantastic Journey into the alveoli!   

Many thanks, sir!

Inching forward with Symphony № 3, « In memoriam Louis Andriessen » for strings
I'm close to settling, I think, on the new rhythmic treatment of the "Lullaby," but as yet, I've just set up its entrance. Tomorrow being Physical Therapy day, I may not do any more work this side of Saturday ....


We're about at the ten and a half minute mark now.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

I did just start the Lullaby off. I stand in some mild doubt, but that's all right, too. I think the thing to do is go ahead and carry out the "plan," and see then to what degree I feel it works (or needs modification).

[relm1]

I did just start the Lullaby off. I stand in some mild doubt, but that's all right, too. I think the thing to do is go ahead and carry out the "plan," and see then to what degree I feel it works (or needs modification).

That's a totally valid approach.

[Mirror Image]

Many thanks, sir!

Inching forward with Symphony № 3, « In memoriam Louis Andriessen » for strings
I'm close to settling, I think, on the new rhythmic treatment of the "Lullaby," but as yet, I've just set up its entrance. Tomorrow being Physical Therapy day, I may not do any more work this side of Saturday ....


We're about at the ten and a half minute mark now.

Very nice, Karl. How is physical therapy going?

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

15 years ago, just starting work on White Nights