Henning's Headquarters

[Karl Henning]

The Viola Sonata is an exquisite work!

For anyone who has not yet heard it:

Dana and Carolyn's performance.

[Karl Henning]

For anyone who has not yet heard it:

Dana and Carolyn's performance.

#
Viola Sonata, Opus 102

In the fall of 2006, I was still serving as a chorister at the Cathedral Church of St Paul in Boston, where I had been singing for perhaps six years. One of the new singers brought in by the then new music director was Peter Lekx, who (I soon learnt) was enrolled in a Master's program at Boston University in viola performance. Early on in our acquaintance, I set to work on (what at the time I was considering a single-movement work) Tango in Boston for viola and piano. When the piece reached about the 60- measure mark, I set the sketch aside — Pete was quite musically busy, and in large part he was engaged in early music projects. Most practically, probably: at the time I did not know any pianist who would be capable of the piece as I was conceiving it.
At the time, though, I had mentioned the piece to several on-line acquaintances, including Dana Huyge. And late in June of 2010 Dana got in touch to ask about the feasibility of completing a viola sonata for a September recital. Although I had thought of Tango in Boston as a stand-alone piece, the invitation to write a multi-movement sonata fired my imagination; I decided immediately that the existing sketch would serve as the basis for the third movement and set to work on the first & second.
With Fair Warning, I set to write a piece bristling with energy, accumulating such momentum that the charged air would continue to drive the piece even in passages where the surface tempo has relented. In short, I wanted to open the Sonata with an eight-minute spitfire which would not quit. (A clarinetist myself, I wrote the whole Sonata, really, with the thought What would I have fun playing, if the piece were for myself?) I started writing essentially with that thought, and before concerning myself with specifics of the pitch-world. Before long I found that the material I had thus spontaneously generated, hinged readily upon a kind of octatonic scale which (in a curious geographical coincidence to this performance) I first employed in my doctoral dissertation at Buffalo. In terms of sonata design, Fair Warning takes indirect cues from Shostakovich, whose first movements generally referred to the tradition (often the Tchaikovskyan tradition of a Motto, apart from the Principal and Subordinate Themes), without mapping neatly onto the tradition. So with Fair Warning, I had in view the ideas of Exposition, of how a Development might proceed, of Re-transition and Recapitulation; and although I mention Shostakovich (and Tchaikovsky), I did not take them as direct "models," as such a tack strikes me as violating their own spirit of sonata 'discovery'. There are passages of 'refracted unison' which are a loose homage to the Massachusetts-born composer Alan Hovhaness. And there are pitch 'corkscrews'. I knew the middle movement would be called Suspension Bridge some time before I considered how I should approach it musically. The overall movement is governed by an underlying rhythmic pattern an irregular and long-breathed pattern, which often fights against an out-of-phase "local" pattern in any given passage. It is that sense of rhythmic 'process' which I thought of as the suspension. The pitch world of the piece is a lark I drew up one day, a symmetrical scale which runs a perfect 15th, but in the center of which there is no perfect 8ve. In a sense, I feel that what sustains the movement, is the tension between its grand "skeleton', and the spontaneity with which I approached its succeeding sections. Through the course of the movement I had in mind partly an idea of succeeding variations, partly the idea of an imbalanced arch. Truth to tell, I had no idea that the movement would begin with unaccompanied viola until I sat down one evening and started writing it. (As for Dave's Shed, it is a place of contemplation, and yet it is no place; it is Walden Pond in Minnesota, if you like.")
My loose model for the completion of Tango in Boston was Chopin's second piano sonata, whose Presto finale seems to fly by before you've drawn two breaths. That is, while on one hand I wanted an energetic movement at the other end of the "Bridge" from the first movement, I approached it more with a sense of lightness than of Grand Finale. The movement incorporates a couple of artifacts from the master of the tango, Astor Piazzolla; and also hearkens back to the two earlier movements, at one point superimposing disparate passages from the first and second one upon another.
— Karl Henning

[Pohjolas Daughter]

#
Viola Sonata, Opus 102

In the fall of 2006, I was still serving as a chorister at the Cathedral Church of St Paul in Boston, where I had been singing for perhaps six years. One of the new singers brought in by the then new music director was Peter Lekx, who (I soon learnt) was enrolled in a Master's program at Boston University in viola performance. Early on in our acquaintance, I set to work on (what at the time I was considering a single-movement work) Tango in Boston for viola and piano. When the piece reached about the 60- measure mark, I set the sketch aside — Pete was quite musically busy, and in large part he was engaged in early music projects. Most practically, probably: at the time I did not know any pianist who would be capable of the piece as I was conceiving it.
At the time, though, I had mentioned the piece to several on-line acquaintances, including Dana Huyge. And late in June of 2010 Dana got in touch to ask about the feasibility of completing a viola sonata for a September recital. Although I had thought of Tango in Boston as a stand-alone piece, the invitation to write a multi-movement sonata fired my imagination; I decided immediately that the existing sketch would serve as the basis for the third movement and set to work on the first & second.
With Fair Warning, I set to write a piece bristling with energy, accumulating such momentum that the charged air would continue to drive the piece even in passages where the surface tempo has relented. In short, I wanted to open the Sonata with an eight-minute spitfire which would not quit. (A clarinetist myself, I wrote the whole Sonata, really, with the thought What would I have fun playing, if the piece were for myself?) I started writing essentially with that thought, and before concerning myself with specifics of the pitch-world. Before long I found that the material I had thus spontaneously generated, hinged readily upon a kind of octatonic scale which (in a curious geographical coincidence to this performance) I first employed in my doctoral dissertation at Buffalo. In terms of sonata design, Fair Warning takes indirect cues from Shostakovich, whose first movements generally referred to the tradition (often the Tchaikovskyan tradition of a Motto, apart from the Principal and Subordinate Themes), without mapping neatly onto the tradition. So with Fair Warning, I had in view the ideas of Exposition, of how a Development might proceed, of Re-transition and Recapitulation; and although I mention Shostakovich (and Tchaikovsky), I did not take them as direct "models," as such a tack strikes me as violating their own spirit of sonata 'discovery'. There are passages of 'refracted unison' which are a loose homage to the Massachusetts-born composer Alan Hovhaness. And there are pitch 'corkscrews'. I knew the middle movement would be called Suspension Bridge some time before I considered how I should approach it musically. The overall movement is governed by an underlying rhythmic pattern an irregular and long-breathed pattern, which often fights against an out-of-phase "local" pattern in any given passage. It is that sense of rhythmic 'process' which I thought of as the suspension. The pitch world of the piece is a lark I drew up one day, a symmetrical scale which runs a perfect 15th, but in the center of which there is no perfect 8ve. In a sense, I feel that what sustains the movement, is the tension between its grand "skeleton', and the spontaneity with which I approached its succeeding sections. Through the course of the movement I had in mind partly an idea of succeeding variations, partly the idea of an imbalanced arch. Truth to tell, I had no idea that the movement would begin with unaccompanied viola until I sat down one evening and started writing it. (As for Dave's Shed, it is a place of contemplation, and yet it is no place; it is Walden Pond in Minnesota, if you like.")
My loose model for the completion of Tango in Boston was Chopin's second piano sonata, whose Presto finale seems to fly by before you've drawn two breaths. That is, while on one hand I wanted an energetic movement at the other end of the "Bridge" from the first movement, I approached it more with a sense of lightness than of Grand Finale. The movement incorporates a couple of artifacts from the master of the tango, Astor Piazzolla; and also hearkens back to the two earlier movements, at one point superimposing disparate passages from the first and second one upon another.
— Karl Henning

I'll check it out!

PD

[Karl Henning]

I'll check it out!

PD

It's a piece that GMG made possible. Dana and I "met" here.

[Cato]

It's a piece that GMG made possible. Dana and I "met" here.

Do you have access to the analysis I wrote? 

At the moment I cannot find it!

[Karl Henning]

Do you have access to the analysis I wrote? 

At the moment I cannot find it!

First Mvt
Second Mvt
Third Mvt

[Karl Henning]

Nice!

By the way, I still think that sometimes you should try composing longer works too....but that's just me. 
PD

I think I've mentioned before, I have an old friend who, since having been graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music, only composes a piece when he is commissioned to do so. Obviously, if I had waited for commissions, I should never have composed most of my orchestral music, and I set about writing orchestral music in order to acquire the facility, lest after decades a commission for an orchestral piece should come in, but I would be unable to fulfil the commission because I had no experience.

The first piece I wrote for orchestra was in fact a commission, from the Quincy Symphony: my Opus 46, The Wind, the Sky and the Wheeling Stars. The première was a little shaky, and I do not have a recording of the event. The honorarium was very modest (I almost wish I hadn't cashed the check so that I might have kept it for a souvenir.) I find that my feelings about the piece are rather mixed. In my place, Brahms or Varèse would burn the score. It's certainly less polished than my later work (I think much better of the Overture to White Nights, which is the next orchestral score I would compose.) and it is not completely in my own voice. Do I still hope for a decent performance by some other orchestra to convince me that it really is a decent piece, after all? Is it a weakness that I cannot actually dislike the piece? I'm not finding answers, but questions multiply.

[Karl Henning]

I'd completely forgotten about this playful remix:

[Cato]

First Mvt
Second Mvt
Third Mvt

Thanks for these links!

For those interested, these are my little essays on Karl's Viola Sonata, which you should take the time to hear! 

[Cato]

I'd completely forgotten about this playful remix:

Hi Karl!

The link says the video is "Private" and goes nowhere.

[Karl Henning]

Hi Karl!

The link says the video is "Private" and goes nowhere.

Fixed it!

[relm1]

For anyone who has not yet heard it:

Dana and Carolyn's performance.

I really enjoyed it.  Especially some of the frantic moments (not necessarily the load ones) but moments where it feels internally tense rather than outwardly.  Very nice music and performance!

[Karl Henning]

I really enjoyed it.  Especially some of the frantic moments (not necessarily the load ones) but moments where it feels internally tense rather than outwardly.  Very nice music and performance!

Many thanks!

[Spotted Horses]

I'm not really at the "breathing easier" point, but I seem to have found two places listed which might work. Establishing communication with the parties who have listed them, though, has been peculiarly dodgy. We shall see. I've informed the landlord of my prospects (such as they are), and I'm hoping that may mean that he lays off setting a Court date.

A court date sounds ominous. You have no obligation to answer, but any advice that might be offered would depend on the circumstances. Is you landlord refusing to renew your lease on short notice, is he claiming to have cause to evict you despite a lease, are you renting month-to-month and he's given notice to clear out?

[Karl Henning]

A court date sounds ominous. You have no obligation to answer, but any advice that might be offered would depend on the circumstances. Is you landlord refusing to renew your lease on short notice, is he claiming to have cause to evict you despite a lease, are you renting month-to-month and he's given notice to clear out?

The last. 

[Karl Henning]

The first piece I wrote for orchestra was in fact a commission, from the Quincy Symphony: my Opus 46, The Wind, the Sky and the Wheeling Stars. The première was a little shaky, and I do not have a recording of the event. The honorarium was very modest (I almost wish I hadn't cashed the check so that I might have kept it for a souvenir.) I find that my feelings about the piece are rather mixed. In my place, Brahms or Varèse would burn the score. It's certainly less polished than my later work (I think much better of the Overture to White Nights, which is the next orchestral score I would compose.) and it is not completely in my own voice. Do I still hope for a decent performance by some other orchestra to convince me that it really is a decent piece, after all? Is it a weakness that I cannot actually dislike the piece? I'm not finding answers, but questions multiply.

I think this piece suffers a bit more than most from the inadequacies of MIDI.

[Karl Henning]

I guess I didn't make note of it, so I don't know just when I started drawing up what was to be a short encore for the November concert. I've returned to it after the flute trio. I'm afraid I don't think much of that sketch. I've got to start from scratch. 

[Karl Henning]

My old boss' wife (when the company was still Fleet Investment Advisors) is a realtor. I got in touch with them early on, but they were not sanguine. Basically advised me to apply to the Housing Authority.

The bad news is, one of those two listings has been withdrawn, and the other still seems dodgy. The good news is, I've found a listing in Jamaica Plain to which I have succeeded in submitting an application. I thought it was an apartment, but it's a room. I may have to do this, though. Having a look Thursday.

The listing read 3 br. The unit does have three bedrooms, one of which is available. One of the roommates showed me the place. He seems fine, and the room is nice enough, but just one room won't suit.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The listing read 3 br. The unit does have three bedrooms, one of which is available. One of the roommates showed me the place. He seems fine, and the room is nice enough, but just one room won't suit.

Wow!  That listing sounds like it was/is way off!  Either a case of really bad typos on the case of whomever ran the ad or a deliberately deceptive listing.  In any event, hang in there Karl!

PD

[krummholz]

Just listened to Fair Warning - loved it! Still trying to figure out how to defeat Soundcloud's ads - right now if I return to the page to listen to the other two movements, it wants to play an ad for condoms...