Henning's Headquarters

[karlhenning]

It's an hourlong program, Brian.

[Brian]

It's an hourlong program, Brian.

Thanks! LOVED Lost Waters, mate! 

[karlhenning]

Grazie!

[Brian]

I do think you should have scored Three Things That Begin With C for three instruments that begin with C. Like, say, clarinet, crumhorn, and castanets 

(A more serious post in reply will appear tomorrow; right now I'm going lie down and Chill to Henning.)

[karlhenning]

I thought that Lance's selection had a nice flow to it over the hour. (I mean, over and above the fact that a composer must be pleased to have some 52 minutes of his music broadcast out unto the wide world.)

[greg]

Do you have an mp3 of Lost Waters? I found that one to really catch my attention. It has a very alluring quality to it which I can't describe...

[karlhenning]

I do think you should have scored Three Things That Begin With C for three instruments that begin with C. Like, say, clarinet, crumhorn, and castanets 

(A more serious post in reply will appear tomorrow; right now I'm going lie down and Chill to Henning.)

How did (or, did you) like the rest of the program, Brian?

Do you have an mp3 of Lost Waters? I found that one to really catch my attention. It has a very alluring quality to it which I can't describe...

I do, somewhere, Greg . . . hold that thought.

[Brian]

How did (or, did you) like the rest of the program, Brian?

I loved it, Karl.  Having only heard, so far, the Passion of St John and various music for clarinet and/or viola, I hadn't realized you were so diverse a composer - the 'medieval' work performed by Tapestry was really superbly crafted, and the percussion work was a pleasure. Three Things That Begin with 'C' got more to my liking as it went along - understandable, for though I love cats, they are moody little things.  It is hard to say anything about clouds post-Debussy but that movement was evocative, and, I think, very much a success. The two choral works were a wonderful close - really, really enjoyed them.

The sound cut out once in "Lost Waters" and several times in the final choral pieces, which frustrated me as those were my favorite bits of the program. Should you go rooting for mp3s, cc me on that message to Greg!

[karlhenning]

Thanks; each of the Three Things had for a (quite distant, for the most part) model a composer I like very well: Bartók (Cats), Debussy (Clouds — no great surprise, there) and Berlioz (Canaries).

[Brian]

Thanks; each of the Three Things had for a (quite distant, for the most part) model a composer I like very well: Bartók (Cats), Debussy (Clouds — no great surprise, there) and Berlioz (Canaries).

Interesting that your inspirations line up with how I liked each movement, as Canaries had the exuberant outgoing nature one associates with Berlioz but Bartok's music continues (sadly) to elude my ears.

[Cato]

For the Tango in Boston, the subtitle Dances With Shades is perhaps instructive: one can assume the reference is not to guys in sunglasses, but to ghosts and the pirouettes they might be making.  (Of course, maybe the ghosts are wearing sunglasses!)  In either case, one hears a rather mysterious and ghostly opening with our melodic and harmonic friends from earlier: the assorted seconds/sevenths/ninths and assorted fourths and fifths.  In the very first bar, an Ab in the bass of the piano is answered by a C/F# and then a D/C#, and soon a G in the Viola joins that bass Ab.  This opening section reminds one of an earlier sequence in Fair Warning (cf. bars 82-90).  And the melodic motif at 24-27 in the piano's treble evokes the spirit of Erwartung.  After dancing up a quasi E major scale, the Viola sings on C# and D# while the piano provides a tango beat with a chord of B/C/F leading to A#/D/F#.  Of interest is the bass rocking back and forth on the fourth-fifth pattern of A-E-E-A, providing a temporary "E" background and a yearning in the Viola line with that C#-D# theme.

At bar 33, the piano begins a bass ground in C-Db-Ab (or A)-F, while the Viola again struggles up that quasi E major scale, finally arriving at the theme from bars 19-22 now played in octaves.  Deliciously evocative is the end of the section (bar 47) where the Db octave on the Viola fades away with a chord of Db/G/C in the piano.  This continues the minor-second element (Db/C) heard in the first two movements.  Also, as part of a final movement's summation of previous material, the Viola's music here might be heard as a variational reminiscence of bars 55-62 from the second movement.

And speaking of bass grounds, in the next section (bars 49-69) listen to the "Scott Joplin Channels Schoenberg c. 1915" in the piano's left hand, where our 5:4 figure dances "with intensity" with (or against) the Viola's dance played mainly in thirds, and using 5 8th notes tangoing on top of the piano's 5:4 notes, thereby creating a giddy contrast for the ear.  There is also an occasional 7:8 figure with 16ths in the piano: it begins on a low G# and rumbles upward to F (bar 54), then on D to B (bars 58 and 66) before reaching G# again at the end of bar 69.  (See Karl's previous comment on the multi-octave scale in the opening comments about Suspension Bridge.)  Our destination is not G#, but (of course) the A, a minor ninth higher (bar 70).  But the Viola has been busy during all this too!  The 5-patterning is also heard in the descending figure in the Viola (beginning at the treble clef bars 66-67) and later in its ascending figures (bars 68-69).  And the 7-pattern is heard in a 7-note descending motif (bars 62-63, 65, 67-68).

The unison on A (bars 70-71) is quickly disturbed by a Bb and G#, which is right in character!  We then return nearly to the beginning of Fair Warning with a startling variation on the Viola theme from that movement (cf. bars 71-80 with Fair Warning's bars 7-18).  The piano continues its 5:4 motif interspersed with groups of 7 notes (e.g. the  bass in bars 73-74, 77, 79 vs. the treble in bar 80).  Suddenly at bar 81 we enter an A minor/major area, with a simple pizzicato theme, which strikes my ear as evocative of an ancient Greek melody.  Then after the piano intones a mysterious 9th chord (A/F/B), we hear a transposition of some of the opening bars (24-30) with some variations: rather than the rising pizzicato of bars 33-41, we now have a very lugubrious theme (from the last beat of bar 89 to 104): if it is not quite a danse macabre, it is Herrmannesque, where octaves are just as disconcerting as 2nds, 7ths, or 9ths.  This leads to a Largamente where the Viola returns to its cadenza chords of Suspension Bridge, but this time the piano adds its voice (cf. bars 137-142 of Suspension Bridge with bars 105-114). 

The Adagietto (bars 115-132) takes us back to Fair Warning's Meno mosso (bars 45-58) section: if it is not quite a variation, it is certainly a reconfiguration of that earlier section.  Two massive hexachords conclude the section, leading to a Vivo finale which the piano insists must be in C, while the Viola plays rhythmic elements heard earlier which emphasize a strident B minor (e.g. the D/B in bars 133-135 along with the C#-B/F# figures throughout the finale). 

A purely personal and no doubt idiosyncratic reaction to the final page: I was reminded of the thunderous finale to Rachmaninov's First Symphony.  Perhaps it was the repetition of the motifs in the bass of the piano, but the connection was immediate.

If the essay has helped to illuminate some things for a listener, then its purpose has been fulfilled.  Ultimately, Karl Henning's Sonata for Viola and Piano Opus 102 sings for itself and will illuminate the listener with its tour through an unknown soulscape.   

[Luke]

Cato, I've been waiting for this final installment! I think what you have written is fabulous, and a beautiful mixture of the objective with the subjective - you describe the harmonic features and processes of Karl's sonata so perceptively and analytically, and yet the whole is scattered with a kind of poetic response and an awareness of echoes of other music which make for very rich, thought-provoking reading. It's a detailed insight into someone else's personal listening, the way you, as a careful, perceptive listener, hear the piece, note-by-note, as it progresses, your response to the notes themselves and also to the way things are filtered through your memories of other music/styles. That's quite a rare privilege, I think, and as such it's very valuable, IMO.

What is also interesting is that you pick up on so many things that had completely passed me by; meanwhile there are things I had noted in the music which you don't talk about (you can hardly mention everything of course). I think that more than anything else, this fact is a testament to the richness and complexity of Karl's score. Kudos to you for the writing, and to Karl once again for the piece itself.

[Cato]

Cato, I've been waiting for this final installment! I think what you have written is fabulous, and a beautiful mixture of the objective with the subjective - you describe the harmonic features and processes of Karl's sonata so perceptively and analytically, and yet the whole is scattered with a kind of poetic response and an awareness of echoes of other music which make for very rich, thought-provoking reading. It's a detailed insight into someone else's personal listening, the way you, as a careful, perceptive listener, hear the piece, note-by-note, as it progresses, your response to the notes themselves and also to the way things are filtered through your memories of other music/styles. That's quite a rare privilege, I think, and as such it's very valuable, IMO.

What is also interesting is that you pick up on so many things that had completely passed me by; meanwhile there are things I had noted in the music which you don't talk about (you can hardly mention everything of course). I think that more than anything else, this fact is a testament to the richness and complexity of Karl's score. Kudos to you for the writing, and to Karl once again for the piece itself.

Many thanks for the nice compliment!

Karl will attest that I struggled with the question of what to include: I found myself micro-analyzing every little 32nd note at times, and had to stop and breathe and recall that non-specialists may not find every little connection all that fascinating!

[karlhenning]

Thank you both, gents!

[karlhenning]

(I don't mean to seem unappreciably curt . . . snowed under work . . . .)

[karlhenning]

Many thanks for the nice compliment!

Most well earned!

Karl will attest that I struggled with the question of what to include: I found myself micro-analyzing every little 32nd note at times, and had to stop and breathe and recall that non-specialists may not find every little connection all that fascinating!

I think now it's time for the A-word:

Appendices, please! : )

Certainly in the interests of an overall view of the Sonata, you did well to resist the pull of the minutiae . . . but if there are two or three spots where you especially found yourself prompted (and not by me!) to dig in to greater detail . . . I should take keen interest in what you have to say about 32-notes here or there . . . .

[Cato]

Most well earned!

I think now it's time for the A-word:

Appendices, please! : )

Certainly in the interests of an overall view of the Sonata, you did well to resist the pull of the minutiae . . . but if there are two or three spots where you especially found yourself prompted (and not by me!) to dig in to greater detail . . . I should take keen interest in what you have to say about 32-notes here or there . . . .[/font]

Finally I have a few minutes to write an addendum to my comments on Karl's Viola Sonata.

A certain member of GMG once complained about "too many notes" with no seeming purpose being present in one of Luke Ottevanger's piano works.  In my response to that complaint I showed how certain rapid passages made sense both motivically and harmonically.

However, the question is not a bad one per se: how does a composer create cascades of rapid 32nd notes?  How does the composer choose which notes to use, especially in a work eschewing traditional harmony like the Viola Sonata?

Two quick examples from the opening movement should (I hope ) suffice.  Karl plays with certain intervals throughout the work, especially 2nds, 7ths, and 9ths, but also 4ths and 5ths.  If one looks at bar 9 of the opening movement, you see that the Viola plays an F, while the piano joins in with a jumpy 16th-32nd dotted 8th-16th note figure on F-Gb-F-F/E, with a 16th note octave in the bass on G to interfere with the F dotted 8th note.  This then leads (bar 10) to a cascade of 32nd and even 64th notes: E-D#-A#-B-D-C#, while the Viola plucks an F.  So why these notes here?  The E-D# preserves the major/minor 7th/2nd idea, while the A#-B gives a 4th and a minor 2nd, while the D-C# preserves the 2nd /7th/9th  interference with the initial E-D#.

Bar 23 offers another example of cohesion, and presents proof that the 32nd notes are there for a reason other than to fill musical space.  The 32nd notes in the Viola descend with our minor/major 2nd motif: F-E-D while the piano crawls upward on C#-D-E.  On the "E" in the bass the piano in the right hand begins a cantabile song in octaves using the notes B-A-C-Gb-Db-Eb-C- E.  So we have an open fifth (of sorts: the E is 2 octaves below) to begin the cantabile section.  But the 32nd notes in the viola accompanying the B-A are Ab-C-C#-F#, while the bass offers a delayed (by an 8th rest) contrary motion A#-F#-F-C: note the parallelism!!!  During C-(dotted 8th note)-Gb in the piano the Viola has an arpeggio E-A-D-Eb-Bb-F: here one notices the 4th-5th motif as well as the persistence of the minor 2nd.  In contrary motion with the D-Eb-Bb-F the bass has D-A-E-D#(Eb), and again note the (rearranged) parallelism!

You can probably see why I did not include such musings in the original essay, since it threatened to become something from the infinite pen of Robert Jordan.

0:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time

[Cato]

With the preceding essay I must admit to a larcenous feeling that I was inside Karl's brain and rummaged through his stuff, played with his toy train, and kicked his id by accident.   

[karlhenning]

Hah!

[Cato]

Hah!

"It is to laugh" indeed, to quote Bugs Bunny!   0:)

Okay, I admit it: the id-kick was no accident!   

Karl had a Christmas party last night: we hope the egg nog did not fog his noggin!   0:)