Henning's Headquarters

[Karl Henning]

Today marks the return of the choir at FCB.  I think we may be singing my Kingsfold arrangement . . . .

[Karl Henning]

And indeed, we are the prelude:

[Karl Henning]

The Libella Quartet are singing a concert on 16 March, and will perform Annabel Lee again!

[TheGSMoeller]

The Libella Quartet are singing a concert on 16 March, and will perform Annabel Lee again!

Great news, Karl!

Had fun reading over the Nicodemus score, thanks for sharing.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks for looking at Nicodemus!

[Cato]

And indeed, we are the prelude:

Yay Team Henning and Elgar!

Great news, Karl!

Had fun reading over the Nicodemus score, thanks for sharing.

For those who can read the score:

First, I love that sound of a theme wandering the desert between very high cirrus clouds in the treble and the rumblings of a very deep tectonic plate in the bass.  And the harmonic world you have created with the technique sounds most appropriate for the image in the title.

I was at first skeptical of the pizzicato section, but then replayed it a few times and understood what Karl was after: bar 41 should sound marvelous when the cello bows the F#!

One idea for the "pizzicato" effect in the piano of course is to have the pianist pluck the wires.  I recall one musician grousing about how that was "a good way to ruin a piano" !  (Obviously not a John Cage fan!       )

Bars 55 - 60: the simple semi-tone inhalation and sigh on A-Bb-A with the contrary motion in the piano above.  Excellent!

I will have more time later to check the rest of the score.

[Karl Henning]

Rejoice with me!  A musical friend who had fallen off my personal grid has been found!  And here is, burning the air molecules with his sound.


Back when I was the interim choir director at the Cathedral Church of St Paul, Chris wrote us a lovely setting of the antiphon, O Oriens.  A piece to which my thought turns time and again . . . .

[Karl Henning]

And here's a start on just what everyone was expecting:

Edit :: old version deleted

[Karl Henning]

Back when I was the interim choir director at the Cathedral Church of St Paul, Chris wrote us a lovely setting of the antiphon, O Oriens.  A piece to which my thought turns time and again . . . .

I'm wondering if Chris did not participate here at GMG, perhaps back before The Great Migration.

Anyway, his intention, long unacted-upon, of writing settings for all the O antiphons remains viable, and he will set to work on another this fall.  (As they are Advent antiphons, the timeliness will probably be part of the spark.)

[Karl Henning]

Just had a nice catch-up chat with Charles Peltz, he who commissioned Out in the Sun.  One of the things I wanted to float by him was Misapprehension . . . he doesn't have that many clarinets, but he is still interested to peruse the score.

The thought came to me spontaneously to follow up with, There are too many clarinets required in this piece to suit this year, is there another combination which would serve better?  And in a sense, I got an answer better than I might have hoped for, if I had asked the q. deliberately . . . because the piece that will fit the bill (although I put it thus, it is clear that submitting the finished piece would be purely on spec, no promises) is In the Artist's Studio . . . so that has become a fresh priority, or rather, has earned its way further ahead in the queue.

[Karl Henning]

The lunchtime task today was working out a rhythm-&-harmony 'game' for the rest of Nicodemus. I think I like it.

[Karl Henning]

Heck of a quandary . . . I wonder if the ending is too abrupt.  Yet, I should not lengthen the piece.

I'll sleep on it . . . the solution may come to me in a dream . . . .

[Karl Henning]

Well, I received gratifyingly rapid responses from both Sara (for whom I've written Nicodemus) and Mrs Peltz.

Sara will read the piece with a pianist this Monday;  Mrs P. has a student for whom (and a new music recital for which) she thinks the Sonatina may be a good fit, and has promised to write back with thoughts about both pieces in a day or two.

I'll go ahead and post this, although I confess I suffer the slight nag of doubt about the very ending.  Not to lapse into technical jargon . . . but all else about the piece just feels right to me, seems to flow well and naturally, but I wonder if the ending (which is not a "bad ending," as such, I don't think) does not quite feel, well, maybe of a piece, or it feels to me that the timing may be off.  So the two questions I am shuffling around are, Is there really a problem?  (I mean, I think there is, that even this nag is worth questioning) and, If there is, what is the least invasive solution?  Because if you over-engineer a fix, the likelihood increases that you simply create a new problem.

And while my head lay on the pillow (and the neurons were, in any case, still rather charged with the thrill of having practically reached the end of the piece), the solution (or, what I feel may quite readily be the solution came to me).  And separately, Cato made a suggestion which is particularly sound (it's not the fix, but it is a nice finishing touch).  So I post this, not embarrassed that I am bringing forward an unfinished artifact, but feeling that I have things pretty much in the bag.

To Cato also belongs credit for suggesting the inside-the-piano bit;  absolutely the right idea.

[Karl Henning]

Re-post & refresh:

Timbrel and Dance, Op.73 [ St Paul's choir plus ].

26 February De profundis [ Jaya Lakshminarayan & friends ]

15 March Passion rehearsal A [ Sine Nomine ]

15 March Passion rehearsal B [ Sine Nomine ]

15 March Passion rehearsal C [ Sine Nomine ]

12 May recital [ k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble (Bloom/Henning/Cienniwa) ]

18 May recital [ Bloom/Henning ]

23 May pre-concert rehearsal [ Sine Nomine ]

22 June recital [ N. Chamberlain/B. Chamberlain/Henning ]

Score of The Wind, the Sky, & the Wheeling Stars, Part I

Score of The Wind, the Sky, & the Wheeling Stars, Part II

Love is the spirit of this church, Op.85 № 3

Nicodemus brings myrrh and aloes for the burial of the Christ, Op.85 № 4 for cello & piano [work-in-progress]

The Passion According to St John, Op.92 (on MediaFire, courtesy of Johan)

Lutosawski’s Lullaby, Op.96a № 1 (string quartet)

Marginalia, Op.96a № 2 (string quartet)

Après-lullaby, Op.96a № 3 (string quartet)

Score of Fair Warning [Viola Sonata, mvt 1]

MIDI of Fair Warning [Viola Sonata, mvt 1]

Score of Suspension Bridge (In Daves Shed) [Viola Sonata, mvt 2]

MIDI of Suspension Bridge (In Daves Shed) [Viola Sonata, mvt 2]

Score of Tango in Boston (Dances with Shades) [Viola Sonata, mvt 3]

MIDI of Tango in Boston (Dances with Shades) [Viola Sonata, mvt 3]

Johan's MediaFire folder, including the whole of Dana's première performance of the Viola Sonata

These Unlikely Events, Op.104 № 4

These Unlikely Events, Op.104 № 5

Kyrie, Op.106 № 1

Organ Sonata, Op.108 :: Mvt 1, Eritis sicut Deus

Organ Sonata, Op.108 :: Mvt 2, . . . scientes bonum . . .

Organ Sonata, Op.108 :: Mvt 3, . . . et malum

In the Artist's Studio, work-in-progress

Thoreau in Concord Jail, Op.109 for clarinet solo

http://www.youtube.com/v/iDY7Dc41vL0

Airy Distillates, Op.110 for flute solo

Annabel Lee, Op.111 for vocal quartet

http://www.youtube.com/v/tN3aMOrzEb8

Misapprehension, Op.112 for clarinet choir

The Mystic Trumpeter, Op.113 № 1 for soprano & clarinet

Après-mystère, Op.113 № 2 for flute & clarinet And MIDI

just what everyone was expecting, Op.114 for clarinet & marimba (work-in-progress)

Henningmusick at ReverbNation.

Henningmusick at Instant Encore.

About an hour's worth of Henningmusick, too, at SoundCloud.

[Karl Henning]

PS/ The more I reflect on it, the less the ending troubles me.  I think just the merest touch will mend all.

[Karl Henning]

PPS/ The MIDI sounds tolerably good, but I shall wait until the ending is quite done before making an mp3 available.

[Karl Henning]

Viz. the book review which is just published in the Music Reference Services Quarterly, you can view a sample page here.

[Karl Henning]

PS/ The more I reflect on it, the less the ending troubles me.  I think just the merest touch will mend all.

And done:

[Cato]

And done:

And another "gem" for Karl!  The meditative aspect, the image of the sad, wandering believer and the bell-like atmosphere embodied in the music are all perfect.

The MIDI version will give you an approximation: we await a real performance...soon!  0:)

[Karl Henning]

Thank you!

At work getting my sketches from today for just what everyone was expecting plugged into Sibelius . . . .