Henning's Headquarters

[Karl Henning]

Re-post & refresh:

Fancy on Psalm 80 from the Scottish Psalter, Op.34 № 3, performed by Carson Cooman, on YouTube.

Journey to the Dayspring, Op.40 on YouTube

Counting Sheep (or, The Dreamy Abacus of Don Quijote), Op.58a for Pierrot-plus ensemble [ score, part I ].

Counting Sheep (or, The Dreamy Abacus of Don Quijote), Op.58a for Pierrot-plus ensemble [ score, part II ].

I Look From Afar, Op.60 for choir, brass quintet, organ & optional timpani

Blue Shamrock, Op.63 for clarinet unaccompanied, at Amazon.

Sweetest Ancient Cradle Song, Op.67 for choir, brass quintet, organ & optional timpani 1^st half | 2^nd half

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

Scene 1 from White Nights, Op.75 № 2

Scene 2 from White Nights, Op.75 № 3

Scene 3a from White Nights, Op.75 № 4

Intermezzo I from White Nights, Op.75 № 6

Intermezzo I from White Nights, Op.75 № 6, arr. for saxophone choir

Scene 4 from White Nights, Op.75 № 7

Scene 5 from White Nights, Op.75 № 8

Before-&-after, Finale-VS.-Sibelius exhibits from the Op.75 № 8| A | B | C | D

Scene 7 from White Nights, Op.75 № 10

26 February De profundis, Op.78 [ Jaya Lakshminarayan & friends ]

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, Op.80 carol for choir, brass quintet, organ & timpani

Moonrise, Op.84 for brass quintet. And MIDI

Moonrise, Op.84a for flute choir in six parts. And MIDI

15 March Passion rehearsal A [ Sine Nomine ]

15 March Passion rehearsal B [ Sine Nomine ]

15 March Passion rehearsal C [ Sine Nomine ]

Conclusion of the 19 Mar 2010 performance by Sine Nomine of the St John Passion, Op.92:

http://www.youtube.com/v/8netMuAHFkI

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 | Recording on SoundCloud

For God so loved the world, after Op.87 № 9 {Would you like the Doxology with that?} Yes | No | Recording on SoundCloud

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]

Cato's analysis of the Viola Sonata

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

Angular Whimsies, Op.100a (bass clarinet, percussion [two players] & piano)

Whimsy brevis, Op.100b (bass flute & piano)

http://www.youtube.com/v/OAp3w15ISl4

How to Tell (Chasing the Tail of Nothing), Op.103 (alto flute, clarinet & frame drum); 7 June 2014 performance

These Unlikely Events, Op.104 № 4

These Unlikely Events, Op.104 № 5

Kyrie, Op.106 № 1

Credo, Op.106 № 3

Brothers, If They Only Knew It, saxophone quartet (after Op.106 № 5)

Agnus Dei, Op.106 № 5

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/OnLYQ748aEg

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 № 1 for clarinet & marimba

(very nearly) what everyone was expecting, Op.114 № 5 for bass clarinet & marimba

just what everyone was expecting, Op.114a for clarinet, mandocello & double bass

My Island Home, Op.115 for percussion ensemble

Plotting (y is the new x), Op.116 for violin & harpsichord

http://www.youtube.com/v/2vKGfppo0o8

Jazz for Nostalgic Squirrels, Op.117 (fl, cl in A, gtr & cb) [ and at Soundcloud ]

When the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy, Op.118 № 1 (shakuhachi, drum & handbell choir)

http://www.youtube.com/v/79tPHWpH3UI

Divinum mysterium, Op.118 № 2 (choir unison & handbells)

http://www.youtube.com/v/MPr7NhE2-Bs

Easter Stikheron, Op.118 № 3 (choir SATB & handbells)

Welcome, Happy Morning!, Op.118 № 4 (handbells)

My Lord, What a Morning, Op.118 № 5 (choir & handbells)

http://www.youtube.com/v/AJzV-RxXiIk

Hymtunes Moscow & Te Deum, Op.118 № 6 (handbells)

Musette, Op.118 № 7 (handbells)

Psalm 130, Op.118 № 8 [ I think ] (clarinet & bass voice) [work-in-progress]

The Crystalline Ship, Op.119 № 1 (mezzo-soprano & baritone saxophone)

I Saw People Walking Around Like Trees, Op.120 (flute, clarinet, double-bass & frame drum)

http://www.youtube.com/v/E0_-CTvtSS8

... illa existimans quia hortulanus esset ...., Op.121 (cello & piano) [work-in-progress]

Le tombeau de W.A.G., Op.122a (flute, clarinet, double-bass & frame drum) Audio

8 Oct 2013 recital at King's Chapel

Henningmusick at ReverbNation.

Henningmusick at Instant Encore.

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

The 9^th Ear at SoundCloud.

And: Maria appears on the evening news in DC.

[Karl Henning]

Had a very nice meeting yesterday with Carola (the mezzo in the Libella Quartet), and we are scheming a piece for mezzo and marimba.  And Cato has been fetched in to the conspiracy!

[Karl Henning]

Okay, all the news (apart from an actual start on the Rossini collage for Scene 8) is clarinet and organ.  I've got my clarinet packed for travel, heading to Fall River after work;  Paul C. & I shall play my Prelude on « Kremser » — which I actually composed for trumpet & organ, but which has actually mostly been performed by myself on clarinet in A — this Sunday.

And Carson Cooman (whom you remember from his YouTube recording of the Fancy on Psalm 80 from the Scottish Psalter) sent me a reminder e-mail message yesterday.  He had asked me erewhile if I would adapt the Canzona & Gigue, Op.77 (cl/org) for organ solo.  In essence, if I get this to him, it will be in his performance rotation this coming church year.  "Absolutely," I assured him.

[Cato]

And Cato has been fetched in to the conspiracy!

Very fetched!

Okay, all the news (apart from an actual start on the Rossini collage for Scene 8) is clarinet and organ.  I've got my clarinet packed for travel, heading to Fall River after work;  Paul C. & I shall play my Prelude on « Kremser » — which I actually composed for trumpet & organ, but which has actually mostly been performed by myself on clarinet in A — this Sunday.

And Carson Cooman (whom you remember from his YouTube recording of the Fancy on Psalm 80 from the Scottish Psalter) sent me a reminder e-mail message yesterday.  He had asked me erewhile if I would adapt the Canzona & Gigue, Op.77 (cl/org) for organ solo.  In essence, if I get this to him, it will be in his performance rotation this coming church year.  "Absolutely," I assured him.

A good week for HenningMusick!!!

[Karl Henning]

Hit the ground of this work-week running.  And, curiously, it is a week full up with social catching-up each evening.  Rossini is waiting;  and now, starting to think about a piece for the Framingham State University Chorus on the theme of Peace (Baby).

[Karl Henning]

Not sure if the Song of the Open Road project will ever actually get off the ground.  So I am reassigning Op.123 to the clarinet-&-marimba setting of Cato's text.

Op.124 will be the Peace anthem for the Framingham State Univ Chorus.

This morning I sent just what everyone was expecting to Olivia, who half-jestingly said she doesn't "want to play anything insanely hard" . . . so I await the ruling in this instance . . . .

On the bus this morning I was looking at old White Nights papers.  Fascinating!  (Well, to me . . . .)

[Karl Henning]

Oh, which then left me at liberty to resume the Great White Nights Project.  Got back to work on the re-do of Night the First, Scene 1.  Seven measures done.  More than just a symbolic return.

Getting it done!

[Karl Henning]

Okay, what's new?

Although we were expecting otherwise, God Rest Ye Merry is not a go this year. But the Chorale think well of my work, and are interested in a future collaboration, either an existing work or possibly a new one. State of the Henning: No action needed at this time.

Today, I met with a fearless soprano, who has sung two pieces of mine (choral). She is game to look over The Mystic Trumpeter! And further, will entertain thoughts of a brand-new piece written for her.

[Karl Henning]

To be less elliptical . . . there was a time, either when 'there was a lot of that going around', or when I was hearing about that sort of thing fairly often. E.g., it was in a graduate composers' seminar at Buffalo that we heard Louis Andriessen discussing how he took the floor plan of a certain cathedral as a formal model for I forget just which piece.  And, I mean, maybe that's fine (and probably, one needs to get back to making music, i.e. making musical adjustments from the "extramusical mold").  The process struck me as a sort of "training wheels," and at the time I was already bicycling fairly confidently;  I was internalizing much of my compositional processes, and (not that any other composer might not benefit from the practice) I felt that for myself, such literal adaption would be peculiarly artificial.

My own manner has been, as I think of it, less "mechanical."  I contemplate the painting, resisting urges to reduce the experience to particulars, and over time get a sense of the visceral impact I receive from the piece, resisting urges to label specific emotions.  I then imagine myself with my clarinet, and consider, if I were improvising and I wanted to express this impression / these impressions, what might I play?

I should add that this has been a key element of my approach to White Nights, in concert with taking the story and (with a broad-ish brush) "storyboarding" the scenario, and thinking of altering the specific instrumental voicing of each scene.  But I read that part of the story afresh, sit still and mull . . . and when the moment comes, I think, Where does this make me want to go, musically?

I admit, it's no way to teach any student how to compose . . . .

[Karl Henning]

Okay, the date is: Tuesday, 7 October.

The Mystic Trumpeter may well ring forth at last!  Evelyn pronounces it doable, and she is showing the piece to her voice coach.  I've mentioned to her that I thought about adding a couple of clarinet notes to the solo voice stanza, as references, and wish her opinion.

And of course, there are those rapid triplets which I shall need to practice, practice & practice.

And Peter H. Bloom is on board to play the epilogue miniature, Après-mystère.

For the November Atlanta trip (which reminds me that I need to tap my publisher on the shoulder, get a lock on the timetable), Olivia will take a good long look at (and listen to) just what everyone was expecting.

At the very least, my clarinet will be in fighting trim this autumn!

[Cato]

Okay, the date is: Tuesday, 7 October.

The Mystic Trumpeter may well ring forth at last!  Evelyn pronounces it doable, and she is showing the piece to her voice coach.  I've mentioned to her that I thought about adding a couple of clarinet notes to the solo voice stanza, as references, and wish her opinion.

And of course, there are those rapid triplets which I shall need to practice, practice & practice.

And Peter H. Bloom is on board to play the epilogue miniature, Après-mystère.

For the November Atlanta trip (which reminds me that I need to tap my publisher on the shoulder, get a lock on the timetable), Olivia will take a good long look at (and listen to) just what everyone was expecting.

At the very least, my clarinet will be in fighting trim this autumn!

Yay Team! 

And Peter H. Bloom is on board to play the epilogue miniature, Après-mystère.

That work is also an epic miniature!

[Karl Henning]

Cheers, Cato!

And I should be getting my notebook back home today.

[Karl Henning]

And I should be getting my notebook back home today.

But, I didn't. Maybe soon . . . .

Separately:  The Atlanta trip is assuming more shape, and I am thinking of adapting Night of the Weeping Crocodiles for cl/pf/prc

[Karl Henning]

Woo-hoo, the notebook is back!

[Karl Henning]

Got the clarinet/vibraphone/piano version of Mirage done; it was every bit as easy a task as I expected.

I did find a Sibelius file of Night of the Weeping Crocodiles, but it was just a start (the first 30 measures).  That will be a spot of work;  made good progress today . . . may chip away at it some more tonight.  Should have it done before the next weekend.

[Karl Henning]

Just did another "shift" . . . I think if I just take it 10mm. at a time . . . .

[Karl Henning]

This mornings score:

[Karl Henning]

As you can tell by the early opus number, this was (or, the original piece was) quite an early effort.  Originally, I composed this as a setting for tenor, clarinet and piano of Oscar Wilde's "The Dole of the King's Daughter."  For whatever reason(s), I later found it to be too purple a text setting for my taste . . . and yet, I did like the sustained emotional charge of the piece, and was quite proud of it.  So, I decided to make it a "purely" instrumental trio.  The overall composition is practically the same;  I did some "redistribution" between the two single-line instruments, and added some coloristic touches to the violin line, so that it should be a violin part.  I shan't "get there" until I wrap up this Sibelius edition of the cl/vn/pf version, but I am excited to see what character alterations the adaptation for a marimba will suggest.

[Karl Henning]

Okay, no progress . . . re-entry to the work routine.  (Not a complaint.)  Earlier, perhaps when I was puttering on Monday morning, I fancied that the Crocodiles would arrange further as a piano trio.  Obviously, I have to finish (a) this Sibelius version of the original, and (b) the percussion arrangement for Olivia, first.

Maybe I am crazy, but I realize I have a large number of pieces I have promised (or I intend) to write.  After the percussive Crocodiles, I have a choral piece I promised to Paul for Framingham;  I have the Mysterious Fruit setting to get to Carola and Sylvie n/l/t YE2014;  and I do want to wrap up the cello-&-piano piece I started (long ago, it now feels) for Kirstin.  And, in principle, I don't want any of that to slow down resumption of the White Nights.  If the commission for the Song of the Open Road ever materializes, that will enter the picture as a priority, too.

Well, one thing at a time.  Will continue chipping away at the Crocodiles this week.  None of this is complaint (per above);  I have work on my desk, and I am getting it done.

[Karl Henning]

Okay!  The Sibelius edition of the Op.16 is done!


Now, to think about the percussive adaptation . . . .