Henning's Headquarters

[Karl Henning]

It's official!  The game is afoot with the Op.124.

[Karl Henning]

Did some tidying of old scores . . . a fresh Sibelius file of the Op.66 Prelude on Kremser for trumpet and organ (and an official score of the cl/org version, which is how I've played it some 10 times by now).  And the alternate version of Après-mystère with piccolo rather than C flute, which (again) is pretty much how we've always played it.

[Karl Henning]

Carola has seen (and approves of) the opening of the Op.124!

[Karl Henning]

Well, so what else?

Yesterday, the choir made a great hit;  when the anthem ended, the congregation applauded.  Now, on one hand, from my upbringing I find applause in church a bit "other."  On the other hand, this is their tradition, and I have been engaged to serve them;  so (as my buddy Charles said) if the congregation applauds, the choir's mission is being fulfilled.

In the ongoing planning for the Christmas concert, I've secured a violinist's cooperation . . . so I am planning to write a piece for violin and the handbells.


Still hoping to get a brass quintet for that event . . . so I had better prepare the choral score of the Op.67 Sweetest Ancient Cradle Song.


I've got to prepare the bass part for the two calypso numbers for the choir.


I should formalize/expand the ad hoc arrangement we sang last year of "I Want Jesus to Walk With Me."


Next week is the first handbell choir rehearsal of the season;  so I have got to have at least two pieces we are ready to read.  I think one of them should be the Musette, which we can do better than at the first performance this past June, and which will go nicely on the Christmas concert.

I sent the Op.66 Prelude on Kremser to my old schoolmate Steve Falker, who says he's going to keep it.


On the bus this morning, I shall mull and sketch some more of the Op.124.

[Karl Henning]

Oh!  And since the soprano and I begin rehearsing The Mystic Trumpeter this Friday, I had better start practicing.  Not only to get the two passages which I need to practice under control, but to get the chops back in shape.  As seen with the June concerts, it's as easy as spending half an hour each day with the instrument.

[Karl Henning]

Practiced yesterday!  Probably the first I assembled the clarinet since the June recitals, and lawd, do I need to practice.  Breaking in a new reed is an additional challenge.  Mostly, I need to win control over those triplet semi-quavers in The Mystic Trumpeter . . . I have a few days before rehearsing with the soprano, so with a little application, we shall avert disaster.

[Karl Henning]

[. . .]

The really great thing about waking up to Wednesday April the 24^th, is the smoking thought that to-morrow evening, the Libella Quartet will sing Annabel Lee.

Listening to this again more than a year later, I still think very well of it.

[Cato]

... the Libella Quartet will sing Annabel Lee.

Listening to this again more than a year later, I still think very well of it.

As should all who hear it! It is an arresting concept and a marvelous elucidation of the text!  It has always been my idea that music for a text should provide its unconscious, its "id" and "superego" so to speak, and Karl's music does that in scintillating fashion!

[Karl Henning]

Thanks!  What with Poe, Whitman, and Schulte, my composition has fully re-engaged with the notion of setting text over this past twelvemonth and more.

[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.

Well, I switched those.  Hope no one minds . . . .

[Karl Henning]

Re-post & refresh:

Night of the Weeping Crocodiles, Op.16 (cl/vn/pf)

Night of the Weeping Crocodiles, Op.16a (cl/pf/prc)

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

Canzona, Op.77a № 1 (org solo)

Gigue, Op.77a № 2 (org solo)

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 (vc/pf)

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

A Song of Remembrance, Op.123 (mixed chorus SAB & pf)

Tiny Wild Avocadoes, Op.125 № 1 (2 vn/va)

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]

Maybe I need to make that less unwieldy . . . .

[Karl Henning]

This morning I sent some brief e-mail messages to follow up on some scores I sent around.

Yesterday, I had a nice chat with Paul, and the chorus found my piece a bit of a challenge (which does not surprise me), though Paul feels that nothing is insurmountable (which does not surprise me, either).  He will rehearse most of the solos as sections, and may leave many of them that way for the performance (which is fine).  He called the opening imitative Dona nobis pacem "gorgeous," which was of course highly gratifying.

[Karl Henning]

Okay, word is in from Kirstin:  The Op.121 will go on in April, at the River Conservatory Contemporary Seminar.

[Karl Henning]

Well, the ending is much better, but it needs improvement enough that I rule that the work is yet unfinished.

The improvement, though, is sufficient, that at least I can post the draught without embarrassment:

I do not think I ever posted the final score -- which we start rehearsing this evening!  (So maybe there will be changes . . . .)

[Karl Henning]

Yesterday was largely devoted to reducing Sweetest Ancient Cradle Song to a choral score.

[Karl Henning]

Yesterday was largely devoted to reducing Sweetest Ancient Cradle Song to a choral score.

This, in fact:

[Karl Henning]

The Mystic Trumpeter, rehearsal II

Evelyn has, not surprisingly, learnt the piece better.  Or perhaps it is a bit of a surprise — since we rehearsed last just Friday, and she had a very musically busy weekend (she has a minor singing role in a local production of Carmen).  So we made good progress, rehearsing section by section in order . . . and then, I asked her if she had steam enough to try running the lot, and seeing where we were.  That run-through was not perfect, but the piece is in a very encouraging state.  For after all, the concert is not until 7 October;  and we rehearse again this Friday.

And from the clarinetist's perspective:  just playing through the piece twice is a fine, robust practicing routine . . . .

[Karl Henning]

Word just in:

"Karl, I will see if I can get a reading of your avocado piece this week.  Looks like it could be really good for students.  Will keep in touch."

[Karl Henning]

"Getting the choral score done" on Saturday was, in a sense, true:  I had reduced the five staves of the brass quintet to two or three.  And (what I suppose I ought to be able to adjust "backstage" in the Sibelius settings) manually overriding, system by system, the peculiarly large space Sibelius puts between the bass clef staff of the organ manual, and the pedal staff.  And a few obvious layout adjustments (e.g., where the final measure of a system was a key and tempo change).

I had also made efforts to re-flow the pages so that, where possible, more than one system should fit on each page.  The first attempt ran to 43pp., perhaps six of which still only had a single system.  The quick-&-dirty "fix" for that was, to try reducing the size of the staves.  Although there is a decimal place in that field, I seemed here bound to select a multiple of 0.5, so the reduction was not to so fine a degree as I should have preferred . . . but the result was a choral score which ran to only 36pp.

That, then, was the state of the project when the weekend drew to a close.

Before taking the choral score to press, though, I wanted to compare the two, which I did Monday;  and I found that the smaller staves were a significant inconvenience, compared to the 43-pp. score.  Yesterday, then, I closely proofread the larger-staved score, discovering a few further tweaks.  And today I have a finished score, suitable for placing into the hands of my choir (and on the music stand of our organist) which stands at 41pp.

And we are thus ready to begin rehearsing the piece at tomorrow's rehearsal.