Henning's Headquarters

[Karl Henning]

Here is what Maria writes about the program:

It is more difficult to evaluate or even understand abstract art than representational. Although the basic artistic principles are very similar, there is no definite, recognizable object for the viewer to relate to and focus attention upon, and it might be a challenge for a non-professional artist to make any sense of abstract art. And when something is unclear, an aura of mystery grows around it, with either positive or negative perceptions.

This performance is an attempt to demystify abstract art. Artists will create a piece in front of the audience, following emotions evoked by music, translating sounds into an image. Not everyone will connect color, shapes and sounds in exactly the same way, however, general directions are somehow wired into our minds. For instance, lower, duller sounds will associate with darker colors, higher-pitched sound will seem "thinner", brighter and lighter. A crescendo will evoke an image of moving upwards, etc. The same idea applies to depicting emotions, feelings.  We even say,  "feeling down, dark mood" or "bright spirits."

Abstract art, then, is a way of visualizing emotions, coming from our inner world;  or inspired directly by the world around us, what we see, hear, touch, taste.

The first piece will be created in a form of a dialogue between two artists, where the first one asks a question and the second gives an answer. It is in pensive or lamenting mood, the heart is poured out, sad and complaining;  the other artist is supporting and comforting, sometimes by a straight answer, sometimes by changing the color of a question.  Both are looking for answers to deep inner struggles.

The second piece is collaborative creation of one painting mosaic, visual fabric of sound. Both artists will add element by element, moving in the same direction, depicting the cheerful, rich texture of this musical composition.

[Karl Henning]

The Composer Writes:

A brief list of some of the tools, elements & artifacts used in or absorbed into today's music:

•   'Virtual instruments,' courtesy of the Sibelius sound library
•   The four-inch saucepan I use to warm my coffee in the morning
•   The fearless and ever-musical coöperation of all my colleagues present
•   A frame drum lent me by Julian Bryson of Triad
•   On-screen slider controls to regulate various aspects of wah-wah
•   My larynx
•   A Ghanaian drumming riff I learnt from Scott Deveaux in Charlottesville
•   Graphic point-&-paste sound element management in Audacity
•   Perhaps the first-ever authorized use of improvisation in mature Henningmusick
•   A liberal disregard for the question whether any human banjo player could manage this or that measure
•   Variations on the rhythmic tradition I have christened "mariachi hemiola"
•   Near-unrecognizable mutation of my 15-second piano piece, Bunny Keeping Still

The combination of pre-recorded "fixed media" with live performance is a novelty for me in my own compositional work.  In both Charlottesville (UVa) and Buffalo (SUNY) I had fair opportunity, as a student, for hand's-on work with electronic music (tools both ancient and modern).  But at the time (whether a matter simply of my own contemporaneous enthusiasms, or of what I saw as limitations of the tools – or limitations of my aptitude for the tools) I felt no motivation to adopt "Electronic Music" as part of my own compositional palette.  But my artistic interest has since been freshly engaged, by both the relatively recent explosion in ready availability of powerful, and subtle, and easy-to-use, computer tools, and the happy experience this past October of playing a piece written by Nashville composer David Leone for Peter & me to play, against/with fixed media.

[28Orot]

The Composer Writes:

A brief list of some of the tools, elements & artifacts used in or absorbed into today's music:

•   'Virtual instruments,' courtesy of the Sibelius sound library
•   The four-inch saucepan I use to warm my coffee in the morning
•   The fearless and ever-musical coöperation of all my colleagues present
•   A frame drum lent me by Julian Bryson of Triad
•   On-screen slider controls to regulate various aspects of wah-wah
•   My larynx
•   A Ghanaian drumming riff I learnt from Scott Deveaux in Charlottesville
•   Graphic point-&-paste sound element management in Audacity
•   Perhaps the first-ever authorized use of improvisation in mature Henningmusick
•   A liberal disregard for the question whether any human banjo player could manage this or that measure
•   Variations on the rhythmic tradition I have christened "mariachi hemiola"
•   Near-unrecognizable mutation of my 15-second piano piece, Bunny Keeping Still

The combination of pre-recorded "fixed media" with live performance is a novelty for me in my own compositional work.  In both Charlottesville (UVa) and Buffalo (SUNY) I had fair opportunity, as a student, for hand's-on work with electronic music (tools both ancient and modern).  But at the time (whether a matter simply of my own contemporaneous enthusiasms, or of what I saw as limitations of the tools – or limitations of my aptitude for the tools) I felt no motivation to adopt "Electronic Music" as part of my own compositional palette.  But my artistic interest has since been freshly engaged, by both the relatively recent explosion in ready availability of powerful, and subtle, and easy-to-use, computer tools, and the happy experience this past October of playing a piece written by Nashville composer David Leone for Peter & me to play, against/with fixed media.

Karl, please post here your principal work of art, your best composition, would love to hear it.

Thanks

[Cato]

Re-post & refresh:

Variations on Wie lieblich est, S.10 (oboe & organ)

Time Was, Op.4 (pf solo)
№ 1: Prelude (Charlottesville)
№ 2: Dance (Barefoot Amid Dandelions)
№ 3: The Myth of Motion II:  Toccatina (on the Ekaterininsky Canal)

Pictures Only I Can See, Op.11 (pf solo)
№ 1: Spring in Her Step
№ 2: The Bronze Girl's Spilt Milk
№ 3: The Myth of Motion I:  Chorale
№ 4: The Sleep-Pavane at the Foot of Frozen Niagara
№ 5: Petersburg Nocturne || MIDI on YT

Little Towns, Low Countries, Op.18 (pf solo)
№ 1: Invention (Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester)
№ 2: Aubade (Lake Canandaigua)
№ 3: Gigue (Glasgow Street, Cornhill)

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

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

To Melt From a Distance, Op.21 (pf solo)

Gaze Transfixt, Op.23 (pf solo)

Lutosławski's Lullaby, Op.25 (pf solo)

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

O Beauteous Heavenly Light, Op.34 № 2, performed by Carson Cooman, on YouTube.

The Allegro grazioso from the Sinfonietta, Op.38 for brass quintet (some shaky moments)

Journey to the Dayspring, Op.40 on YouTube

'Tis Winter Now (Danby), Op.45a (mezzo-soprano, flute & organ) at Amazon

Initiation of Barefoot on the Crowded Road, the former Op.41 (now the Discreet Erasures, Op.99, below)

Danse antique, Op.44

The original Born on Earth to Save Us, Op.52 for Bill Goodwin.

Born on Earth to Save Us, Op.52a for HTUMC.

Joseph and Mary, Op.53a for HTUMC.

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

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

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.

Three Things That Begin With "C", Op.65, clarinet & horn :: Original | Revised

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

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

14 Dec 2014 performance of Sweetest Ancient Cradle Song, Op.67

14 Dec 2014 performance of The Snow Lay on the Ground, Op.68a

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

21 Nov 2015 Triad performance of Nuhro, Op.74:  https://www.youtube.com/v/ftFJdcXz7lg

23 Nov 2015 Triad performance of Nuhro, Op.74.

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| | [url=http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,92.msg815368.html#msg815368 B | [url=http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,92.msg815369.html#msg815369 C | [url=http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,92.msg815370.html#msg815370 D

[url=http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,92.msg816086.html#msg816086]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 ]

Mirage, Op.79a (alto fl, cl, pf)

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 ]

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 Dave's Shed) [Viola Sonata, mvt 2]

MIDI of Suspension Bridge (In Dave's 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

Discreet Erasures, Op.99 for orchestra

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

Gloria, Op.106 № 2 :: work-in-progress, March 2015

Credo, Op.106 № 3

Sanctus, Op.106 № 4

(The Sanctus, arranged for tuba quartet)

Agnus Dei, Op.106 № 5 || Première by Triad

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

In the Artist's Studio, Op.107, for 17 winds & harp

Organ Sonata, Op.108
Mvt 1: Eritis sicut Deus
Mvt 2: . . . scientes bonum . . .
Mvt 3: . . . et malum

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

Misapprehension, Op.112a for strings

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

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

http://www.youtube.com/v/7RhH161HhlA

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

http://www.youtube.com/v/hlh61D6COvU

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)

14 Dec 2014 performance of Le tombeau de W.A.G., Op.122

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)

http://www.youtube.com/v/kYWAm11MX4s

The Mysterious Fruit, Op.124 (mezzo-soprano & marimba)

The Mysterious Fruit, Op.124a (mezzo-soprano & pf)

Tiny Wild Avocadoes, Op.125 (2 vn/va)
№ 1 "Children's Song"
№ 2 "Autumn Leaves (Wind Effect)"
№ 3 "Scampering Squirrels"
№ 4 "Pond at Twilight"
№ 5 "The Gnomes (Paul's Garden)"
№ 6 "Cheerful Song on the Wing"
№ 7 "The Avocado in Winter"

In the shadow of the kindly Star, Op.126 № 1 (violin solo and handbell choir)

I Want Jesus to Walk With Me, Op.126 № 2 (choir SATB unaccompanied) NEW & IMPROVED !! [ Version for brass quintet ]

Variations on a Basque Carol, Op.126 № 3 (clarinet unaccompanied)

Variations on a Basque Carol, Op.126 № 3 (flute unaccompanied)

Beach Balls (Red) , Op.126 № 5 (org solo)

Pat-A-Pan, Op.126 № 6 (handbell choir)

Gabriel's Message (Basque Carol), Op.126 № 7

Little Suite, Op.127 (vc & pf)
№ 1 "Summer Song"
№ 2 "Valentine"
№ 3 "Sparrows Hopping on the Wet Sidewalk" || MIDI on YT

Notebook for Elaina & Anna, Op.128 № 1 "Out for a Walk" (fl/a sx)

From the Pit of a Cave in the Cloud, Op.129, soprano & chamber group

http://www.youtube.com/v/H1GX6gAmom8

The Young Lady Holding a Phone in Her Teeth, Op.130 {work-in-progress}

Visions fugitives de nouveau, Op.131 (pf solo)
№ 1: One Leaf
№ 2: Versuch eines Milonga
№ 3: Beneath the Clear Sky
№ 4: That Tickles!
№ 5: Stephen Goes to California
№ 6: Kay's Blue Crabs
№ 7: Questionable Insistence
№ 8: Morning Prayer

https://www.youtube.com/v/FfL_20Sksc8

№ 9: Bunny Keeping Still
№ 10: Gamboling Squirrels
№ 11: The Street Musician
№ 12: The Shade of an Oak
№ 13: "Could you change one more thing?"
№ 14: Waiting
№ 15: Bicycling in Boston Common
№ 16: Mist on the Harbor
№ 17: Peter Moves to Montréal
№ 18: Seeing a Long-Since-Cancelled Stamp
№ 19: ... but his mind is elsewhere
№ 20: Starless Summer Night || MIDI on YT

Neither do I condemn thee, Op.132 for flute duet

A whimsical Canon:

http://www.youtube.com/v/B6xeqrcavUQ

Saltmarsh Stomp, Op.134 for clarinet choir in 15 parts

http://www.youtube.com/v/7DCc2sD2KAk

Ear Buds (The dream of a young man in the woods, listening), Op.135 for symphonic band

http://www.youtube.com/v/ZSMo90L5xJA

Darkest Doings, Op.136 {work-in-progress}

Things Like Bliss, Op.137 {work-in-progress}

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.

Maria's harpsichord

Karl, please post here your principal work of art, your best composition, would love to hear it.

Thanks

Take your pick from the above: check out e.g. Nuhro, The Mysterious Fruit, Viola Sonata, Nicodemus, From the Pit of a Cave in the Cloud

https://www.youtube.com/v/H1GX6gAmom8

[28Orot]

Cato,

Are you Karl?

[Cato]

Cato,

Are you Karl?

Actually, I might be Teddy Roosevelt!  0:)

[28Orot]

Actually, I might be Teddy Roosevelt!  0:)

Kindly let the addressee respond.

Cheers

[Cato]

Kindly let the addressee respond.

Cheers

In no way has the addressee been prevented from responding, corresponding, desponding, or sponding. 0:)

I suspect he has a rehearsal tonight, so wait until tomorrow!

[28Orot]

In no way has the addressee been prevented from responding, corresponding, desponding, or sponding. 0:)

I suspect he has a rehearsal tonight, so wait until tomorrow!

Ok Spokesperson

[Karl Henning]

Karl, please post here your principal work of art, your best composition, would love to hear it.

Thanks

Thanks for wanting to listen!  I don't really think in those terms, "my best composition";  I want the piece I am working on to be the best.

On simple reflection, I think I have not written anything better than the Viola Sonata:

https://soundcloud.com/karlhenning-1/sets/sonata-for-viola-piano-2010

[Karl Henning]

In no way has the addressee been prevented from responding, corresponding, desponding, or sponding. 0:)

I suspect he has a rehearsal tonight, so wait until tomorrow!

Yes, rehearsal immediately after work (walked from the office to the Downtown Crossing 'T' stop, took the Red Line to Davis Square, pulled a bike out of the Hubway dock there, bicycled up Holland Street, rang Peter's doorbell, assembled my clarinet.  Rehearsed until about 8.  Thank you for kindly responding in my absence!  You are not I, but your assistance is generous.

[28Orot]

Thanks for wanting to listen!  I don't really think in those terms, "my best composition";  I want the piece I am working on to be the best.

On simple reflection, I think I have not written anything better than the Viola Sonata:

https://soundcloud.com/karlhenning-1/sets/sonata-for-viola-piano-2010

Listening right now, so far so good. The piece is very reflective and entertaining, keeps you interested in the music and is not boring. It also has a quality of film music and can be easily used as a soundtrack. Good Job Karl, thanks for the listen.

Saul

[Karl Henning]

Thanks.

[Karl Henning]

Good rehearsal last night.  The ongoing challenges (which means we are going to retain Saturday's rehearsal, as well as Monday's dress rehearsal) have been:  (a) when we four winds are playing all together, can we remain true to the tempo of — stay in sync with — the fixed media track; and (b) a couple of places where there is either an accelerando or a ritardando, and those events are clear enough to follow, but where not all of the players can "hear" the new tempo we arrive at.  I tweaked the mix of Contemplating the Irrepressible, to try to vitiate the problematic spots.  We made good progress last night, but (as I say) we still need ample rehearsal.

We have had a couple of similar "problem spots" in The Conquest of Emptiness.  But when I asked during the rehearsal last night if we wanted to work on that first piece, there was an immediate no, meaning that sentiment was strong that we should continue work on Contemplating the Irrepressible. "Compared to this," Carol said, "the first number is a piece of cake."  All (or, most) things are relative . . . .

We all have a couple of days to practice on our own before the next rehearsal;  so I am confident that we will quickly reach the point where we can play through the music without trainwrecks, a number of times, so that Monday's dress will be "finishing."

[28Orot]

Thanks.

You're Welcome!

[nathanb]

That is a BOSS viola sonata.

I mean, you know me, I can always use a few extra extended techniques, but I think you said that's not your thing, so ignore this line please

[Karl Henning]

That is a BOSS viola sonata.

I mean, you know me, I can always use a few extra extended techniques, but I think you said that's not your thing, so ignore this line please

Many thanks!  I do like seeing what I can do more or less within traditional technique 

[North Star]

Thanks for wanting to listen!  I don't really think in those terms, "my best composition";  I want the piece I am working on to be the best.

On simple reflection, I think I have not written anything better than the Viola Sonata:

https://soundcloud.com/karlhenning-1/sets/sonata-for-viola-piano-2010

Somehow I had missed this recording before, and had only heard the MIDI, and while I did know there was more to the music than in the MIDI, it didn't really make me think about the work, one way or another. Having just now listened to the concert recording, I am very favourably impressed indeed.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks, Karlo!

[Karl Henning]

All right: I think that The Young Lady Holding a Phone in Her Teeth, Op.130 is done. Will let it cure overnight, and see how it seems in the morning.

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