Henning's Headquarters

[Karl Henning]

A little more tinkering this morning; I do think it is done.  Maybe I'll change my mind on Tuesday 

[Karl Henning]

So, what did I do (at long last)?

Since in m.341 we snuck into a return to the "haunting Sarabande," at [ S ] we hear an adaptation of the Vigoroso passage at [ H ], inverted, overall a bit wilder of pitch content, and all 10 players, so while it is a "return" of sorts, it is also somewhat restively chaotic.


[ T ] is a gigue-like adaptation of the [ B ] material, and (I think) fairly true to the pitch of the original passage.  Practically everything from here to the end is an echo/version of earlier material.

[Karl Henning]

Well, here she is, complete:

http://www.youtube.com/v/55PLnJ4vuSs

[Karl Henning]

This Tuesday (21 June, 12:15)

k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble and Guests

Peter H. Bloom and Carol Epple, flutes
Pamela Marshall, horn
Karl Henning, clarinet & noyz
Maria Bablyak and Irina Pisarenko visual artists

Sound and Sight – the premiere of a new work by Karl Henning

Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 12:15 pm

King's Chapel, corner of School and Tremont Streets, Boston

Donations welcome.  Information:  617-227-2155

Impelled by the premiere performance of composer Karl Henning's latest work, Sound and Sight, Opus 140, visual artists Maria Bablyak and Irina Pisarenko will paint in the moment, interpreting the sonic images in a multi-media experience.  In The Conquest of Emptiness, the two painters will engage in a visual dialogue on a shared canvas, where one asks a question and the other gives an answer.  In Contemplating the Irrepressible, Bablyak and Pisarenko will create a collaborative mosaic, with the two painters adding element by element, tile by tile.

Sound & Sight, Op.140 by Karl Henning:

1. The Conquest of Emptiness
2a. Avant-subterfuge (Before the Tape)
2b. Sonic Dissemblage (Sex Tape)
3. Contemplating the Irrepressible (Happy Birthday, Carl Nielsen!)

[Karl Henning]

High time I returned to this, I do not deny it.

On the other hand:  I think I have exactly the direction I wish to take this in, now.

[Karl Henning]

Excellent rehearsal last night, together with the artists so they could grow accustomed to the arc of the show.  We started with The Conquest of Emptiness.  All the metrical and tempo changes in the last piece proved such a challenge that for the last few rehearsals most of the attention was focused thereon, and the sense was that, by contrast, The C. of E. was a walk in the Boston Common.  Once we had the last piece well in hand, though, we went back to the first piece with a renewed sense of the challenge of a couple of places, in particular.  (The chief fix in both cases was, that — as much as I may, around playing my own part — I conduct the beat whenever I can.)  We played The C.of E. through;  went back to fix some tuning in one passage for the two flutes (just needed a little less vibrato so that the close intervals will be clean);  played it through again, perfect.  Went on to Contemplating the Irrepressible, which we had well subdued at Saturday's rehearsal;  and indeed, we played it through dead on.


We then reviewed the improvisatory interlude.  I decided we would indeed use my first essay, which does both echo The C. of E. (especially in use of harp and some of the percussion) and share some of the jungle-cat-heavy-breathing with Sex Tape, so that between those two tracks is exactly where it belongs.  It is brief, and I do some improvisation on my UVa-era discovery, the truncated clarinet.  For Sex Tape, I decided that I would guide the other three players in a group improvisation;  my first "verbal roadmap" for this worked all right, it was just too little . . . when we rehearsed that the first time (who knows? a week ago, maybe) I realized just how long a five-minute piece is, in the sense that I certainly needed to plan out the collective improv better.  I had the expanded roadmap ready for them on Saturday, and we gave it an initial reading.  We worked out the kinks at last night's rehearsal.


All the individual pieces now in a state of concert-readiness, since the plan is (for the ease of us all) to set the CD of fixed media playing, and just letting it run its course (no Pausing or Stopping/Starting), we then ran the program, the artists and musicians all together.  Went like a charm, works brilliantly.  It is, in Peter's word, a gas.


See you on The Other Side (of the concert).

[Karl Henning]

Actually, got more work done yesterday:

[Karl Henning]

Dialing the mp3 down is certainly a sonic sacrifice, but here is that incipit:

[Karl Henning]

Dialing the mp3 down is certainly a sonic sacrifice, but here is that incipit:

The harpsichord is just the rehearsal keyboard, of course;  I might have muted that for the output . . . for the piece is indeed for choir unaccompanied.

[Karl Henning]

Though I am the one who says it, yesterday's concert/event was an exceptional success.  The artists, doing their work on the spur of the moment, were the stars, of course;  and we musicians might just have shown up.  But the audience afterwards had warm word for the music, too.

[Karl Henning]

L to R: Pam Marshall, Carol Epple, kh, Maria Bablyak, Irina Pisarenko, Peter H. Bloom

[Karl Henning]

Well, I do feel that I am now in earnest pursuit of the Gloria.  (Also, we have a Triad Repertory Committee tomorrow evening, and we are beginning to plan two seasons . . . and I want to propose the entire Mass.)  I have also promised Peter a flute/viola/harp trio for Ensemble Aubade, Oxygen Footprint, for their November program.  And I am keen to wrote Olivia a percussion-plus-fixed-media piece, which I think I may title Mistaken for the Sacred.

Also, to be sure, I must prepare to conduct The Young Lady Holding a Phone in Her Teeth for the 21 July reading with Kammerwerke.  They will have had the parts, but how well can I count on them to have prepared for our initial encounter?  I am thinking of starting, not at the beginning, but at the "haunting sarabande," and working our way in either direction thence.

Will Triad go for the Mass idea?  I don't know.  I could easily foresee a divided response.  They have all enjoyed singing my Agnus Dei and Nuhro, and both pieces won their highest musical respect.  But it would also not surprise me if some feel that one of our composers having so large-scale a piece is somehow disproportionate.  Then again, there may be a degree of feeling that, for us to perform the première of such a grand piece, is entirely part of our mission, and an opportunity to seize.

Anyway, I shall pose the question, and we shall see what happens.

[Karl Henning]

Cooking away, just as I like it:

[Karl Henning]

It's that time of year when I collect information to file some paperwork with ASCAP.  Is it too bizarre if I admit that I am astonished at how much composition I got done in 2015?

2015 Compositions:

These Unlikely Events, Op.104; arr. for clarinet and violoncello; Jan-Feb 2015
The Mysterious Fruit, Op.124; mezzo-soprano and marimba; Feb 2015
The Mysterious Fruit, Op.124a; mezzo-soprano and piano; Feb 2015
Tiny Wild Avocados, Op.125 nos. 6 & 7; two violins and viola; Feb 2015
Valentine, Op.127 no. 2; violoncello and piano; Feb 2015
Sanctus, Op.106 no. 4; choir SATB unaccompanied; Feb 2015
Sanctus, Op.106 no. 4a; arr. for tuba quartet; Feb 2015
Discreet Erasures, Op.99; orchestra; Feb 2015
In the Artist's Studio (There's a Wide World in There), Op.107; seventeen winds and harp;  Mar 2015
Beach Balls (Red), Op.126 no. 5; organ solo; May 2015
Sparrows Hopping on the Wet Sidewalk, Op.127 no. 3; violoncello and piano; June 2015
Visions fugitives de nouveau, Op.131;  piano solo; June-July 2015
Neither do I condemn thee, Op.132;  flute duet;  Aug 2015
Joseph & Mary, Op.53a;  arr. for children's and adult choirs, flute, violin, handbells and organ;  Aug 2015
Born on Earth to Save Us, Op.52a;  arr. for children's and adult choirs, flute, violin, handbells and organ;  Aug 2015
... illa existimans quia hortulanus esset .... , Op.121;  arr. for euphonium and piano;  Aug 2015
Little Suite, Op.127d;  arr. for euphonium and piano;  Aug 2015
From the Pit of a Cave in the Cloud, Op.129;  soprano, bass flute/picc, flute, soprano recorder/tenor recorder, horn;  Sep 2015
Misapprehension, Op.112a;  arr. for string orchestra;  Sep 2015
Pat-A-Pan, Op.126 no. 6;  arr. for handbell choir; Sep 2015
Ear Buds (The dream of a young man in the woods, listening), Op.135;  symphonic band;  Sep 2015
Saltmarsh Stomp, Op.134;  clarinet choir in 15 parts;  Oct 2015
Gabriel's Message (Basque Carol), Op.126 no. 7; flute, violin and voice trio;  Nov 2015
I Want Jesus to Walk With Me, Op.126 no. 2; choir SATB unaccompanied;  Nov 2015
I Want Jesus to Walk With Me, Op.126 no. 2a; arr. for brass quintet;  Nov 2015

2015 Performances:

24 Jan 2015;  Moonrise, Op.84 (première);  MidTown Brass Quintet; Hapeville, GA
15 Mar 2015;  The Mysterious Fruit, Op.124 (première);  Carola Emrich-Fisher & Sylvie Zakarian;  Boston, MA
29 Mar 2015;  Nicodemus brings myrrh and aloes for the burial of the Christ, Op.84 no. 4 (première); Sara Richardson Crigger;  Nashville, TN
5 Apr 2015;  Alleluia in D, Op.; Choir of Holy Trinity United Methodist Church;  Danvers, MA
11 May 2015;  Agnus Dei, Op.106 no. 5 (première);  Triad: Boston's Choral Collective;  Cambridge, MA
17 May 2015;  Annabel Lee, Op.111;  the Libella Quartet;  Boston, MA
2 June 2015;  Studies in Impermanence, Op.86;  Karl Henning;  Boston, MA
7 June 2015;  Canzona & Gigue, Op.77a (première);  Paul Cienniwa;  Boston, MA
27 Oct 2015;  From the Pit of a Cave in the Cloud, Op.129 (première);  The k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble;  Boston, MA
21 Nov 2015;  Nuhro, Op.74;  Triad: Boston's Choral Collective;  Cambridge, MA
23 Nov 2015;  Nuhro, Op.74;  Triad: Boston's Choral Collective;  Quincy, MA
13 Dec 2015;  Gabriel's Message (Basque Carol) , Op.126 no. 7 (première);  Peter H. Bloom, Rachel Wimmer, Karl Henning & al.
13 Dec 2015;  Basque Carol, Op.126 no. 3 (première);  Peter H. Bloom
13 Dec 2015;  Musette, Op.118 no. 7;  Handbell Choir of Holy Trinity United Methodist Church;  Danvers, MA
13 Dec 2015;  Pat-A-Pan, Op.126 no. 6 (première);  Handbell Choir of Holy Trinity United Methodist Church;  Danvers, MA
13 Dec 2015;  Born on Earth to Save Us, Op.52a;  Holy Trinity United Methodist Church Choir;  Danvers, MA
13 Dec 2015;  Joseph & Mary, Op.53a;  Holy Trinity United Methodist Church Choir;  Danvers, MA

[Karl Henning]

Some more:

[Karl Henning]

Good Triad rep committee meeting last night (horrid drive down to Quincy, but at least I had some Dvořák to ease the pain).  The fact that the meeting got out before half-past 8, and that I had an easy 30-minute drive home (and so hit the hay at my accustomed bedtime), were welcome bonuses.

It was Charles, actually, who asked about the rest of the Mass (!!) . . . we may ultimately decide that, where we customarily prepare programs of ca. 45 minutes of music, a 30-minute piece by one of our composers is disproportionate;  but the subject has been broached, and is live.  May be able to ease into a vote of "Isn't a première of a major piece by a Triad composer exactly the sort of thing we ought to do?" over the next couple of meetings/e-mail exchanges.  For the coming season, though, I am happy for us to do the Song of Remembrance.

Down the road, I hope to have Luke write a piece specifically for us;  in the meanwhile, I think his setting of Blake's The Lamb is a shoe-in.

[Karl Henning]

Some more:

I may of course tweak some of the seams, but overall I am pleased, and will plough on.

[Karl Henning]

It's that time of year when I collect information to file some paperwork with ASCAP.  Is it too bizarre if I admit that I am astonished at how much composition I got done in 2015?

2015 Compositions:

These Unlikely Events, Op.104; arr. for clarinet and violoncello; Jan-Feb 2015
The Mysterious Fruit, Op.124; mezzo-soprano and marimba; Feb 2015
The Mysterious Fruit, Op.124a; mezzo-soprano and piano; Feb 2015
Tiny Wild Avocados, Op.125 nos. 6 & 7; two violins and viola; Feb 2015
Valentine, Op.127 no. 2; violoncello and piano; Feb 2015
Sanctus, Op.106 no. 4; choir SATB unaccompanied; Feb 2015
Sanctus, Op.106 no. 4a; arr. for tuba quartet; Feb 2015
Discreet Erasures, Op.99; orchestra; Feb 2015
In the Artist's Studio (There's a Wide World in There), Op.107; seventeen winds and harp;  Mar 2015
Beach Balls (Red), Op.126 no. 5; organ solo; May 2015
Sparrows Hopping on the Wet Sidewalk, Op.127 no. 3; violoncello and piano; June 2015
Visions fugitives de nouveau, Op.131;  piano solo; June-July 2015
Neither do I condemn thee, Op.132;  flute duet;  Aug 2015
Joseph & Mary, Op.53a;  arr. for children's and adult choirs, flute, violin, handbells and organ;  Aug 2015
Born on Earth to Save Us, Op.52a;  arr. for children's and adult choirs, flute, violin, handbells and organ;  Aug 2015
... illa existimans quia hortulanus esset .... , Op.121;  arr. for euphonium and piano;  Aug 2015
Little Suite, Op.127d;  arr. for euphonium and piano;  Aug 2015
From the Pit of a Cave in the Cloud, Op.129;  soprano, bass flute/picc, flute, soprano recorder/tenor recorder, horn;  Sep 2015
Misapprehension, Op.112a;  arr. for string orchestra;  Sep 2015
Pat-A-Pan, Op.126 no. 6;  arr. for handbell choir; Sep 2015
Ear Buds (The dream of a young man in the woods, listening), Op.135;  symphonic band;  Sep 2015
Saltmarsh Stomp, Op.134;  clarinet choir in 15 parts;  Oct 2015
Gabriel's Message (Basque Carol), Op.126 no. 7; flute, violin and voice trio;  Nov 2015
I Want Jesus to Walk With Me, Op.126 no. 2; choir SATB unaccompanied;  Nov 2015
I Want Jesus to Walk With Me, Op.126 no. 2a; arr. for brass quintet;  Nov 2015

Additionally, it was in 2015 that I created brand-new Sibelius editions of White Nights (what is done so far  ), and the sheaf of early piano solo pieces.

[jochanaan]

Though I am the one who says it, yesterday's concert/event was an exceptional success.  The artists, doing their work on the spur of the moment, were the stars, of course;  and we musicians might just have shown up.  But the audience afterwards had warm word for the music, too.

[jochanaan]

L to R: Pam Marshall, Carol Epple, kh, Maria Bablyak, Irina Pisarenko, Peter H. Bloom

Looks good!