Harp recital 18th Feb 2013

Today we went to a teahouse in town to finish a course for work. After it finished, I stayed a bit longer. And then a girl appeared with a small harp, ready for her Monday recital! I didn’t know this existed.

At any case: the harp was some 1,30 m high, maybe, with around 30 strings. Instead of pedals, each string had a little key at its top. For a contrast, Gordon Jacob (see note 1) describes the harp compass in a way I think it must have some 46 strings. The player had the harp leaning on her right shoulder. Strings were of different colours, same as in the big (real? orchestral? full?) harp.

Although Jacob mentions that the little finger is not used to play harp, the player was using it. I know for sure because I was admiring her use of it, when I have just started a couple of weeks ago to use it when I play guitar. True – it looked a bit funny, which is maybe why it called my attention on the first place, but she certainly used it here and there.

The left hand was rather focused on the low notes, using them in chords and arpeggios (just two or three glissandos in the whole session), presenting different rhythmical patterns, while the right hand plucked the melody in the higher notes, plus some of the high notes of the accompaniment.

Some of the pieces sounded old, some were more modern. She played a nice version of Scarborough Fair and many other pieces I didn’t know.

This harp has the disadvantage it’s more difficult to alter the key for the whole harp. On the other hand, it offers different possibilities, like e. g. divide the strings into high and low register, and then tune one part as the dominant of the other. That would allow for some modulation in the centre of the piece, changing the pitch instead of the keys / pedals, to come then back to the original tonality & pitch.

It is somehow always surprising that the top bar of the harp is curved, while the lower one is (or looks) straight. It looks better and I’m sure it has its physical reason.

The strings in the guitar are not played in the middle. However, the player had her hands in the middle here. The lower tones were further away than the higher ones. This makes sense: they are more resonant and the player can hear them better even at a slightly bigger distance. Also, if one wants to play harmonics, it is easier to find the mid point of a string if it is closer to you – especially in shorter, high-pitched ones!

I tried to find the harp in a book on musical instruments (see note 2). Definitely, it was some kind of frame harp. It wasn’t a triple harp, because the strings were in a straight line. For the chromatic changes, I mentioned it didn’t use pedals, but neither hooks as the ones depicted in the book; maybe they are a hook of a different type (they were more like switches, little levers moving vertically and away from the frame).

Notes:

1. G. Jacob, Orchestral Technique, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1931, 3rd edition (1982)
2. The Diagram Group, Musical Instruments of the world: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, Paddington Press Ltd, Holland, 1976, ISBN 0-8467-0134-0

Listening to Bach (project 12)

Invention No 4 in D minor, BWV 775

Also called Praeambulum 2 (see note 1 at end), it is very easy to follow the motif of this one. It starts with the 6 notes of the scale, and instead of playing the 7th grade following the line, it jumps the VII down and comes down the original scale again.

I could not find any diminution in this piece. Some examples where Bach uses the other devices are the following:

Imitation

There is an exact imitation as a canon one octave lower, starting in bar 3; then another one octave higher from bar 5. There is a further development of the motiv after this third entry (stave 1, bars 7 and following), which is then imitated starting in bar 11, stave 2, transposed an octave and a fifth lower (I guess one could say “to the lower thirteenth”).

There are other figures imitated though. The higher voice in bars 11-14 is imitated by the lower voice in bars 22-25, to the lower eleventh. In bars 47-48, both voices imitate their rhythmical figures from bars 16-17, while the lower voice (47 & first beat of 48) is a transposition of the higher in bars 16 & 17 (first beat).

Inversion

The second half of the main motif looks already like an inversion, which makes difficult to find one. One can arguably start in bar 22, stave 1. Another, shorter one, can be found close to the end, in bar 49. None of them is an exact inversion, however the first is closer to being an exact one.

Augmentation

In bars 7, 8 and first beat of 9, there is an augmentation. At first sight, one could think that the second note (E) is missing; however, it could also be that it was hidden in the top stave (on that beat, there’s an E semiquaver). To support that idea, Bach himself writes in the second note a D that is one octave higher (something like “missing something? look up!”) This, at least, looks like the type of hints & hidden features I would use.

(1) The book mentioned is Clavier-Büchlein for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Bärenreiter, Kassel (Germany), 1962, pages 50-51.

The Art of the Fugue – VIII Contrapunctus 7 a 4 per Augment et Diminut

I could find 28 different entries of the main theme, whether as dux, comes or other, and several times they are augmented. My favourite version so far can be heard here.

Imitation

The first dux appears in voice 3, then it appears again in the same voice, in bar 6 (just changing the first note, E instead of D) – provide this is not a false entry! It won’t show up again until bar 28, voice 4, in the same octave as in bar 5; and then immediately in bar 29, 3rd beat, it appears again in voice 2. Its last appearance will start in the last beat of bar 54, changing again the original first D by an E.

The augmented dux appears in bar 36, voice 3; bar 38, voice 1 (some of the notes, including the first note, are not augmented, but most are); and bar 50, voice 1.

Needless to say, there are quite a few examples of imitation based in other tonalities rather than the original D minor. The ones I could find were:

• F major: bar 23, voice 2 (1st beat) and voice 3 (2nd beat, augmented)
• G minor: bar 13, voice 1; bar 45, voice 2; bar 55 (all three with first note changed into A); and bar 47, voice 4
• A minor: bar 7, voice 2
• Bb major: bar 17, voice 3; repeated in bar 20, voice 3 (with first note changed into C)
• C minor: bar 16, voice 4 – it is not an exact imitation though, e. g. there are some transitional notes also between the first and the second notes.

Inversion

The first inversion can be found right in the second bar, augmented, and apparently based on an A minor. Being the A minor chord the dominant one, this makes me think that we actually have the comes here (see note 2 below). It appears again in bar 9, voice 3 (we could consider it the original dux speed, but we will consider this a diminution of the comes); bar 35, voice 2 (augmented again); bar 41, voice 1 (with a shorter 1st note); bar 43, voice 2 (the first note is the last of the previous voice 2 comes). The inversions in other tonalities I could find are:

• C major: bar 24 (3rd beat, diminution)
• D minor (inverted dux), always with a diminished II: bar 46, voice 3; and bar 14 (3rd beat), voice 2 – in this one, the first three notes are rhythmically those of the comes, and then does a diminution which lasts another three notes; it augments three notes again, then goes back to diminution and stays there for the rest of the theme
• E minor: bar 3, voice 2 (diminution); bar 5, voice 4 (augmented). In both cases, there’s a diminished II. Both start on D instead of E
• F major: bar 20 (3rd beat), voice 4 (with minor VII – diminution)

Combinations

There are relatively few bars in which neither the dux nor the comes are sounding. At bar 38, we even have the dux in the 1st voice, an augmented comes in the 2nd voice, an augmented dux in the 3rd voice, all accompanied by the development in the 4th voice. A similar situation occurs again in bars 55-56.

Bach tries many different combinations of dux and comes, transposed or not, augmented or not. Some examples can be found as follows:

• dux with comes: bar 2
• comes with itself in diminution: bars 3-4
• augmented comes with dux and transposed dux: bar 7
• augmented comes with comes in diminution: bars 9-10
• in bars 13-15, I reckon we have the dux transposed to the dominant and the comes transposed to the tonic, if that is possible!

What is the effect of inverting the main theme? The dux (bars 1, 2 and first note of 3) sounds fairly finished: it hits its peak in the very second note, comes back to the tonic, attempts a second peak and again back to the tonic. End of the game. However, the comes starts on a fairly high note and reaches its peak in the middle – which happens to be a higher peak than that of the dux. With this technique, Bach increases the dramatism of the piece.

The augmented lines can sound a bit heavy here and there, but they also give a solid ground for the rest of the music to happen on top of it, whether it is the lower voices or in the higher ones. This may be especially true from bar 35 on, when both the comes and then the dux are augmented after a fairly lighter section of the development (quick 1st and 3rd voices, no 2nd voice, 4th voice quite light as well), announcing a new entrance of the dux in bar 38.

I can actually imagine Wagner listening to this for inspiration before he wrote some of his pages.

The passages using major scales (see above) give a grandioseness of a different type, of an almost fanfare taste, ceremonious, celebrating.

I couldn’t find any new entry in the conclusion (bars 58 to 61) or any occasion in which the dux or the comes would be played backwards; neither could I find a point in which the notes of dux or comes appeared in alternation with other notes.

If we consider the exposition is the presentation by each voice of the theme (dux, comes, or altered in whatever other form), then it lasts until bar 13 (the forth voice). It is quite unusual to introduce the themes tonally as tonic-dominant-submediant-tonic. According to L. Zenkl (see note 3 below) fugues tend to have a structure T-D-T-D (T= tonic, D= dominant). However, the same author admits that the fugue structure is quite open to changes.

Notes

(2) According to Zenkl (see note 3), the comes appears for the first time in the dominant. I will follow that idea, and consider the comes as the augmented inversion of the dux. Therefore, when I refer to the augmented comes, it will in fact be twice augmented in relation to the dux, and when I refer to a diminution of the comes, the duration of the notes will be that of the original dux.

(3) Luděk Zenkl, ABC hudebních forem  (ABC of musical forms), Bärenreiter, Praha, 1984.

The Art of the Fugue – VI Contrapunctus 10 a 4. alla Decima

This is a double fugue. There are two subjects (or themes, duxes). The first one starts in bar 1 (let’s call it Dux A) in D minor. The second one (Dux B) is the inverted dux from the last analyzed work, in D minor as well, starting in bar 23. The devices used in this work are mainly imitation and inversion, or at least I’ve been unable to find others.

Sometimes the first note is shortened (e. g. bar 85, first voice), or the interval is changed (e. g. bar 52, voice 4, an interval of descending fourth instead of fifth; and again bar 85, an ascending third instead of a minor second). This is done to avoid dissonances or to form concrete chords. Below I’ve pointed out some of those imitating Dux A.

Imitation – Dux A: it appears imitated and transposed to the following tonalities.

• D minor: bars 85 (with a shortened 1st note), 115.
• Eb minor: bar 103.
• F major: bars 42, 103 (augm. 1st interval).
• G minor: bars 3, 44, 103 (major second interval, instead of minor one).
• A minor: bars 14, 75.
• Bb major: bars 66, 85 (augm. 1st interval), 115.

Imitation – Dux B:

• C major: bar 31.
• D minor: bars 44, 66, 75, 85, 115.
• F major: bar 75.
• A minor: bars 26 (after a false entrance), 34, 52.
• Bb major: bar 103.

Inversion – Dux A: I guess the defining note for these ones should be the third note, because it would make harmonic sense to me that the grade 1 of the chord would be a forth before the previous one. Considering that, I found the following inversions:

• D minor: bar 14.
• E minor: bar 8.
• A major: bar 7 (turning to minor in bar 9).

False entries: Dux B, bar 25, in A major.

There is a pattern in bars 95-97, voice 4, that looks like inspired in Dux A, in a retrograde way. Instead of the rest the fugue starts with, there is a prolongation of the note next to it.

On the structure and tonality

In terms of how the themes are presented, we can appreciate three different sections. . Bars 1-22 belong to Dux A and its development, 23-43 to Dux B and its development, and from bar 44 the piece is dedicated to the combination of both themes (and the subsequent development).

Having heard repeatedly and separately the themes, the third section allows as to follow the combinations and enjoy them much more. This slightly contradicts D. F. Tovey’s point of view of the fugue as a musical texture rather than a musical form – or at least if we consider, like M. Weeks, that in a texture “it’s difficult (impossible, actually) to hear all the individual lines“. It may be that other Bach’s works or other authors’ fugues are textural, but this one is so cleverly done that the lines are possible to follow at once separately and together in one listening (not necessarily the first, though!!).

As for the tonal relationships, Dux A is presented in the tonic, at the lower fifth, then comes inverted in the dominant and at the higher twelfth of the dominant. After some more development and a rest in the first three voices, Dux B appears in the tonic (bar 23), then in the dominant, the relative major of the dominant, and again the dominant. In the combined part, sometimes two lines carry the same theme, separated by a third (bars 75-78, 85-89, 103-106 and 115-118). The combination of notes in the three voices either build a chord (G minor in bar 85) and / or the chord is build with the tonics of the triads used by each of the voices (D minor in bar 75).  I’m afraid this is already beyond my capacity at this point, but the result is simply superb.

“Hlavolam” ostinato

This is a side work, not direct part of my course (click here for the audio). The story of it is as follows: after listening to medieval music for almost a whole weekend, I found myself writing vocal music. I was not satisfied with it, it sounded to me too much of scales up and down. Then I went for a walk, listening again to some solos for woodwinds. There were also scales up and down, even common ones, but I was enjoying especially those that were somehow different, with bigger jumps / wider intervals, or not necessarily moving in any clear direction.

To keep adding elements, I listen & play to Bartók quite often, and the last days haven’t been an exception. Also, I listened to Boris Blacher again – it was the Paganini variations, but it took me into thinking about some piano pieces I mentioned in my blog before. And I couln’t sleep well a couple of nights because of some 5:4 rhythms assaulting my thoughts.

I think the following piece reflects this combination of factors plus some others (e. g. there’s also a little cryptography involved, hence the word hlavolam = riddle). I may change something still, but it’s pretty much finished.

The absence of a slur in bar 26 is not due to a mistake but fully intentional. I doubted whether to put a tenuto above the notes or not. I think writing it makes more clear the slur is not forgotten.

More (side) listenings

Guillaume de Machaut: Messe de Nostre Dame

I thought it sounded definitely medieval, and many of the features don’t much the modern ear well, like the cadence of a C# min chord (C#-E-G#) leading to an interval D-A, or an equivalent E min chord to an F-C interval (so instead of our common V-I cadence, it’s a VII-I). When I think about the Gregorian chants I’ve listened so far, this must have sounded like Medieval heavy metal.

Don Carlo Gesualdo: several pieces

This is Renaissance, also vocal works: Felice primavera, Son si belle le rose, Non mirar, non mirare,… To my ears, the main difference with Machaut is that this is much easier to be listened to. It reminds me the music by Elizabethan composers.

And it’s so, so beautiful, it brings peace to the soul.

Josquin de Prez: several works

It’s funny how one week ago I had never heard of him. Now I’ve found his name in two books (Music: a crash course, by Marcus Weeks, and Dějiny hudby -History of music-, vol. II, by Naďa Hrčková), in both being mentioned as the most important and prolific composer in the early Renaissance. El grillo is a funny song: when I listen to it, it sounds like some old Spanish, but it’s Italian. “Grillo” is the Spanish word for the insect cricket, and judging from the sound of it, that’s what Josquin meant.

Missa Pange Lingua is easy to listen and to follow. Some parts, like the Benedictus, show a very simple counterpoint, with canons at different intervals (lower fourth, second, fifth,…) It’s quite good to get ideas, partly thanks to its simplicity, which may be just apparent. There will be a blog entry on Josquin, anyway.

Hildegard of Bingen: O vis aeternitatis

A female composer right at the beginning of written music! In this piece, a note is held by an instrument while the voice sings a melody in monophony. A similar thing does the bagpipe, though it has nothing to do with the Celtic music one can normally hear nowadays on bagpipes. It sounds very similar to Gregorian chant to my ears. Very relaxing. I guess it would contrast strongly with anything played on a village fair of the period. The same applies to other works of her (O felix apparitio, O bonifati, Spiritus Sanctus vivificans vite, Caritas abundat in omnia…), the latter two being of voice strictly alone. There are interesting resolutions to the tonic that have an ancient taste: the second last note being one tone below (Dorian scale) or a semitone above.

There are some versions with percussion or other instruments on the internet. Percussion seems to fit, especially when being very simple. It gives it a different dimension. Synthesizer may be a fine experiment, yet reminds me of an olive on a sweet cake: it doesn’t belong there!

John Dowland: In darkness let me dwell

Very slow and depressing. After listening to some other works it’s like a parody. On a certain occasion, I present what I thought was a very sad song at a recital. Everybody burst out laughing before I got to the refrain, and with every single sentence. This reminds me of that day, maybe because of the pathetic tone of the singer. His Weep you no more, sad fountains, musically, sounds merrier. Certainly, not music to relax.

Several authors: New Year Concert

I’m not much into Vienna Waltz, so I didn’t enjoy this concert very much. There were extracts from some operas. I took some notes during the concert – I’ll put them here later.

Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 5: Adagietto

After a recommendation by my friend Pavel N., I listened to this one. I hadn’t listened to it since childhood! I like the way it presents the motif, to develop it further, putting a higher peak and thus making it more dramatic. I’ve remembered this technique (which appears in other pieces) many times, and I know I’ve used it, just self aware, here and there. Structurally, I tend to prefer returns to the first motifs, which happens here as well.

Jan Dismas Zelenka – various works

A name suggested, again, by my friend Pavel Navrátil. Zelenka’s Requiem in C minor, ZWV 48 is a very nice piece, showing his ability in counterpoint. Due to the reduced time between entrances, it is easy to follow each of them. However, I enjoyed much more his Sub olea pacis et palma virtutis, which reminded me of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos (he’s referred to as the Czech Bach, and also as Bach’s Catholic equivalent). For me, Bach is number 1 of Baroque music, but Zelenka is definitely worth the listening. His Miserere in (again) C minor ZWV57 is very powerful, and there’s something different to it: at some points, I understand why some say that reminds them of Czech popular music (although what it brings to my mind is J. J. Ryba’s Christmas Mass).

Palestrina – Missa Papae Marcellis

After coming across his name here and there and being told he was great, I tried some things on grooveshark at random. It wasn’t my cup of tea. Then I was recommended by a friend to try this piece. It is heaven! The Kyrie is particularly great, but the whole mass has become a favourite now.

Videos on vibraphone solo

On the videos it’s shown how a player can use four mallets at once and play quite quickly. It can be seen also that the dynamic range can be much wider than what one would think at a first sight on Sibelius. The first one, Girl on the sphere, sounds quite modern (the young Innokenti Ivanov being both the player and the composer). Of course, the speed seems like nothing when we compare it to Marco Bianchi playing “Crazy Rhythm”, which sound reminds me of ragtime. There is also a small series of vibraphone masterclasses by Gary Burton (click for the first part, the rest will appear on the right side). I disagreed with Burton’s affirmation that the vibraphone is strictly jazzy (though it sounds jazzy under his mallets). On the other hand, his master class took me into different thoughts: sometimes I had wondered why the guitar is not played closer to the centre of the string. Looking at the technique for vibraphone, it occurred to me whether it isn’t so to avoid too many harmonics, if that makes any sense.

György Ligeti – several works

I found his music in a CD with “Music from the 20th century” with composers from the former Eastern European block. I listened to Six bagatelles for a woodwind quintet (just numbers I, III, IV and VI were on the CD), which were nice to listen and reminded me of Leonard Bernstein’s On the town: three dance episodes – maybe in a certain jazzy mood here and there. Then came some of his Studies for piano, 2 book (nos. VII, IX, XI and XII). I can’t imagine playing them and enjoying, but they were wonderfully logical to listen to. Not as accessible as the bagatelles, it was closer to some Boris Blacher’s piano works. The there were some parts of the Hamburg concerto (Horn concerto). No. II was too much of brass for a holiday. Number III (the best to me) and VI were more enjoyable, the percussion brought me to Latin America while the brass notes made me think of some New York musical.

Juraj Beneš – Haiku

I didn’t understand it. I’m not a big fan of this type of singing and I got lost in almost every piece. A different way of thinking, I guess.

Arvo Pärt – Berliner Messe

Maybe not the most logical, it was an excellent relax and I could realize how similar and different it is from Renaissance music. The dissonances are at some points quite tough, actually, but the piece is highly enjoyable! My sister would love it, especially the Alleluia.

Josef Suk – Love Song Op. 7

This one was listened to already after sending my Assignment 5, so I don’t know whether it should really be here. I was sent this link by my friend Pavel N., he told me that this piece is a must from Suk, to whose music I haven’t found the way yet. It reminds me of the Czech black-and-white movies, of Bohuslav Martinů, of Zdeněk Fibich. Its theme just results slightly uncomfortable due to some long notes on the strong beat that sound outside of the harmonic triad. More enjoyable is this version with a violin.

1, 2, 3 for Josquin des Prez

Recently I acquired a small encyclopedia, Dějiny Hudby (History of Music). There, for the first time in my life, I heard about Josquin des Prez. Then I came across his name a second time, in less than one week, in another book (Music: a crash course, by Marcus Weeks). This took me to listen to some of his works, about which I will write in another entry.

I was searching the text for his Grillo, and I came to the wikipedia page on Josquin. It was surprising enough to find a classification of musical masses for early Renaissance, but then, that was just among Josquin’s works! Cantus firmus mass, paraphrase mass, parody mass and others. From all these, the one that called my attention the most was the soggetto cavato one, because it’s one technique I still use today to find new melodies (and even rhythms). The technique is as old as the Renaissance!

I saw what cantus firmus is somewhere. When I looked for it in a third book, the one and only name associated with it was Josquin’s – third time in one week! His surname, by the way, is spelled in different forms: Desprez, Des Prez, also with accents, in some sources Desprès. This inconsistency may be another reason why his first name is more commonly used.

At any case, cantus firmus is the melodic base of a polyphonic work, which is changed only rhythmically.

Project 11

Part A

I guess I’m trying to think in a tonal way, this exercise is quite difficult for me. I can’t find it’s tonal center or how to develop it. It’s one of those that one gets stuck with.  I thought about accompanying the first melody with a rhythm on the second voice, to start with, and then change to the counterpoint. I’m still working on those ideas. Out of all the trials, the first I’m slightly satisfied with is:

There’s a diminution & inversion beginning with the first minim, keeping the intervals and the slurs. I opted for the diminution because as a listener I felt uncomfortable with the length of the minim and, especially, the dotted minim, and the diminution would give a bigger dynamism to that section.

Part B

The base for counterpoint should be imitation. Also, the idea is to face it in a freer way. So I combined both of them, starting as an imitation, but then constructing an alternative melody, taking into consideration the harmonic possibilities opened by the voice given in the exercise.

This is not the first trial either. Originally, I tried playing the bassoon part on the piano and play something along with the right hand. Once put at the required speed, it didn’t sound well. So I started again until I got the presented version.

(My tutor’s suggestion was to change the speed to one of a dotted crotchet = 60, and it sounded much better)

Part C – the mummy

For the following one, I encrypted the word “Mummy” in the rhythm, then walked around and try to imagine myself in a pyramid. I was not intending to write scary music, but something rather playful. The first melody resulted as follows:Some tuned percussion could give it a less playful mood. It has to be something rather sharp, with quickly fading sound, woody. A xylophone seems to fit that idea. In order to add an impression of space, some untuned percussion with longer time to fade, as echoes, could fit as well – namely, just some hints of gong and cymbal, as follows:

There are some problems with this short piece. Firstly, the way it sounds on Sibelius, the xylophone has a quite loud sound, which limits the possibilities of dynamics (when it is louder, the bassoon line sounds like accompanying, instead of being the main one). Another issue is that it sounds too playful for a scary being: if it was used as a mummy theme in a film, it would be a comical one. A last problem I see is that, having “mummy” five letters, if I want to have a concluding bar or two of them, I’m out of the range of “between 8 and 10”.

Part D

A student of mine, Payton V., greeted me in the hallway of our school. He did it in a way that sounded to me like four sung notes (it wasn’t his intention, apparently). However, it was good enough to inspire me for the rest of it. The original idea was slightly longer, but I shortened it to make it fit within the given limits. It is supposed to remind spiritual songs in the first bars. The original melody is the one of the clarinet.

Drum concert & workshop

Date: December 15^th, 2012

Percussionist: Yngo Guttmann

Place: Asisi exhibition center, Panometer (Leipzig)

Context: Exhibition on the Amazon basin

I was there with some friends, who told me the instruments played were bongos. There was a variety of them though, so I’ve looked in the internet. It seems most of them were djembes, but there were also congas and others. There was very little talk on the instruments (and whatever was said, my German wasn’t good enough to understand it anyway)

1^st part – concert

“Užitek nebo zážitek” (usefulness vs. delight-fulness): I can’t say I enjoyed the sound of it as I would have enjoyed a Beethoven’s symphony. The rhythms were quite repetitive (a marked 3-3-2 division of about 50% of the bars played), which didn’t help me to enjoy it after the first 15 minutes (in my works, I generally avoid repeating too much if I can, and I tend to listen to music that is just enough repetitive).

On the other hand, the public seemed to enjoy repetitions better. It took almost everybody to some sort of trance, Mr. Guttmann included. In this state of mind, people seemed transported, excited, thrilled. In fact, this repetition was especially useful during the workshop, as we will see later.

It also helped me becoming aware of my own repetitions: some of the patterns played are also frequent in my own music.

It was useful to see the different sounds one single instrument can produce. For example, Mr. Guttmann changed the pitch just by placing his elbow (!) on the membrane, each time at a different distance from the center. Also hitting on different points, with different strength, or with different parts of the body (or sticks) would produce different sounds.

Mr. Guttmann played mainly djembes, but he had some other instruments as well, which he played mainly to give continuity when changing from a djembe or set of drums to another one.

2^nd part – workshop

For the workshop, people had to repeat the different rhythms & techniques after the percussionist. And everybody was really good!! A mentally handicapped girl was sitting in front of us, and she followed the rhythm simply as well as the others. The best one from the public was another mentally handicapped young boy, who performed excellently different techniques and even seemed to be helping Mr. Guttmann in building a solid rhythmic base, over which the main percussionist played some more complicated passages (whether planned or improvised).

For building this rhythmic base, the repetition was essential. The public could play along and the repetitions was an anchoring point to follow the rest of the performance, it gave the whole a bigger cohesion.

Some children started to dance – I guess they could not help it, yet it took me to thinking. I was expelled from a concert when I was a child because I was moving to much and I could distract the musicians. From that time, I don’t dare to even scratch too quickly when assisting to a concert. However, the musician didn’t seem to be distracted or annoyed, but rather amused instead, even delighted that the children were being so lively.

Another important observation for me was that it was enough with one person keeping the rhythm: then people will manage to catch up, or not get lost. Once the whole group has the rhythm and create a solid base, as mentioned before, the percussionist can improvise on this base and people still wouldn’t get lost – this happens often in pop music, where there is a drum set with some repetitive rhythms and the rest of the music is happening on top of this.

Other thoughts

• My friends thought he was on drugs – I thought he was just getting to trance.
• He really enjoyed playing! He seemed to be discovering new sounds and characteristics of his instruments in front of us.
• He was not distracted by children dancing, shouting, making noises, he even seemed to enjoy this as well (the level of noise at some points got really high).
• The context was a big plus (a 360º picture around us with jungle sounds and light effects). It was more than appropriate! Including the night effects!
• The hall was round and there was an exhibition block in the middle; when moving to the other side of the block, the acoustics were quite different, with an emphasis on the “amateurs” being ground music and the main percussionist sounding much better (more distinguishable, yes, but also with a wider range of shadows in the sound, which was therefore richer). This could be a useful indication for performers in the future.
• Mr. Guttmann had so many drums and other percussion instruments that everybody who wanted could play and switch instruments whenever they wanted to.

Changing Assignment 3

I must agree with my tutor that it was not a good idea to start with all voices at once, as the listener can get easily or totally lost. I made the same mistake when I was composing other pieces in the past (e.g. certain parts of the suite Montañeses). I don’t know why I didn’t realize I was making it again this time! I should know well that presenting each voice first, or adding them gradually, produces a much better effect. To see the opposite, just imagine how terrible it would be to start a fugue right at the entrance of the fourth voice…

One proposed change was to try the bassoon part to play first. I tried it, and then I thought I’d change the dynamics, so the flute would be more clearly heard. I didn’t feel totally identified with this either. Because I find the theme melodic enough, I played it solo. At this point, it was becoming a bit repetitive (with the solo added, the theme was sounding already four times, plus another three times that the first beats sound, plus the augmentation at the end). After other changes, I also changed the dynamics in the bassoon section, to actually hide the theme (see last paragraph).

I’m still working on it. At this moment, I’m working on a slower introduction before the first entrance of the theme. I am considering doing something not fully related to the theme, just to put the listener in a C minor mood, sort to speak.

Another suggestion from my tutor was to present the other instruments as soloists with the theme or variants of it. So after the introduction, the first entrance of the theme comes: flute with a gentle, simple accompaniment of oboe and bassoon. For the second entrance, bassoon and oboe alternate to play it. Then it’s the time to offer something different: the flute plays a melody that would be played by the bassoon some bars later (when the three voices come – the original beginning), and immediately afterwards the bassoon plays the part that will be the oboe’s.

The rest of the piece remains as it was, pretty much: I’ve added a trill on the flute and some notes & triplets on the bassoon’s featuring of the theme. I tried other changes (namely, adding some beats before the “disintegration”, or other beats in the triplet section), but I wasn’t convinced by these changes and I returned to the original for those later ones.

I also consider the possibility of expanding the theme or modulating to other tonality. At this moment, I find these changes are too far beyond the purpose of the Assignment. Plus the piece is already about 3 minutes long and I haven’t finished with the changes!

On repetition and repetitiveness: I know many listeners like repetition much more than I do (soon there will be a post with more details, inspired by a bongo workshop I’ve recently been to). In general, repetition makes me enjoy the piece better the first time I listen to it, but then I get tired of it much more quickly. That is another reason for hiding a bit the theme on the bassoon section after a couple of bars.

Assignment 3

A little polyphony

“The task for Assignment 3 is to compose a piece for three woodwind instruments in mainly polyphonic style […]”

Previous thoughts

Same as for Project 10, I plan to write it in C minor. I feel comfortable on that scale. I can also use the whole register of the flute. As compared to P-10, I’ll change the clarinet for the bassoon.

My rough idea started with a triad of C minor, moved to F major (bar 6), then to G major  and then back to C minor. However, when I started filling it in, I suddenly had quite a few more triads, as it can be seen below, where the C is in bar 1, F in bar 6, G in bar 9 and C in bar 10:

It was becoming slightly more complex.

Some thoughts while working

The oboe doesn’t reach middle C as the flute does. This is problematic sometimes with the key signature I chose for this piece. I should be aware of that for the future.

Working with the triads on the piano, the piece sounds terrific for a funeral march!

Originally, the anacrusis was only one beat, but then I thought it would be better if the bassoon (with a C) and the oboe (with a G) announced the beginning of the theme (the entrance of the flute in the actual pick-up).

It’s mainly polyphonic, yet some parts are not purely so.

Although I’ve revised the dynamics several times, it is possible I have some mistakes. Generally speaking though, I wanted some changes in dynamics to be fairly sudden. In those cases, I haven’t written a sign > or <. I only marked subito (sudden) when the difference in dynamics was big and not announced by the performers while playing.

I’m aware there are some fairly raw dissonances played in parallel in bar 26. My friends don’t like some of my dissonances in other works. I really like these ones.

If I play it “andante”, it’s 2 minutes. Nevertheless, it’s 40 bars in 4/4. I don’t know whether I should expand it – but I very much like he end result, which by the way, looks as follows:

Reflection – self-assessment

• Technical presentation

I have tried to make use to the possibilities of Sibelius. I find the score is at least well presented, so the minimum grade I would award myself would be a B for presentation, of course keeping in mind that the ones to praise are mainly the people that programmed Sibelius.

• Compositional skills

This is tough to self-assess! I reckon I’m again at least on the B category, “a facility appropriate to the assignment” (luckily it doesn’t say anything about projects, because I didn’t feel I had any facility for rounds). On the other hand, I think I have a sound structural design, which goes into A.

• Creativity

Another tough one. I find my music quite different from what I’ve listened to so far. Is this assignment also that different? I’d say it’s at least “interesting and imaginative” (B range), keeping in mind I certainly I’m confident when experimenting, and regarding the music I know, my development is certainly unusual (both A range). I’m aware it may not sound very original to someone with a larger music formation, but if I have to assess myself, I would certainly give me an A for creativity.

• Stylistic awareness

I tried to put into practice some features I heard in other authors. I tried to alternate the voices, which is the most common. Furthermore, in the last introduction to the theme, I changed the oboe at some places to make it more parallel to the flute. However, instead of having a pedal voice, like in some of the works I’ve listened to, I did two different things: I had the supporting instruments playing two notes in triplets (bars 27-31) and I augmented the theme on the bassoon line (bars 33-37).

I have listened to some other authors, but I still have a lot to improve in reflecting the listening in written form. Looking at the evidence I wrote, I would mark myself a D at this point for Stylistic awareness, although the amount of listening is above that level.

Other rounds

Here I present another two exercises on rounds I wrote during the course.

Project 8-aa: F major (a different try)

In this one, each voice enters after two bars have been sung. However, the melody has 7 bars, which is an odd number (I mean, non-divisible by two). This means that more than three voices could be singing it.

Project 8-cc: G minor (a second try)

Cheating a bit, the last triad is not exactly as it was proposed in the course notes. I leave it, as this is a different try.

I feel more confident after doing more exercises. Obviously, if I want to write rounds or catches, I will need to practice much more.