photo credit: Atilla1000
Finally, finally, I have a chance to surf the piano keys and improv a bit last evening – starting off as a review of materials and general ideas for a chamber work, and then into free floating through a general idea for some arbitrary orchestral piece.  Somewhere in there I had time [...]

Continue reading " Composing Status Update #64 "

photo credit: BrainOnFire  Funny, this weekend I did some tremendous work – not to the usual path of righteousness, which is normally bent over graph paper or hell bent on making some vine of counterpoint symmetry work on 8 voices.  Instead, I approached in a way I haven’t done in a while – that [...]

Continue reading " Craft Will Not Save You "

Carefully, I get up to pace,  and at the same time struggle with choices – simple choices such as how to orchestrate this first statement in the opening – an exposition of a main octal set which makes up the work.  And then there was the aforementioned main theme that follows – my indecision on whether to [...]

Continue reading " Composing Status Update #46 "

More listening this week, again focusing on violin which I talked about a bit yesterday. One thing I will add about the Korngold is that is sounds a bit weak in the “basement”. I’m not sure if it was his intention or not. Maybe he didnt want the higher overtones competing with [...]

Continue reading " Composing Status Update #33 "

Looking at some of my musical friends on the east coast. it struck me that I’m extremely lucky I’m on the west coast these days, away from the musical pollution of large east coast cities such as Boston or New York where either academia or the large number of cultural interplay forces a sorted condensed [...]

Continue reading " Morning Thoughts "

For about the last month, I’ve been listening to Music for 18M by Steve Reich quite regularly every day, twice a day. As I’ve said, I wasn’t into the whole minimalist movement thing when it was around during my turbulent years in college. Really, it wasn’t even known until around the 80’s and [...]

Continue reading " Music for 18 Musicians "

I confess I am now California composer to the bone. There’s something about the light and the air here in Northern California that you cannot avoid being inspired by. Simplification is a constant aesthetic that passes you. Play Reich while walking to North Beach or walking through the endless flow of empty [...]

Continue reading " San Francisco "

Recently been reading Kyle Gann’s blog keeping us up to date on the minimalist conference in Bangor, Wales. So some serious people are making this into a real musicologist specialty.
Since my own music and aethetic is based on the proponents of this specialty (but much more controlled and calculated) I was really curious and wish [...]

Continue reading " Minimalist Pow-wow "