Thirty-two. (Day 5.)

I'm a little disappointed in myself for not having made much progress since the last post, but I needed to spend a day listening and considering, and tonight I'm just too exhausted.

Click here to view the PDF.

The development is a very important part, in my opinion. It's also one of the most terrifying, where anything can go horribly wrong. I feel I have two very strong themes and I'm afraid of using them poorly, so I'm approaching this with caution. I was ready to charge through this like a bull, but I think it best to tread carefully. My challenges are that one is a melodic theme and the other is a rhythmic theme: blending the two, or swapping their melodic/rhythmic content are two very possible means of developing, or perhaps even goals of the development, but it needs to be done right to be done well.

I made some minor changes to the transition between the first and second theme, and started a few measures on the development at the end. In short, not much changed, although I feel very comfortable with what I'm hearing and think I could make some real progress tomorrow. We'll see!

Thirty-two. (Day 4.)

I was a bit concerned about what to use as the second theme for the piece, and found that I had already written and posted something that I really dug: Three. I think it fits well -- the two themes are supposed to be of contrasting key and style. Well, nothing is more contrasting than these two themes. Also, the quick, percussive feel of Three will set up the development to eventually present Eleven. I love it when things work out well.

Click here to view the PDF.

So here is Day 4 with a slight change in measure 18 from yesterday in the oboe to help push the line a little bit. I think I incorporated the new material well, as the added voices around the theme seem to help it along.

I didn't make it into the development like I was planning. However, reaching the development makes me happy enough. This might need to carry on a little past seven days, though I'm not concerned. I'll be happy to complete a piece!

Thirty-two. (Day 3.)

At this rate I might never finish in 7 days. Regardless, here is today's work. It's 3 pages, so I'm moving it to PDF format. Ignore some obvious layout issues -- I didn't feel like spending too much time fussing around with it. Let me know if there are problems with the PDF -- I'm using CutePDF, since it's free, so there might be some conversion issues.

Click here to view the PDF.

This is, essentially, half of the exposition, ending at just about where the introduction of the second theme will be. I changed around some of the instrumentation, as I felt that the French horn's entrance in measure 9 of yesterday's post was extremely high for the dynamic marked (mp -- mezzo piano, or sort of soft). (Also, in that range the bassoon and French horn have comparable timbres, as the horn gets a tighter, more nasal sound the higher it gets. In that regard, swapping instruments was not an issue.)

The introduction ends on measure 20, and 21 starts "theme A," which you might recognize from Eleven, although slower and in a different key. The theme is passed around a bit: first on bassoon, then flute (measure 26), then French horn (measure 33). This part of the exposition ends on an A minor chord (minus the third) and an accelerando to a quicker tempo -- I'll probably change this to accommodate the introduction of "theme B," which will be new material from Eleven.

I'll hopefully finish up the exposition, transition, and begin work on the development tomorrow. This is going to be a fun piece -- I think its best in this form to use simple themes, as complex themes do not allow for a lot of variety when developing. Or at least that's my opinion.

Thirty-two. (Day 2.)

The intro.

click the image for a clearer view

This is an easy way to introduce all of the instruments and establish timbral guidelines for the exposition. Looking back at Eleven, that exact material will probably appear at the end of the development, so there is a bit of ways to go and a lot of time to develop all the ideas that it presented.

I hope to spend a little more time on this and try and knock out the exposition in its entirety tomorrow, but we'll see.

Thirty-two. (Day 1.)

I think I'll keep these all listed as "Thirty-two," while just keeping track of the days spent on it. After 7 days (or, I suppose, as long as it takes?) I'll start on Thirty-three.

I spent the time for this day mapping out the form for the piece. I'm going to go with a fairly straightforward sonata form (a scan of my "road map," as I like to do, will be attached on Monday, as I have no scanner at home). Obviously, as Eleven was for woodwind quintet, this will

Sonata form (sometimes referred to as sonata allegro) is an expanded A-B-A form. That looks sort of like this:

Exposition - Development - Recapitulation

Usually there is a type of introduction, and typically two themes are presented in the exposition, one in the tonic, then a transition to the second theme being presented in a key similar to the first (for example, if theme A is in D major, theme B might be in A major; likewise, B minor might transition to D major). The development allows some creative explorations of the two themes, and the recapitulation is usually both themes presented in the original tonic. A coda (think "outro") usually ends the piece. I used a modification of this form in my thesis, Mobius a couple years back.

I'll be sticking fairly closely to this.

Thirty-one.

For solo alto flute. (Alto flute transposes a down a fourth from what is written.)

click the image for a clearer view

It's interesting to make purposeful uses of rests. For example, your mind is probably filling in the rests in measures 6-8 with a written D, which you don't hear until measure 9. Listen to the modified sample of the beginning below where I add the Ds. This is a pretty common thing to do and an interesting experiment in how the human ear can "fill in the gaps."



And thus begins Phase III.

I took a day off, because I needed it, so don't expect double. If I use my one skip per month, I won't skip the number. Starting on Sunday, June 15th I'll be working for seven days on developing a piece based on what was started in Eleven. I'm not sure yet how I'll post the progress or how the numbering scheme will work, but we'll make it happen.

Thirty.

For solo tuba.

click the image for a clearer view

Not many solos for tuba, but it's such a versatile instrument. Huge tonal range, amazing dynamic and articulation capabilities. And what is it usually confined to? Chord roots. So here's a small solo.