Welcome to my blog

I have created this site in order to provide performers, listeners and composers with a description of a composer's experiences with the creative process. The posts will provide discussions of the inspirations, challenges, and successes of a composer from the inception of the piece to the culmination in performance. I will provide a link to where you can see and hear the works in progress. Comments and questions are always welcomed. They will not posted unless you grant me permission.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Poetics Movement 3

A triolet is the inspiration for the third movement and it is the first rhyming poem that I am including. There are 8 lines in this pattern; A, B, rhyme with A, A, rhyme with A, rhyme with B, A, B. Once more I used one of my own poetic creations for the programmatic aspect. It is a triolet about creativity and it reflects the creative process of my wife, Anita, when making polymer clay jewelry.

Creativity Triolet by Sy Brandon ©2011 Sy Brandon

Ladybugs upon a leaf
Or a monarch butterfly
Nature's colors, my belief
Ladybugs upon a leaf.
Creating jewelry can give me grief
But mostly I get high.
Ladybugs upon a leaf
Or a monarch butterfly.

I am free with adhering to both the line delineation and the rhyme scheme of the poem. The double bass begins the movement with serene arpeggios in fifths and fourths reflecting the serenity of nature. The viola flits about like a lady bug or butterfly from m. 2-9 representing the first two lines of the poem. M. 10 - 21 reflects the third line with a soaring idea that is treated imitatively and chromatic passage that moves in contrary motion. M. 22-27 uses the first part of m. 2-9 to create a rhyme A.

M. 28-34 has both a change of tempo and meter. There is no evidence of rhyming with A as the musical material is very different because it is reflecting the building of frustration when one tries to create and it is not going well. The repetitive viola sextuplet, the enlarging of the double bass chords, and the growth in dynamics are all symbolic of the trial and error process of creativity. M. 35-40 represent line six with a lyrical melody and implied lush harmony. The softening of the dynamics at the end of this section is a relaxation of the high before repeating M. 1-9 (the first two lines of the poem) and arriving at a pleasing, quiet ending.

I am now using flip pdf technology for the musical examples that go along with my posts. It uses Flash Player that most browsers come with. You will be hearing an mp3 of sampled sounds playing the music and you will see the score at the same time. You will need to turn the pages by clicking on the arrows at the appropriate time. To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/poetics_blog.html.

As always, your comments are appreciated.

Dr. B

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Poetics Movement 2

The second movement is based on the Shadorma poetic form. Shadormas have 6 line stanzas where the lines have a syllable count of 3,5,3,3,7,5 respectively. I translated the syllable count into meter therefore creating 3/8, 5/8, two measures of 3/8, 7/8, and 5/8 resulting in 6 measure phrases.

This movement is also programmatic representing another poem I wrote, but this is done in reflecting the general spirit of the poem rather than each line, like I did in the first movement. Here is the poem:

Disparity Shadorma by Sy Brandon ©2011 Sy Brandon

Millionaires
Are on the increase
People starve
In the Streets
While fat cats count their dollars
In oblivion.

We protest
In the parks and streets
Occupy
Wall Street grows
Sending a message to all
About Disparity.

Various key ideas of the poem are represented by musical elements. The double bass opens the movement with a melodic idea that represents the rich. The viola takes over the melody at m. 7 accompanied by sparse double bass staccato representing the poor. M. 13 has both parts in imitation as if the trailing voice is trying to catch up to the leading voice, but never can. M. 19 begins the protest leading to the anger being expressed from M. 25-36. M. 37-72 repeats the opening ideas with slight variation. At M. 73, the ideas begin to fragment as the protests are being shut down and the movement ends quietly leaving the listener wondering if we have made any inroads towards erasing disparity.

I am now using flip pdf technology for the musical examples that go along with my posts. It uses Flash Player that most browsers come with. You will be hearing an mp3 of sampled sounds playing the music and you will see the score at the same time. You will need to turn the pages by clicking on the arrows at the appropriate time. To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/poetics_blog.html.

As always, your comments are appreciated.

Dr. B

Poetics Movement 1

It has been about two months since I have posted. During December, I was very busy with playing jobs and then my wife and I went on a four-week camping vacation ending up in the Phoenix area for rehearsals and a performance of my Arizona Centennial Overture by the Arizona Wind Symphony.

During my vacation, I got started on composing "Poetics" for the Dark Strings Duo consisting of Heidi von Bernewitz, viola and Rob Nairn, double bass. I took a class on short form poems during the fall through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Yavapai College and had fun learning the forms and writing some poetry. This inspired me to try to translate some of these forms into music.

I started with a poem form known as a pleiades which has seven lines with six syllables per line. Each line starts with the same letter. I translated this into a music form by having seven phrases, each with six notes and all starting on the note "A". In addition, I used one of my poems as a interpretive inspiration so that the phrases represent the ideas of the poem. Here is the poem:

Acceptance Pleiades by Sy Brandon ©2011 Sy Brandon

Aching hearts long for peace
Among troubled chaos
Answers seem elusive
Always a step ahead
Avoiding outreached hands
Away I turn from them
And then they come with ease.

Like most composers, I took liberties with the musical form. The viola's first six notes reflect the first line and the pizzicato notes in the double bass in measure 2 add punctuation. The second line begins immediately afterwards in the viola and is imitated in the double bass resulting in four versions of the idea (end of m. 2 to the end of m. 4) with only the first two starting on "A". In m. 5-6, the viola reflects the 3rd line of the poem. It does not start on "A", but the accompaniment in the double bass does. The line "Always a step ahead" is represented through pizzicato displacements between the two instruments starting at m. 7, each six notes long. This occurs three times, each one starting on "A" but the lead is alternated between the two instruments and the rhythm varied. M. 13-17 contains lines 5 and 6 of the poem, both in the viola and both starting on "A". The double bass plays free material that compliments the viola line. The last line of the poem is reflected from m. 18 to the end. It starts and ends on "A". I tried to let the form and the poem guide me but not restrict me.

Starting with this blog post, I am using flip pdf technology. It uses Flash Player that most browsers come with. You will be hearing an mp3 of sampled sounds playing the music and you will see the score at the same time. You will need to turn the pages by clicking on the arrows at the appropriate time. To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/poetics_blog.html.

As always, your comments are appreciated.

Dr. B