For my third adage to represent with music, I selected "Time flies when you are having fun" or as Kermit the Frog might say, "Time's fun when you are having flies." The first thing that came to mind when reading this adage was the similarity between it and a musical scherzo. The scherzo is at a fast tempo and is usually light and humorous, or in other words, fun. After composing the movement, I envisioned children playing a game of tag with their relentless energy, teasing and taunting, and twists and turns.
I chose the 6/8 meter because of its division of three parts to each beat, which gives a feeling of rolling forward. A playful violin melody with the tuba harmonizing with a short note on each beat is used to begin the movement. In measures 5-8, there is a sudden shift of tonality as if the children are trying to avoid being tagged. In measures 9-14, the violin and tuba alternate phrases suggesting that the person who is "it" cannot catch up with the one he wants to tag. The music becomes louder and more accented in measures 15-22, as the teasing and taunting begins. The violin plays double stops that contain dissonance and the tuba responds with short notes as if sticking his tongue out. Measures 23-37 is a repeat of the opening material but with the violin and tuba parts exchanged as we have a new person as "it." The violin also plays pizzicato for additional variety. The taunting and teasing returns in measures 38-45 with a slightly different harmony in the violin double stops. The closing measures have the violin and tuba chasing each other again but with a little more silence between the phrases towards the end as the children's energy is fading. The last note is the children collapsing on the grass from shear enjoyment.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/adages_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Adages for Violin and Tuba Movement 2
The second adage that I gave a musical treatment is "absence makes the heart grow fonder." This adage suggests both longing and love. After selecting a slow tempo with five beats to a measure, I began with the violin playing double stops of perfect fifths. This open sound, along with its inversion of the perfect fourth create a hollow quality that was perfect for representing longing. The tuba enters at the end of the second measure with a lyrical melody, that also expresses longing because of the descending intervals at the end of the phrases. In measures 9-12, the violin and the tuba share a love duet before returning to a variation of the longing section. The last four measures is an exchange of endearments as the lovers sign off until the next communication.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/adages_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/adages_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
Monday, July 19, 2010
Adages for Violin and Tuba Movement 1
I have received a commission from Marcy and Kenyon Wilson to compose a duet for violin and tuba for a premiere at the Southeast Regional Tuba and Euphonium Conference being held in Chattanooga, TN March 10-12, 2011. One evening, as I was trying to fall asleep, the idea of using adages for the movement titles popped into my head. The next day, I googled "adages" and printed a list of 70 to choose from. I then narrowed the list down to six that seemed to suggest musical treatments. I'll keep you in suspense as to what the six are and will reveal them as I write about them here.
The first one I chose was "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." Since the theme of this adage in envy, I decided to have the tuba imitate the violin as if copying the movements and actions of someone who is admired. Yet the message of the adage is that we should be happy with who we are and find our own special uniqueness.
The imitation during the first nine measures is two measures apart as if the tuba is wary to follow the violin too closely. Beginning in measure 10, the imitation becomes a measure apart as the tuba gains confidence. In measure 19, the violin begins a new idea with pizzicato, as if sensing that it is being followed and wants to distinguish itself as being different. The tuba is now only two beats behind and its staccatos don't exactly match the violin pizzicato. At the measures 26-30, the tuba finds its own voice, first by repeating three notes that violin did not do, and then taking off with a boisterous melody of its own. The violin is at first dismayed that it is no longer the leader and inserts pizzicato exclamations. In measure 31, the violin returns to the opening melody expecting the tuba to follow, but it does not. The violin keeps interrupting itself as if looking back over its shoulder to see where the tuba is until it completes its melody. The tuba then comes in on the last measure with its own idea that illustrates its new-found independence.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/adages_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
The first one I chose was "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." Since the theme of this adage in envy, I decided to have the tuba imitate the violin as if copying the movements and actions of someone who is admired. Yet the message of the adage is that we should be happy with who we are and find our own special uniqueness.
The imitation during the first nine measures is two measures apart as if the tuba is wary to follow the violin too closely. Beginning in measure 10, the imitation becomes a measure apart as the tuba gains confidence. In measure 19, the violin begins a new idea with pizzicato, as if sensing that it is being followed and wants to distinguish itself as being different. The tuba is now only two beats behind and its staccatos don't exactly match the violin pizzicato. At the measures 26-30, the tuba finds its own voice, first by repeating three notes that violin did not do, and then taking off with a boisterous melody of its own. The violin is at first dismayed that it is no longer the leader and inserts pizzicato exclamations. In measure 31, the violin returns to the opening melody expecting the tuba to follow, but it does not. The violin keeps interrupting itself as if looking back over its shoulder to see where the tuba is until it completes its melody. The tuba then comes in on the last measure with its own idea that illustrates its new-found independence.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/adages_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Joplin rags arranged for Reed Quintet
The last of my projects for the Hartt School Reed Quintet is an arrangement of three Scott Joplin Rags. Because these are so short, I was not as concerned about resting each of the musicians as I was in the Bach Orchestral Suite arrangement. My major focus was to achieve a variety of instrumental colors. It is very easy to transcribe a piano composition by giving the melody to the top instrument and so on down through the score. What is more challenging is spreading the melody among all the instruments and then adjusting the voicing to accommodate the displacement of the melody. The result is more fun to play and to listen to. When you listen to the arrangement, notice all the different colors I was able to achieve with the five instruments.
As with the Bach arrangement, I also adjusted articulation and dynamics to fit the wind ensemble. These are fun pieces that will definitely have great audience appeal.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/joplin_rags_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
As with the Bach arrangement, I also adjusted articulation and dynamics to fit the wind ensemble. These are fun pieces that will definitely have great audience appeal.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/joplin_rags_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Transcription of Bach Orchestra Suite No. 1 - Bourrées and Passepieds
I approached these last two movements in a similar manner to the other movements i.e. being sensitive to resting players, adding some dynamics, adapting the orchestration, and battling with articulation as the edition of the score I am using, which I believe is what Bach wrote, is very inconsistent.
In the Passepieds, I went back to using the soprano saxophone because the melody in the oboe during the second Passepied has no breathing places. By using the soprano saxophone, I was able to alternate the melody every four measures and allow the oboist and saxophonist a chance to catch his/her breath.
The second Passepied uses the melody of the first Passepied in the strings while the oboes play an obligato over it. The articulation in the string part was more consistent so I used that articulation for the first Passepied.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/bach_orchestra_suite_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
In the Passepieds, I went back to using the soprano saxophone because the melody in the oboe during the second Passepied has no breathing places. By using the soprano saxophone, I was able to alternate the melody every four measures and allow the oboist and saxophonist a chance to catch his/her breath.
The second Passepied uses the melody of the first Passepied in the strings while the oboes play an obligato over it. The articulation in the string part was more consistent so I used that articulation for the first Passepied.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/bach_orchestra_suite_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Transcription of Bach Orchestra Suite No. 1 - Menuets
Transcribing Bach's music has given me even more appreciation for this great composer. His music is great not only because he has divine inspiration, but also because his music achieves perfect balance between strong harmonic progression and melodic interest of the individual parts. His music is unified through the use of repeated motives, yet has variety because the motifs are subtly varied. Even in these simple Menuets, Bach creates interest varying his melodic motifs and with subtle shifts in articulation and orchestration.
I kept the alto sax in the instrumentation and used the clarinet on the melody when I wanted to give the oboe a rest like in the first section of Menuet I, and marked the dynamics f the first time and p the second. I rest the bass clarinet during the second section of Menuet I until M. 18, where I rest the oboe instead for four measures. Here I use terrace dynamics to build from mp to mf and finally to f where the oboe comes back in. Menuet II was originally written for all strings at a p dynamic level, so the oboe rests the entire time.
I found the articulation in Menuet II interesting as the slurs do not always line up between parts. It seemed as though Bach was trying to emphasize the two note step-wise motif by slurring it, but it wasn't always consistent. I perceive his intentions as creating a subtle counterpoint using articulation and encourage the performers to emphasize these differences so that they do not sound like mistakes.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/bach_orchestra_suite_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
I kept the alto sax in the instrumentation and used the clarinet on the melody when I wanted to give the oboe a rest like in the first section of Menuet I, and marked the dynamics f the first time and p the second. I rest the bass clarinet during the second section of Menuet I until M. 18, where I rest the oboe instead for four measures. Here I use terrace dynamics to build from mp to mf and finally to f where the oboe comes back in. Menuet II was originally written for all strings at a p dynamic level, so the oboe rests the entire time.
I found the articulation in Menuet II interesting as the slurs do not always line up between parts. It seemed as though Bach was trying to emphasize the two note step-wise motif by slurring it, but it wasn't always consistent. I perceive his intentions as creating a subtle counterpoint using articulation and encourage the performers to emphasize these differences so that they do not sound like mistakes.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/bach_orchestra_suite_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Transcription of Bach Orchestra Suite No. 1 - Forlane
I find it interesting how each movement of this orchestra suite presents its own challenges for transcription. In the Forlane, the challenge was the continuous eighth notes in the 2nd violin and viola parts. There was simply no place to allow the wind players to breathe. I could have omitted some notes and inserted rests for places to breathe, but I opted instead for dividing each line between two instruments and overlapping the parts by one note to assist with continuity.
Since I needed more alto than soprano instruments, I had the saxophonist switch back to alto saxophone. The clarinet and saxophone alternate every measure on the violin 2 line. The bass clarinet and bassoon alternate every measure between the viola line and the bass line. Even though both these instruments are playing continuously, the bass line has places to breathe. In the second section, the alternation becomes two measures at times as the viola line got too high for bassoon.
Once more I added dynamics and articulation to assist with interpretation. The first section is f first time through and p the second. The second section uses one 4 measure f-p echo phrase and one 1 measure f-p echo phrase. Since constant eighth note pattern stops during four measures near the end, I used the last echo phrase as a place to change orchestration to allow the oboist its first rest during this movement.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/bach_orchestra_suite_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
Since I needed more alto than soprano instruments, I had the saxophonist switch back to alto saxophone. The clarinet and saxophone alternate every measure on the violin 2 line. The bass clarinet and bassoon alternate every measure between the viola line and the bass line. Even though both these instruments are playing continuously, the bass line has places to breathe. In the second section, the alternation becomes two measures at times as the viola line got too high for bassoon.
Once more I added dynamics and articulation to assist with interpretation. The first section is f first time through and p the second. The second section uses one 4 measure f-p echo phrase and one 1 measure f-p echo phrase. Since constant eighth note pattern stops during four measures near the end, I used the last echo phrase as a place to change orchestration to allow the oboist its first rest during this movement.
To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/bach_orchestra_suite_blog.html. You will be viewing a transposed score.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
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