Poetics Movement 5

Movement 5 is based on a cinquain, which is an American Poem invented by Adelaide Crapsey. It is five lines long and uses a syllable count of 2,4,6,8,2 to determine the line breaks. Three possible variants are mirror 2,4,6,8,2,4,6,8,2; butterfly 2,3,6,8,2,2,4,6,8,2; and reversal 2,8,6,4,2. I combined mirror and reversal in my poem therefore creating a syllable count of 2,4,6,8,2,8,6,4,2.

Uncertainty

Sy Brandon ©2011 Sy Brandon

Soft hugs

Warm caresses

Words of deep affection

Your beauty ignites my senses

Hoping

Can my thoughts be echoed by you?

How can I let you know

What my heart feels?

Don’t know

The syllable count is reflected in the number of notes in each phrase with the exception of measures 13-16 and 30-end where I repeat the two syllable (note) phrase "don't know" four more times to add to the uncertainty. M. 17 begins a repeated variant of the poem as the music was too short without it. I tried to keep the music mostly homophonic in order to not obscure the syllable (note) count, but it also serves the purpose of creating a calm, contemplative movement that is in contrast to the other movements of the piece. The only place I depart form the homophonic style is in measures 8-10 and 25-27 as these sections are canonic reflecting the words "Can my thoughts be echoed by you?"

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 4

After about  month of running back and forth to rehearsals and performances of my "Arizona Centennial Overture" in honor of Arizona's Centennial, things are calming down again. During that time, I managed to work on and complete the 4th movement of Poetics. The influence for this movement is the bantu poetic form.

The bantu originated from Swahili speakers therefore incorporating the idea of call and response. The stanzas are couplets where the first line is more metaphorical and the second line more concrete. Since I wanted this movement to be at a fast tempo and to contain a lot of energy, I wrote a bantu about competition.

Competition Bantu

©2012 Sy Brandon

The hope of a new season

Unfailing optimism

The return of the team core

Reunion

Those with promise not yet realized

Freshman class

Unexpected talent discovered

Surprises

Who will stay and who will go?

Anxiety

Working on things you already know so you don’t forget them

Drill

The strong and weak make music together

Rhythm

A chance to wow the hometown crowd

Opening Day

A grueling test of endurance, talent and fortitude

The season

The only time you root for other teams

The standings

The Darwinian Principle: Survival of the fittest

The playoffs

A tug of war where dreams are realized or shattered

The championship

A chance to say, “There’s always next year”

The loosing clubhouse

A fleeting moment of glory before the need to prove oneself again

Celebration

Call and response between each instrument permeates this movement with alternations of which instrument is the leading voice. M. 1-15 reflects the first stanza and I used a lot of rising lines to reflect hope and optimism. M. 16-36 represents reunion through the use of double stops. M. 37-56 represent the next two stanzas where promise (triplet figures) and surprise (wide intervals) are the themes.

M. 56 & 57 serve as a transition to a slower tempo. M. 58-71 create anxiety through pizzicato and tremolos. M. 72-88 connotate drill, through repetitive triplets, and fundamentals, through descending fifths. This section concludes with M. 89-106 where downbeats and afterbeats represent working together with rhythm. 

M. 107-109 serves as a transition back to the original tempo. My ears were shouting at me to return to the opening material and not introduce any more new ideas. As I read over the poem, I realized that the emotions of stanzas 8-12 are similar to the emotions of the first four stanzas, so returning to the opening material made sense poetically as well as musically. The last two stanzas are reflected from M. 156-end.

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 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

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

Interplay Movement 3

I was recently sent a link to a story about a music prodigy, Jay Greenburg, who has the ability to hear an entire composition in his head completely scored and all he needs to do is to notate it. That process can take him around two hours. I compare this to how I compose, especially during the composition of Interplay, and we are not even in the same league. My process involves getting an idea, seeing where it wants to go, wondering where it is going to lead me, writing a measure or two at a time, filling in other parts, reviewing what I have written often, and making changes to what I have written earlier based upon what has come after it. When the composition is completed, I'm amazed at its balance, direction, craftmanship, cohesiveness, and variety, because it certainly doesn't feel that way during the composing process.

I mention all this because while I am pleased with the results of Interplay, it felt like a struggle almost the entire time. In fact, once the third movement was completed, I made a few minor changes to the other two movements.

The third movement actually came a little easier than the previous two because of my approach to the interplay. Instead of relying heavily on counterpoint between the instruments, this movement is more of an interplay between sections of the piece and its instrumental color. I set out to write a Rondo and wanted the movement to be lighter in nature to contrast the more serious nature of the first two movements. The movement is sort of a Rondo, but took on a life of its own.

The movement begins with a two-measure bassoon introduction that establishes the meter changes and uneven meter feel that will be used as the basis of humor in the movement. It is answered by a four-measure tuba and piano section that changes between 2/4 and 3/8. These measures continue to alternate with the bassoon melody establishing the A section (measures 7-34). At measure 21, the piano and bassoon play the idea in imitation.

The B section goes from measure 35 - 54 and also has an uneven meter feel but in a different pattern. The tuba has the B theme first and then it goes to the bassoon.

The A section returns in measures 55 - 83 with a different scoring; piano first then bassoon.

Measure 84 ushers in the C section mostly in 3/8 but with occasional different meters inserted. It is more lyrical than the other two previous sections and the melody is a three-phrase group. The melody and harmony contain both 4ths and 3rds. The three-phrase group repeats two more times, each time with instrumentation changes, increasing counterpoint, and more intensity of dynamics. It climaxes at measure 147 before transitioning back to the B section instead of the expected A section of the Rondo. It is followed by A, therefore creating almost an arch form (ABACBA). At measure 200, the C section returns with even more counterpoint than its original statement. The Coda gives us a hint of the A section before fading away into silence that is broken by a loud final chord.

To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/interplay_blog.html. You can view and hear the score if Scorch is downloaded on your computer and/or listen to the mp3 file.

As always, your comments are appreciated.

Dr. B

Interplay Movement 2

While I am please with the second movement, it was once again a piece that did not flow easily from beginning to end. While the ideas came easily enough, the needed a lot of editing to help the movement flow.

This movement is in three sections creating an ABA' form. The B section is divided into an A A' A'' A.

The opening A begins slowly and expansively, utilizing melodic intervals of mainly 4ths and harmonic intervals of 4ths and 5ths. The interweaving or interplay of the tuba and bassoon begins at measure 9, while the piano continues the open harmony. A three-measure chromatic adventure contrasts the openness of the earlier material and leads to a new tonality at measure 19 where some of the earlier material is repeated in this new tonality. The piano takes over the interweaving before going to the chromatic wandering, slightly extended.

A plaintive bassoon ostinato begins the B section. The tuba states the main melodic idea that will be transformed in this section. It is interrupted by a staccato arpeggio figure that will continue that role throughout this section. The bassoon takes over the next statement of the thematic idea and then the bassoon and tuba play it in harmony. This statement transforms the 6/8 meter to 7/8. A climax is reached at the end of this section before returning to a quieter, rhythmically altered version with the ostinato in the piano left hand and the melody in the bassoon.

A recapitulation of the opening A occurs with subtle transformations. The movement ends quietly with some lush chords that move to a more open sound in the piano.

To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/interplay_blog.html. You can view and hear the score if Scorch is downloaded on your computer and/or listen to the mp3 file.

As always, your comments are appreciated.

Dr. B