I have made a good start on Bicycling Into the Sun (Feel the Burn) am now at the 75-second mark (so, one-fourth done), the piece has assumed its own character, and I am at a point where I consider just what turn I want to take for the next section.
One thought I have had turns upon two bagatelles I drew up for specific calls three years ago. I thought of the one-minute piece, Out From the Unattended Baggage, and I considered how I might, true to its title, draw it forth from oblivion.
I wondered, in fact, if it might be subsumed into Bicycling... but on reviewing the piece, its pitch-world is entirely alien to my present trio: it is a graft which would not take.
But both the material and the notion are worthy, so I have another destination in mind for Out From the U. B., about which, more later.
The pitch-world and vibe of the other of the two bagatelles, the Sand Dance for flute and harp, make it ideal for such a transplant, and so we have found the perfect home for a short patch of music of which I was always fond.
Peter H. Bloom and I were on the Red Line on our way to King's Chapel in the spring of 2016, when we talked about my writing a piece for Ensemble Aubade, and the piece which sprang forth from the mulch of this conversation was Oxygen Footprint. When we talked about what duration the piece should be, Peter gently expanded the invitation, with the suggestion that eventually this piece should be one of a set.
As reported here, I completed the second piece of the set, Swiss Skis, this past March. While I do not believe that the Ensemble have yet had opportunity to work the piece in as yet, Peter's immediate enthusiasm on its behalf was encouragement for me to begin considering the third piece of the set. A week or so ago, I made a start on the piece, called Bicycling Into the Sun (Feel the Burn). Close readers of the blog may note that I have repurposed this title which I originally coined for one of the Opus 114 duets. This present piece for Ensemble Aubade will run about five minutes.
For some little time we have meant, as the k a rl h e nn i ng Ensemble, to play the program we have labored to prepare more than once, to get more play time out of the endeavor, and to get the music into more ears. And so we did, on 30 June, reprise our 14 May King's Chapel program, with the addition of the world première of Timothy Bowlby's Laurels for solo flautist, to a warmly appreciative audience at Holy Trinity UMC in Danvers, Mass. We shall be sure to return.
Once I was ready to apply myself to Mistaken for the Sacred as I originally meant it (that is, percussion solo and fixed media) I felt that I wanted a new mix of the fixed media.
We had used the original fixed media for the alternate version of the piece, Op.141a, with four winds rather than percussion, and the original f. m. is fine. But I reasoned that a percussion soloist is capable of a great deal more noise than is a quartet of winds, so I felt that it was reasonable that each version of the piece should enjoy its own version of the fixed media, and I wanted to give the percussionist some more-unruly noises to "bounce off of."
So, I created a modified fixed media sound file, and then prepared the score-cum-guidance-for-improv for the percussionist; then, my laptop's OS crashed. I thought that this new sound file was lost, an that I needed to rebuild it. But,I had sent a file-share link for the new fixed media, and I did manage to recover it.
I did, nevertheless further modify the fixed media, so the final result means that the work was nothing superfluous.
As, essentially, a revisitation of the program we performed at King's Chapel in May, this morning's dress rehearsal proved fairly light duty, and highly gratifying, and the church is a wonderful space to play music in. Looking forward both to the performance, and to the conversation afterward.
Peter and I also talked about Bicycling Into the Sun (Feel the Burn), and settled that it should be five minutes in duration. I shall work on that, while I am hunting up my White Nights folder.
Per this post, one of my first new pieces this spring I composed for my handbell choir to ring on Easter morning:
The May Triad concerts were excellent, our strongest yet, I believe; In my present recovery, I was but a spectator, and I rejoiced to hear such beautiful performances of both It Might Happen Today, and the Alleluia in Ab
. My expectation is that I shall be ready to participate fully in the fall concerts.
Our King's Chapel concert went very nicely; and it was especially gratifying to have two new pieces by my friend and colleague Pam Marshall.
We shall repeat this program at the church where I serve as Music Director, this Sunday.
Per my last blog post, I did indeed prepare a score in the form of a guide for the percussion soloist in Mistaken for the Sacred, and Olivia Kieffer has approved. She has just begun a new graduate program at U. Miami, and plans to perform the piece when she will have settled.
My 100-note toy piano piece, Penny Candy (the first piece I composed after discharge from hospital, has been accepted.
To complete a set of threev pieces for Ensemble Aubade, I have begun work on Bicycling Into the Sun (Feel the Burn), will confirm with Peter on Saturday what duration is desired.
Well, Gentle Reader, I am now about caught up. As I continue my recovery, my plan is to make use of the summer to resume work on White Nights; if I can finish the ballet for my birthday, my happiness will be considerable, indeed.
