StripedGazelle

When I was the organist for First Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, I had the great pleasure of knowing and frankly being over-awed by the absolute first-rate jazz pianist Rich Harney who played with the Jazz band there for the contemporary service. His death in 2020 hit me very, very hard; I dedicated this piano work, that I was midway through composing at the time, to him, because I was thinking of him so very much as I composed the conclusion. My background has been so thoroughly classical in nature that I can't say I was capable of absorbing very much Jazz into my own style, but at a minimum he inspired me to break out harmonically somewhat from the stringent baroque style that I had so much been limiting myself to before I met him. Incidentally, the other piano work I previously uploaded here (Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost) was composed only after this one. I recorded the below for streaming as prelude for a service there during COVID lockdown that turned out to be my very last Sunday as organist there because I was so upset by the pastor and music director afterward both declaring this music to be "inappropriate" and "rather dissonant". Whether it is or not made no difference to me, since if the expression of these emotions were to be banned then what point was there to making music at all? Did I overreact? What's done is done. And may angels accompany Rich Harney into paradise.

@PeterthePapercomPoser You've given me by far the nicest compliment I have ever received, and having now perused a number of your excellent posts on this site I see that I have received it from a talented, accomplished, and apparently prolific composer no less! That is all much more than I deserve! Only by the Grace of God...

If I understand the gist of your (MJFOBOE) question, I should say they are absolutely meant in earnest! In my post I was just trying to put into words ("succinct" and all) how my compositional approach appears to be naturally orientated. Your speculation about my compositions being exercises isn't the first time someone has done so; this is in fact precisely why I attempted to say something about the nature of "succinctness" as I see it. I have personally found that the difficulties of making something as simple as possible (but no simpler!) are seldom appreciated, but that is just because few people are as cursed with the desire for that simplicity as I appear to be. I hope this further attempt at explaining myself hasn't made the situation worse! I just wanted to make it clear how, for better or worse (as far as their reception by others may be concerned), every detail in these compositions has been arrived at in full earnestness and intent by myself in a way that couldn't be called an exercise or experimentation except by way of a critique relative to accepted norms. Perhaps another way of saying this would be that I am very passionate about these (and all of my compositions) but that passion channels itself very much into this paring down of possibilities toward as succinct an expression (w.r.t. the number of parts, the duration, and the melodic and harmonic material itself) as possible, without sacrificing the emotional content. Or at least that is how all of this appears to me! I don't suppose I can ever be 100% certain that the Muse isn't just using me to make a joke at my expense. But then again, how dismal life would be without humor, no?

Apparently I have always valued succinctness above all in musical expression -- I hope I have achieved that in the attached! I wanted these to be as compact as possible without becoming trivial in the process. So I am calling these Succinct Symphonies now. I do not play these instruments myself (I know only the organ, harpsichord, and piano) so hopefully I haven't made here anything unnecessarily awkward or unpleasant to play. For the sample MP3 of the first of the set I have used here CSound -- the portamento I programmed into it isn't necessarily meant to be suggestive for any eventual acoustic performance, but rather was only my way of making the synthesized performance, limited as it is, more interesting (and I was having fun learning CSound in the process, too). I have MP3 files produced from synthesized MIDI for the other four in the set if anyone is interested.

I guess I'd have to say I started composing in earnest, as it were, sometime in the 1990's. But even then composing usually took a backseat relative to college studies in mathematics or church organist gigs or computer programming jobs. Only since about two years ago have I tried to give it first priority. But I'll never be prolific since my approach is so rigorous, or else so self-limiting, I'm not sure which way to put it. I value succinctness above all. Perhaps that comes from my mathematical background. My favorite composers are Jehan Titelouze, Nicolas Lebègue, Louis Couperin, and François Couperin. Thank you ever so muchly much for your kindness!

Thanks! (pateceramics) MP3 from MIDI uploaded now (albeit not one capable of pronouncing syllables).

My entire life seems but a continual wandering, and perhaps the jury is still out concerning whether I am just lost or not! Either way, here is a little of what the Muse had to say about it. I hope someone may find some pleasure in it.

I'm new here, so I don't yet know if I am using the website correctly (please forgive me if I'm not!) Attached is what I have been working on for the past week or so.