Looking back: Your compositional output in 2008.

I saw Daniel post on Facebook how many minutes of music he wrote this past year and I thought it was a rather cool idea too look back and see how you did. So go ahead, talk about how you did this year, anything you learned, how much music you finished, how much you didn't finish, just any reflections on the past year at all. Not to brag, just to chill out and talk to other people about it.

I went back through all my stuff and found out that I started 25 new pieces in 2008; I only finished 6 of them. A horrible ratio, in my opinion. The finished works are:

Well, being as how I am so terribly unorganized and have my compositions from this year spread out over three different computers, I can't come to an exact total but I've reached the reasonable estimate of about 3 hours of total composer music. Actually, that might be being a bit modest but that's the figure i'm going to go with. Of that, I have between 30-40 minutes of completed music. Unfortunatel, if we're talking music I've written that is actually GOOD then I'd estimate about a minute. Perhaps two if I'm feeling generous.

Considering I'm incredibly new to composing (only started about a month and a half ago):

I've started three pieces and finished two, although the unfinished piece I started today and is by far my most ambitious work, so *shifty eyes* I'm not really sure I count it as 'unfinished' so much as 'being worked on.' I'm not counting the various ideas that have floated into my head and then I promptly forgot/never actually started to put down onto paper.

Finished::

Remembrance - Solo Piano

String Quartet No. 1 in C Minor - Two violins, viola, and cello

Unfinished/WIP:

The Death March - Full orchestra

That's about a total of 3:45 complete music, and I'm 20 seconds into The Death March, so that's a little over four minutes total. Not too bad, I think.

As far as general reflections, I've gained a huge appreciation for music in general, and I never realized that composition could be so much fun. And there's so much to learn...I'm completely in over my head, and I just know I'm going to make some pretty egregious errors, but these things will come and go. I'm stoked to be in the position to make them at all really.

This time next year, I hope to be able to actually talk about my music in terms of style, etc.

~Christian

Absolutely nothing.

That's the spirit!

nothing really worth talking about.

2008 was my best year ever compositionally. When I was studying privately i think I wrote over 3 years 1 three movement clarinet piece and a 2 movement piano work - all which embarasses me.

So, this year I can say I have one very good piece - the solo clarinet piece I always mention (and getting tired of mentioning i gotta have another showcase piece -- soon!!)

I stil like my organ work from April so I'll count that as part of my keepers for now. Plus I like my violin duo and recent piano piece (though of the the two the duo is more substantial).

I have written a ton of stuff but I am very critical (maybe too critical sometimes).

I don't remember the exact order, but here it is:

- "Obsession" for four hands, in C minor

- Capriccio for Cello in C Minor

- "Wasteland" in G minor

- Barbaric Scherzo in C minor

- "Caffeine Scherzo" for Violin and Piano in D minor

- Prelude in D Major

- Funeral March in C minor

- Parts from an unfinished operetta, of which I posted the Masquerade and Fireworks

I've also started a Grotesque March for orchestra, but it's far from done.

meh.

Sound Happens - 20 minutes (crap? perhaps.)

Variations on a Decisive Theme - 7 minutes

Hold Fast - 5(6) minutes

Characteristics - 3 minutes

Ugly Baby - 59 seconds

so 34 minutes. what you dont know is other than "ugly baby" which i did in about 3 days in mid december, I accomplished NOTHING from may to december. :(

I have been working on a concerto for my friend, but i kept getting discouraged and havent finished it yet.

I guess I have finished the 2nd movement, so 6 more minutes.

40. yay.

Nothing, as in nothing that I put on here.

I do lots.

I still hold my position: that's the spirit!!

Ok. Now that I thought about it, undoutably my most signifigant project was my first Symphony. Just short of 1 hour now and it's almost finished. Also, Explosions of Joy, start of "The Pslams" and "And He Shall Be Called", a couple major comissions, and a few smaller works.

I composed about 29 minutes of completed music. But, I can't work on a piece for longer than two sittings... So, i will sit there from 8 A.M.-12 A.M. (16 hours) two times... that is the longest I can sped on a piece... 32 hours. Which is pretty good. But, I can't stop and come back later.

SOOOOO... having said that, I compose a lot of works because I don't stop UNTIL I am finished. And, if I don't finish it (only happened once), it just goes in a file marked Never-finished-works...

Frontier for Brass and Percussion - 5:33

Frontier for Orchestra - 5:33

Enthrall - 3:29

Intense Brass Sextet - 5:33

Scherzo for Saxophones and Brass - about 3 minutes

Chasse - about 4 minutes.

Ostinato - about 4 minutes.

That and countless unfinished crap.

I composed about 6-7 minutes of "classical" music that I'm happy with, including a string quintet and a piece for violin and piano. I'm constantly writing in various pop styles too, though, so overall I probably wrote a dozen or so songs adding up to adding up to about an hour of material.

A good year for me, because most of the music I started, I finished, and I am proud of. But a pretty low volume of music in the end.

7 Items or Less (Orchestral Version) - About 18 Minutes

String Quartet No. 1 -About 13 Minutes

Fugue No. 1 - 1 Minute

She, at His Funeral - 1 Minute

Ghost House - About 4 Minutes

So about 37 minutes.

I started and finished:

"Solo for Flute"

"Children's Games and a Loss of Naivete" for Woodwind Sextet

"Theme and Oscillations" for Brass, Organ, and Percussion

Percussion arrangement for "Closer" by Bryan Poulsan

Front Ensemble arrangement for Edmond Santa Fe High School's marching show

Finished:

"Insights into Transience" for Violin, Viola, Cello, Clarinet, Harp, and Percussion

All in all, about 30 minutes of original material and 10 minutes of the marching stuff. I also finished a keyboard reduction of a piece, I'm just not sure how I'm going to orchestrate it, and I have started a lot of work on my percussion orchestra piece.

2008 has been one of the busiest years for me, as I've worked on several projects simultaneously.

- Score for "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", directed by Joseph Traynor, London.

- Score for "Shadow on the Sun", original stage play by Robert Gould and Jimmy Granstrom, London / U.S.

- "Ray of Hope", text by Israeli president Shimon Peres, duet with Austrian opera singer Sonja Perenda.

- "Winter", three movement piece for flute and orchestra.

- "Desert Flower", theme song for a movie (based on best selling novel), with a similar title.

- "Valse Triste" for Piano solo.

- "Milonga" for Accordion and Classical Guitar.

- "The Mirror of Matsuyama", four movement piece inspired by the Japanese folk tale of the same title.

- "Journeys", three movement piece for oriental orchestra and Classical Guitar.

...and a few incomplete works and stand-alone songs.

Omri.

Well I didn't really decide to start composing until late july, early august, and even then I didn't write that much... I think as a new year's resolution I should make an effort to write one thing or more a month, and at least once every 3 months I should write a major work, even (since I'm still in the beginnings of actually writing something that sounds remotely good :blush: ) that is just a sonata for 2 instruments. But hopefully I'll write something that might even get to be in the "Major Works" forum :)

Anyway,

I wrote 4 songs: Time Travel, Exile, Invention No. 1, and Greensleeves

That equals a total of 300 measures, and a total time of (apprx.) 10 minutes and 10 seconds... pretty puny for 6 months but like I said I'm going to write more this year, you can expect me to have a heck of a lot more repitoire!

This year was crazy for me - my writing was kind of sporadic. Here are pieces I wrote and or finished in 2008 (some pieces were started the previous year):

early 2007 - Jan. 08: 'Sometimes I Dream', for full orchestra. (ca. 9') Read and recorded by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra on Dec. 5, 2008.

Dec. 07 - Feb. 08: 'One', an opera scene for 2 sopranos, vibraphone and piano. (ca.: 14') Premiered twice in April.

Jan. - Mar.: 'Wayward Variations', I & III. for quintet (flute, bassoon, harp, piano, violin). (ca. 8') Premiered in May.

late 2004-Oct. '08: 'the Schecher Quintet', for brass. (ca. 13') 1st two movements premiered in October.

That's all my completed music. Currently in the works (from earliest start time):

'Drift', for full orchestra. Current progress: 75%

'Fantasy', for trumpet and piano. Current progress: 45% (after restarting it twice)

'Miniatures', for tuba and marimba. Current progress: 2 out of 6

'Chamber Symphony', for 17 players. Current progress: 50% of movement 1

It's very usual for me to be working on this many things at once. This year wasn't my most prolific, but all of the pieces I finished had performances (with the exception of the orchestra piece, which was only read and recorded). My finished music clocks in to about 44 minutes.

I started writing mostly during the summer, and finished most of my pieces these past few months.

Excuse my titles, I haven't spent much time on that.

TechnoCraft - Garageband - 2:46

Final Project - String Quartet - 4:38

Violin Trio - violin trio - 4:47

Locrian Intensity - Piano version - 3:35

i VI iv V i - Piano and string orchestra - 5:46

Junior High - String Orchestra - 2:12

Deception - SATB - 5:05

Lead Kindly Light/Dies Irae - SATB - 3:19

Pep Song - Pep Band - 0:32

Approx. 30 minutes of complete works

Uncompleted were, with there current lengths:

The Only Son From Heaven - SATB - 3:28

Dark Dreams - garageband - 1:21

Technocraft Orchestrated - Full Orchestra - 5:33

Locrian Intensity - Full Orchestra - 3:35

Full Orchestra Piece - Full Orchestra - 4:58

Natalie's song - small ensembles(depends on movement) - 3:03

Approx. 20 min. of incomplete works, that were written down.

This was a good first year of composing, for sure. If no really good pieces came out of it, atleast I'm getting more experience so that I can get to the point of actually writing quality pieces. Notice, I never finished any of my full orch pieces, but I'm really close on 2 of them. Just add some percussion on one song, and finish a couple of phrases on the other.

Probably about an hour of actually fresh compositional material, plus arrangements and revisions, film score, rock album stuff etc.

More or less:

Kārttikeya, (Study No. 1) for solo piano

Five Bagatelles for horn & marimba

Songs of Moonlight & Shadows for soprano, alto flute, cello, percussion & piano

Six Shelley Songs for soprano & piano

Three Observations for horn & electronics

Saturday (in February) for jazz orchestra

+

Started:

Vāsava for brass ensemble

Revised:

A Zarzuela & Other Lost Works for wind ensemble

Arranged:

In Darkness Let Me Dwell for brass ensemble

In Darkness Let Me Dwell for choir

Virga Jesse Floruit for brass ensemble

Other:

Musical arrangements for feature length animated film

Finished/revised/recorded original score for feature length film

A couple of jazz tunes

Finished writing/recording rock/experimental album

*Gets depressed and runs away*