Changes Over the Course of A Year

So, I'm looking over my works from the past year and am quite surprised at how far I've come in that year.

I started 2010 in a very tonal arena. I had just completed a symphony and had started work on other pieces.

Here is the thread for the symphony and here is the last movement. The symphony stands as an interesting piece to me, in many regards. At points, there is almost a watershed of emotion as I listen to it. I'm not sure if that's because that was a rough time for me - or what. But, it's an interesting work in many regards. I love the classical nuances of the orchestration in the second movement. The third movement, is perhaps my best tonal movement ever.

As the year progressed, I composed a myriad of smaller works. The gist of what I was doing is obviously trying to find that elusive 'voice'.

Some interesting works from this short period:

1. Rondo for Violin, Viola, and Timpani!: This work is amazingly interesting. The thought of something like this being performed is quite startling. The work maintains an interesting tonality all the way throughout. And you can hear a clear departure with convention and the first meanderings of what would personify my works later in the year.

2. Essay no. 3 in B minor for Orchestration: I'm kind of sad I don't have this work's score or master Finale file. This would've been wonderful.

3. Short Essay for Piano: This would be my first work that very nearly completely moves away from tonality. Listening back to it, I'm am enthralled by it in many ways.

4. Starlight and Solitude: By March, I had begun to experiment heavily with Serialism. It's interesting looking back at this at the end of the year. Because, within 1 month after the posting of this. My world would change forever. Was this work somehow a premonition of what would happen?

5. Piano Trio no. 2: The first large scale serial composition of mine. The second movement of this is by far the shining star of this movement, in my opinion.

6. Inclinations for Piano: By the end of March, deep in experimentation, I composed this wonderful set of preludes in similar vein to Ligeti's Ricercare. At the time, I wasn't aware of those works. Then as I was writing these, someone informed of these. Wonderful piece!

7. Requiem (just the Introit): On the morning of April 8, I was awoken to the news that my father had died in a fire on his property in Indianapolis. As expected, I was devastated. This event greatly impacted me. Shortly after, I returned to school. From April until the month of July, I wrote very little. Finally, on July 8th - on the three month anniversary of his death - I composed this work. Of my tonal works, I consider this one to be above all the best. The emotional quality in this is amazingly deep - for obvious reasons.

8. In Relation To...: This work, posted in May, was written the week before my father died. I didn't post it till May due to having to take a trip to Indianapolis to be with family. I like the work, though, I want to return to Micropolyphony some more - to see if I can do a LOT better.

9. Inventions Antique: This work, again written the week before my father died, but posted in May. Uses an ancient scale that dates back to the Sumerian/Mesopotamian epoch. The scale was discovered on the Hurrian Tablet.

10. Echoes: Heaven and Earth: This is one of the works I placed on my recent portfolio for consideration at the CCPA in Chicago. This work, deeply within my more modern scope, is one of my better works for Orchestra - of my experimental stuff that is.

11. Fire and Ice: This final piece in my retrospection, I feel, is one of my strongest pieces to date. This is the last piece written over what was a very long and stressful year for me. I also included this in my portfolio. Sadly, the YC site has lost my uploads for this! GET THEM BACK PLEASE!!!

All in all, I composed a total of 46 works this past year. Many of these, for those concerned, were smaller 'exercise' works of no more than a few minutes. The works listed above, I feel are a good benchmark of my music over this past year. They show a rapid move away from traditional waters. I find self-reflection interesting in that it shows an artist, from his own perspective, how much he/she can grow in a year.

So when will you fuse the creativity of the old you and the new you into a composer of simply awesomeness?

I wrote five substantial works in 2010 (plus a couple of short "just for fun" pieces), and I thought that was a good year! I can't imagine writing 46 compositions in that time...

My compositions since I entered grad school tend to be modal and based around traditional Japanese aesthetics or ideas, though some of my most recent works explore rhythmic repetition and 12-tone technique. I don't feel like I've made any large departures (maybe small ones in a solo clarinet piece from last year and in the 12-tone piece), but I'm certainly heading somewhere. I feel like it's too soon to tell where that somewhere is; other people can worry about that if they want. I'll just keep composing and try to teach myself something new with each piece.

I wrote five substantial works in 2010 (plus a couple of short "just for fun" pieces), and I thought that was a good year! I can't imagine writing 46 compositions in that time...

My compositions since I entered grad school tend to be modal and based around traditional Japanese aesthetics or ideas, though some of my most recent works explore rhythmic repetition and 12-tone technique. I don't feel like I've made any large departures (except maybe in the 12-tone piece), but I'm certainly heading somewhere. I feel like it's too soon to tell where that somewhere is; other people can worry about that if they want. I'll just keep composing and try to teach myself something new with each piece.

It is amazing how far one can go in a year. Do you plan on writing more once your done with your schooling?

It is amazing how far one can go in a year. Do you plan on writing more once your done with your schooling?

Certainly, although I have no clue when I'll be done with schooling!

Certainly, although I have no clue when I'll be done with schooling!

I'm expecting my prolific nature to diminish significantly once I get into a conservatory.... I can just feel it.

Why? You'll have more opportunities, right?

More opportunities to have others play your work, sure, but also more responsibilities, like writing papers, preparing for musicianship exams, performing on an instrument, etc... And supporting oneself financially. So when in undergrad there's not that much time left to compose. I mean you make time, but there are many other things to worry about.