Symbols, Op. 22 - I. Sculpture (A Study in Shapes)

Here I have one of my composition assignments. The task was to use a famous musical quotation; here, I use it rather transparently, but if unfamiliar it is Erik Satie. Moreover, it had to be about two minutes long. I plan on writing multiple miniatures: this, the first. Much of the inspiration for the name -- sculpture -- is in my own paradigm toward composition; I think of it as like the act of sculpting and in very visual fashion, associating music with color. Enjoy!

(I left it in concert pitch for ease of reading)

Firstly, thanks for keeping it in concert pitch! Your typesetting is gorgeous by the way. I always enjoy seeing your scores. I'd be curious to see your sketches and notes on this to get a better idea of the shapes and such you were conveying, as the way I'm hearing and interpreting is probably very different than the way you intended it. This was an enjoyable piece of music to listen to! 

3 hours ago, JordanRoberts said:

Firstly, thanks for keeping it in concert pitch! Your typesetting is gorgeous by the way. I always enjoy seeing your scores. I'd be curious to see your sketches and notes on this to get a better idea of the shapes and such you were conveying, as the way I'm hearing and interpreting is probably very different than the way you intended it. This was an enjoyable piece of music to listen to! 

 

Thanks for the feedback! My ideas for the piece are very abstract, and one could say that the "shapes" are like the different figurations of the given melody, which remain steady and always building. Thanks for sharing 😀

Very nice piece! Lots of unique colour in the orchestra. Also, which piece by Satie was this from? (just curious)

@CalibriStandard Thank you kindly for your feedback! This was built on Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1, and the theme is most apparent in the central section at bar 57. The piece needs a bit more work, but I hope to do a whole set of these compositions.

4 hours ago, Jared Steven Destro said:

@CalibriStandard Thank you kindly for your feedback! This was built on Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1, and the theme is most apparent in the central section at bar 57. The piece needs a bit more work, but I hope to do a whole set of these compositions.

 

Thanks!

I'm honestly not sure which I like better—the score or the music—and that's saying something, because the music has more architecture than a Frank Lloyd Wright structure! It was visually as well as musically appealing. Your use of tone color is unique, refreshing, and easy to listen to. Sound work!

Also, kudos for choosing one of Satie's pieces... if for no other reason than because I like him! 😉

(Seriously, I have know what engraving program you use for your scores. I could read them all day and never get tired.)

@Tónskáld Thank you very much for your comment. Ironically enough, Frank Lloyd Wright is very familiar to me and he is my favorite architect (I was actually just at his Martin House Complex here in Buffalo, where his designs were inspirational). Your comment humbles me, and I am very grateful!

As for the score, I work in three stages: first, I compose the piece with or without a plan ahead of time; second, I make revisions on it (usually rewriting the piece from scratch, adding details or changing the structure); and then, I tidy it visually, creating a cover template in Word and combining it with the score. I love typefaces and fonts, so I spend a lot of time researching them!

I was fortunate enough to see his Bachman-Wilson house while visiting NW Arkansas, where I had to fight back tears the whole time. It was so... right. Although I'm sure the tour guides thought I was mental. Glad to know you're a fan, as well!

5 hours ago, Jared Steven Destro said:

As for the score, I work in three stages: first, I compose the piece with or without a plan ahead of time; second, I make revisions on it (usually rewriting the piece from scratch, adding details or changing the structure); and then, I tidy it visually, creating a cover template in Word and combining it with the score. I love typefaces and fonts, so I spend a lot of time researching them!

Oddly enough, I compose in much the same way you described. I have two computers with Sibelius installed on them. I compose the piece on my laptop first ('cause I can sit at the piano), and then re-compose it on the desktop that has my VSL and DAW. Folks may think I'm crazy, but the method works for me! I think my favorite part, though, is what comes afterward: getting to engrave the score. Like you, I also love typefaces and fonts—I have probably thousands installed—and I could (and have!) sit for literal days trying out combinations and layouts. It's pure bliss, I tell you! 😂

Musically, I love what you do with your works; your themes are embedded throughout, and every note seems to count. If I may be so bold as to compare myself to you, I'd say my own style is rather similiar, although I tend to be a bit more lyrical. So I guess I'm trying to say that your works "jive" with me.

At any rate, thank you so much for sharing your thoughtful musical expressions with us; I am definitely a fan! Keep up the inspiring work!

Thanks again for your kind feedback!

This is a great example of a good modern piece of music that nonetheless manages to stay accessible!  Great job.  The melody from Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No.1 is so interwoven into it on many levels and is varied in many different ways.  I like how the first time you hear the melody it is at the same pitch level as the original but in a different mode.  The extraneous material fits into the fabric of the piece quite well but doesn't seem to be related to the quoted melody which makes me question what kind of method you used to come up with it.  Or maybe you just allowed yourself some creative license?  Great piece.  Did you ever write any more miniatures based on other quoted melodies?  I would love to hear them.  Also ... it's a shame that this piece is so short but I guess that was part of the assignment?  It would be great if you ever decided to extend this.  Thanks for sharing!

On 8/18/2022 at 5:08 PM, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

This is a great example of a good modern piece of music that nonetheless manages to stay accessible!  Great job.  The melody from Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No.1 is so interwoven into it on many levels and is varied in many different ways.  I like how the first time you hear the melody it is at the same pitch level as the original but in a different mode.  The extraneous material fits into the fabric of the piece quite well but doesn't seem to be related to the quoted melody which makes me question what kind of method you used to come up with it.  Or maybe you just allowed yourself some creative license?  Great piece.  Did you ever write any more miniatures based on other quoted melodies?  I would love to hear them.  Also ... it's a shame that this piece is so short but I guess that was part of the assignment?  It would be great if you ever decided to extend this.  Thanks for sharing!

 

Thank you for taking the time to comment on this. I used to work in this way more frequently -- taking a melody and using it as a compositional basis. For instance, I composed an orchestral piece a traditional Polish melody (link); used a medley of melodies (this is one of Chopin's) whilst improvising at the piano (link); used ancient Greek melodies (link); and I use my own pieces as a basis all the time (link) etc.

Each was with different methodologies with a variance of flexibility. The Polish melody one for instance was originally much simpler (spontaneous), but the orchestration grew more ordered and complex as it was revised, controlling its usage to a planned structure; the improvised set was completely spontaneous; and the last one was planned merely to utilize the melody. In any of the examples though, I felt it was more important my manipulation of the material as opposed to being accurate to the original -- capturing the spirit through recomposition and by taking ownership and controlling the material in as personal a way as possible.

It is definitely a fun way to compose, especially the more thorough and inquisitive the approach. Having some form of order to control when and how material is introduced is certainly helpful. I learned this when composing a work for brass quintet, when one work of mine used 16 quotations of various people and the form was hard to bind together in a convincing enough manner, in my opinion.

I doubt I would return to this piece (it was back when I was still using a "opus" based catalogue, and it was written when I was a different person). But, it was a fundamental style of composition that helped push me into other areas. This piece was composed in one sitting and without much thought aside from what was spontaneous, which is a consequence of my improvising background. Just writing in that manner has its benefits, but is by no means free from drawbacks.

Thanks again for commenting, and I am contending posting more music at one point though I am trying not to overdo it to be honest. I, like many, write a considerable amount of music, often times for no reason at all, which is not particularly wise when you are someone that is, like me, prone to mental health issues. But it would be nice to have for you more relevant examples of my writing, if only to share them with someone other than myself.