composer's notebook
essays & criticism on musical matters
commentary
Friday, May 02, 2008
I heart Japan
I adore my friends in Tokyo--they are so bloody on top of things. Within a week or so after the Tokyo Kosei premiere of Climbing Parnassus, I received a CD in the mail. And Holy Honshu, Batman, what a performance. Here is the streaming audio to prove it:
Climbing Parnassus: Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, conducted by Kazufumi YAMASHITA
In 2 bullet points, here's what I love about this performance...
• The fact that it is so relaxed in tempo, it runs almost about a minute or two longer than any previous duration. Which I read as a sort of reveling in the sound of the thing and not wanting it to end. Yes, I'm allowed to think that.
• The 15 seconds of silence after the piece is over (!) before anyone applauds. The audience was either stunned into silence, or incredibly respectful, and I choose to believe it's a little bit of both.
The musicality of Tokyo Kosei is so remarkable that I'm basically humbled into having nothing to add about this. So now I am left with the question of which recording best represents the work...the one above, or the premiere by the JWECC Festival Ensemble from the Conference in Kurashiki (and I'm soliciting comments to that end).
It's not really a choice. They're both too good.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Procrastinate in Layers
While following a "Came From" link in my webstats, I found that my friends at the Japan Wind Ensemble Conductors Conference have put up an awesome link to information on the commission, on a page that is clearly supposed to be in Japanese. I don't know what's going on there with the html, but I get the gist, certainly, and it's worth the click for the graphic they made out of the first page of the score. That's an uncorrected score there, with a mistake on the commissioner line (there's a fourth commissioner not listed, the Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare "Heartful Winds"). Still, I love the Greek imagery inserted in there--sweet! Unfortunately, in comparison, Konagaya-san's manuscript looks way cooler than my Sibelius-printout. Perhaps that's why someone thought it might need some spicing up with a few dancing Muses.
I'm thinking of doing a Call for Artsy Visual Responses (CAVR?) to any piece of mine. Now that the gauntlet has been thrown down, I can hear Photoshop booting up around the land...
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Trifecta
I've been mentioning, hinting, and talking around 3 new (or new-ish) pieces of late, without giving much detail. Since the travels have ended, and I've finally culled all available audio for these suckers, I hope to flesh these out a little more. (I can't imagine anyone would want to listen to all of these in a row, so, y'know, take it slow.)
1) My Hands Are a City. For months I've been typing this title, and having nothing to link to. Now that we've got a few performances under the belt, there's a page online, with the score and a live perusal recording, courtesy of the (really terrific) Texas A&M-Commerce Wind Ensemble conducted by lead commissioner Jeff Gershman. This fall sees the World Premiere Recording by John Lynch's University of Georgia Wind Ensemble, on the Naxos label (the sessions sounded great). The program note gives many of the details on the piece, so the only thing I would add is that there's not a note in the work that doesn't somehow come from either The Rivers of Bowery (it is meant as a drastic expansion of that shorter piece) or from mid-century beebop/jazz source tunes. Also, the plan as it stands now is that this is but one movement of what will eventually be a 3-mvt piece. Probably this is the third. The idea would be that one can program The Rivers of Bowery in addition to the full 3-mvt MHAaC work (Symphony No. 1? Really? Thinking about it) and have a complete Beat-themed Newman concert half. Well I like it.
2) Climbing Parnassus. After a spectacular performance of As the scent of spring rain... by The Florida State Wind Symphony at the 2007 CBDNA National Conference (thanks, Rick!), I was approached by the awesome foursome from Tokyo Kosei to write a piece for their Japan Wind Ensemble Conductors Conference the following year. They were arranging a Festival ensemble comprised of members of the 4 commissioners: Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare "Heartful Winds" (medical students, mostly), the Nagoya Wind Symphony (an area youth wind ensemble), Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra (the professional ensemble in Tokyo), and Wind Ensemble KANADE (a simply amazing pro group). I knew that JM (slick new site design, John!) had just returned from the 2007 JWECC gig, and couldn't conceive of not doing it, so after asking if we could do 2009 (No, 2009 was already booked for SB) I said Yes and we were a Go and my 2007-8 writing schedule was officially out of control. I was late with the piece, of course, but surprisingly, it turned out really well. Since I was just coming off MHAaC, and was faced with another wind ensemble piece, I was intent on making something altogether different from what I had just completed. And so where MHAaC is huge, sprawling, rhythmic, and note-y, Climbing Parnassus is intimate, relaxed, and sound-y. I was terrified they wouldn't like it, but after hearing that Nakata-san was pleased, I was one happy camper. The program note explains the title a bit, so the only thing I would add about this one is on the ensemble setup. After trying and then discarding several other arrangements, I settled on a simple (turns out in practice it's probably less-than-simple, as people were frantically running around on stage to make it happen) stereo setup for most of the pairs of instruments and choirs ... clarinets on one side, clarinets on the other ... trumpet 1 on one side, trumpet 2 on the other ... bowed marimba on one side, bowed vibraphone on the other...etc. Nothing new under the sun, certainly, but effective. The recording of this fantastic performance does not exactly show this off, so you'll have to use your imagination a little. Trust me, live in performance, the stereo/panning stuff sounds AWESOME. But I'm kind of pleased that it's the kind of piece that needs to happen live to give the full effect (what piece isn't, I guess). That makes me happy in a wonky kind of way.
3) Concertino for flute solo, chamber winds, and piano. Finished a year ago, we now have a full recording, and it's smokin'. Robert Ambrose's premiere with flutist Sarah Kruser Ambrose (for whom the piece was written) as soloist in February was so terrific - but I there were weird recording problems. It's always something. These tracks (there are two, click the top "listen" button for mvt 1, and the second "listen" button for movements 2-3) feature Gary Hill conducting Elizabeth Buck and the Arizona State University Chamber Players. Believe it or not, there are early plans for recording this one for an upcoming Naxos CD as well. I'm trying not to think about that too much, in case it doesn't happen. There's a brilliant program note for this one too, of course, which gives the idea on the whole French (or French-isch) Chamber Music stylization. But let's be honest. The first movement is Newman does Poulenc. The second is Newman does Takemitsu. The third is Newman does Martinů. Hey, just calling the spade what it is, that's all.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Nippon Newman
It's probably not surprising to hear that I had a terrific time in Japan (Japan = Awesome. I took some 400 photos to prove it), and that everyone involved with the 2008 Japan Wind Ensemble Conductor's Conference in Kurashiki are terrific people with scary talent. NAKATA-san (tenor saxophonist with the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra) is a monster at every single thing he does (perform, arrange, conduct, organize), and I am eager to once again thank him and all the super pros at Tokyo Kosei, his ensemble the Nagoya Wind Symphony, IWATA-san and "The Heartful Winds", and YO-san and his stunningly amazing chamber group Wind Ensemble KANADE for making our commission project happen. I do not overstate when I say the whole thing was a huge success. I'm really really pleased with the piece, as it came off quite well, and the JWECC Festival Wind Ensemble's playing made me look very good indeed. I'll be posting the audio and info for their commissioned work, Climbing Parnassus, in short order. Mostly because you kind of have to hear it to believe it.
While I was gone, in the venerable Town Hall, the NY Premiere of my Concertino happened, with the Boston University Chamber Orchestra, conducted by (beloved former composition professor) Richard Cornell, with flutist Elsbieta Brandys, as part of my alma mater's InCite Festival. My family attended in my absence. They said it was great. I believe them. Still. Not being there suuuuuuucked.
Upon return I immediately turned around to get back down to Texas, for a residency at Texas State University-San Marcos. There I ate Whataburger, drank Shiner Bock, taught some lessons, worked with the terrific ensembles, and enjoyed performances of my stuff, including Avenue X (led by Caroline Beatty), Moon by Night, and a premiere performance of My Hands Are a City conducted by co-commissioner Rod Schueller. My sincere thanks to TSU for their tireless work and a great time!
And then we come to The End. The End meaning unemployed, with nothing to do but enjoy doing nothing. This week. This is it. The last gig. Basta. No more. And so this evening I leave for a residency at Arizona State University, where Gary Hill conducts his ensembles in performances of As the scent of spring rain..., Avenue X, and the Concertino, featuring soloist Elizabeth Buck. GH sent me a rehearsal recording of the Concertino this weekend. I teared up a little while listening to the third movement. Seriously. And the pianist wasn't even at that rehearsal. O this is gonna be good...
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
direct flight
I leave for Japan today - and begin the journey that culminates in the world premiere (actually means world this time) of Climbing Parnassus, at the 2008 Japan Wind Ensemble Conductor's Conference in Kurashiki, as a guest of my friends from the "Heartful Winds", Nagoya Wind Symphony, Tokyo Kosei Orchestra, and Wind Ensemble KANADE. Upon return late next week, I suspect I'll be once again breaking my notebook-no-pictures rule...