Piece 1 Presented

Well my week of composing is coming to an end. This week began with the presentation of my first character piece to the class on Monday.

I wrote my first piece for trombone and piano. I was focusing mainly on the idea of timelessness. My piece has many different presentations of my chords in my progression that fall into different time signatures and rhythmic patterns. I didn't really create motifs in the trombone like to expand upon, rather I just wrote an expansive melodic line into the works of the piano part. I drew upon my knowledge of works by composers such as Schoenberg and used that knowledge to write within their style. I tried to avoid tones that may appear as tendency tones, and wrote as if I was ignorant of romantic lyricism. As the composer I am happy with the product. I wish though that I had time to rehearse with Phil and provide the class with an accurate representation.

When I played the piece for the class some items were brought to my attention. First is that there are few breaks in the trombone line. I wasn't completely oblivious to this. I had imagined the trombonist taking quick breaths between phrases, but having a sight reading performance didn't really facilitate well for this. I will take this into consideration for my revision.

Second was the reception of the opening idea. The class felt the first few measures should be expanded upon. It features a simple trombone line among simple chords. In my revision I looked at this idea and am seeing about playing with this for a bit longer, having a more slow expanding section before delving into the real meat and potatos.

Continuing with the previous point is the thought of changing the rhythms in the trombone in the first 2 measures. I used the same rhythm and the class felt that maybe I should change up the values to create some contrast. This I am still pondering whether I will or not.

Lastly is what I am doing at the moment, and that is notating the piece in Sibelius. Having a clean professional looking copy is always a good idea. I am currently doing that and including my revisions along the way. The big job now is creating the second character piece. I have an idea that I would like to explore, and not I just have to put the idea to paper. Some may think the idea is simple, and out of the style of the atonal circle. It may seem almost neo-baroque, but as a baroque lover I must try to make some fusion of it with the modern. : )