This week’s piece, presuming it ends as well as it is going right now (I’m about one page into it as things stand) will be my favourite out of all three of them. It was the hardest to begin, but I began by writing about 8 bars of piano before I even started working on the clarinet part…I know that this would probably earn me a sound rap across the wrist, but I simply wanted to get a feel for the piano part before I went all clarinet-crazy. Piano comes to me a lot easier than clarinet does anyway, seeing as clarinet is a transposing instrument…And transposition is my enemy. But thanks to Finale and its ability to play back everything I’ve clicked into the staff on the page, I’m getting by without too much tooth-pulling.
It’s definitely a strange piece, and so far it sounds just about as tired as I feel. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing yet, but the more I listen to it, the more tired I feel, and the more tired I feel the more the piece takes on this dismal character. I decided halfway through composing the second piece that I was going to name this one ‘Inebriation,’ simply because I felt a piece that sounded as though it was composed after a ten-day drinking binge would be a good way to end a three piece composition thing. I’m still not sure what to call this work as a whole- it’s not a sonata, it’s not a concerto…It’s just a thing, right now, I guess. Maybe I’ll invent a term for it that’ll be used 100 years after I’m dead, that sounds like a good plan.
I think I might be getting a bit tonal with this one…It sounds more like a tonal piece with some elements of atonality rather than an atonal piece with hints of tonality…Uh oh. I’ll tweak that…
I like the development section in contrast to the primary section of the piece, which is fairly lazy and rhythmically slow, and though the development section isn’t much faster rhythm-wise, it introduces a slightly different tone, though the overall tone is still fairly negative…
Why can’t I write a nice, happy atonal piece? Everything I write seems to be fraught with angst or some type of frustration. I guess that’s simply because of the dissonances I use, because I know some atonal stuff is actually quite beautiful and peaceful. That should definitely be my next challenge- write an atonal piece which is beautiful and peaceful. Right now I’m perfectly happy writing angry stuff, it’s a good way to relieve stress.
Well, it’s 4:04 in the morning. I have to say, this is my favourite piece I’ve written out of the three, so maybe Robbie’s technique works…Though I’m not sure how much I’ll adore myself for staying up this late working on a piece by the time class rolls around today…
1 comment:
Again, I am standing up and yelling "Bravo!" after reading your journal entry! Another tour-de-force!
I found your lament about the challenge of writing a "pretty" or beautiful atonal piece very interesting... It got my brain cogs turning, as I haven't what to assign for your next composition project...
But for now, there is no need to worry because you are certainly coming up with good pieces, and, as I think I said in class, I think a lot of us found beauty and soulfulness in your inebriation piece, so maybe you can do it after all!
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