# What are you working on?



## Torkelburger

In the spirit of generating more conversation, I thought I'd post one more discussion topic.

What are you currently working on? What challenges, if any, does the piece bring? And what would you wish to write if you could have anything performed that you wanted?

I am currently working on a chamber piece for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, and cello; it is for a contest which I will of course lose, but it's nice to get a piece out of it. It is presenting a challenge of only having piano and cello for the low voices; I really could use a bassoon or bass clarinet. There is not much color or variety I can get in the low register with what I got. I hope I can get finished before the deadline. Still have a ways to go.

If I could have anything performed that I wanted and therefore got to compose whatever I chose, I would choose two operas. _The Gods of the Mountain_ and _The Glittering Gate_, both based on plays written by Lord Dunsany. I already have the music in my head for each of them pretty much start to finish, but alas, they will never get composed because nobody would ever perform them if I wrote them down. I think about them all the time, though. Sigh.

I also need to get that first symphony completed but I have the old problem of too many ideas for material but not enough ideas for development. It's too big of a mess and too choppy. Maybe it will work itself out if I put it on the back burner. But in this case I'm going to write one. Even if it never gets played, I want it on MIDI. I want to have one under my belt.

So what are you currently working on? What challenges, if any, does the piece bring? And what would you wish to write if you could have anything performed that you wanted?


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## Vasks

Torkelburger said:


> I am currently working on a chamber piece for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, and cello; it is for a contest which I will of course lose


I'll be writing a competition piece too (brass & percussion), which I will of course lose as well. But that's to begin at the start of January. In such an instance as this, I'm going to make sure the piece highly entertains myself if I'm going to write for a less standard ensemble with less chances of future performances.


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## Retrograde Inversion

Right now I'm in the finishing stages of writing a set of short pieces for trumpet and two percussionists, exploring tempo variation with some fairly basic use of the technique of metric modulation. The hope is that I can arrive at the kind of flexibility of tempo I'm looking for, especially with regard to relationships between parts that are both interconnected but also independent, something I don't think is so easy to achieve with the more standard accelerandi and ritardandi, which are more global in nature. It may take a number of pieces before I get there, though.


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## Omnimusic

I am working on my second pianosonata. I just completed the first movement, and I am now dealing with the revision of the score, which is a tedious job. But I will post the playback, and I would be very grateful for your critical opinion.


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## Torkelburger

Omnimusic said:


> I am working on my second pianosonata. I just completed the first movement, and I am now dealing with the revision of the score, which is a tedious job. But I will post the playback, and I would be very grateful for your critical opinion.


Sure I'd be happy to take a listen


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## Retrograde Inversion

Torkelburger said:


> In the spirit of generating more conversation, I thought I'd post one more discussion topic.
> 
> I am currently working on a chamber piece for flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, and cello; it is for a contest which I will of course lose, but it's nice to get a piece out of it. It is presenting a challenge of only having piano and cello for the low voices; I really could use a bassoon or bass clarinet. There is not much color or variety I can get in the low register with what I got. I hope I can get finished before the deadline. Still have a ways to go.


Have you read this blog post by Kyle Gann? He's talking about the more standard Pierrot quintet, rather than an with added percussion, but he too has alot of issues with the ensemble.

http://www.kylegann.com/PC120727-PasMonAmiPierrot.html


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## JamieHoldham

I suppose this is a good time to note I would be composing lots of things right now but I am moving house this weekend, thus I have had no time to compose or really do anythinh else for now, just thought I would mention it.

On the second hand, once I settle in and everythings sorted, I will update this thread with what I am actually working on.


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## Pugg

JamieHoldham said:


> I suppose this is a good time to note I would be composing lots of things right now but I am moving house this weekend, thus I have had no time to compose or really do anythinh else for now, just thought I would mention it.
> 
> On the second hand, once I settle in and everything's sorted, I will update this thread with what I am actually working on.


As always looking forward to it Jamie.


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## JosefinaHW

JamieHoldham said:


> I suppose this is a good time to note I would be composing lots of things right now but I am moving house this weekend, thus I have had no time to compose or really do anythinh else for now, just thought I would mention it.
> 
> On the second hand, once I settle in and everythings sorted, I will update this thread with what I am actually working on.


I hope the move goes well!


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## Torkelburger

Retrograde Inversion said:


> Have you read this blog post by Kyle Gann? He's talking about the more standard Pierrot quintet, rather than an with added percussion, but he too has alot of issues with the ensemble.
> 
> http://www.kylegann.com/PC120727-PasMonAmiPierrot.html


That was a very good read, thanks! I wish I could hear his piece!


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## Ian Moore

This is not bragging; it's the truth. At the moment, I'm working on about ten pieces of music simultaneously, a kind of new theoretical thinking about music, several arrangements of my own and other music, performing the piano and flute(not one of my major instruments), developing methods of orchestration, synthetic analysis of poetry, fundraising for two of the orchestras I will be involved in, digitalising my scores, updating my blog etc...
Writing this has made me realise why I am so tired!


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## Torkelburger

Ian Moore said:


> This is not bragging; it's the truth. At the moment, I'm working on about ten pieces of music simultaneously, a kind of new theoretical thinking about music, several arrangements of my own and other music, performing the piano and flute(not one of my major instruments), developing methods of orchestration, synthetic analysis of poetry, fundraising for two of the orchestras I will be involved in, digitalising my scores, updating my blog etc...
> Writing this has made me realise why I am so tired!


Wow! Must be exciting to be so busy with music. Especially the composition, performing, and involvement with an orchestra. I'd be interested in hearing whatever new theories you may have about music. Hope you find time to take a break now and then!


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## JamieHoldham

JamieHoldham said:


> I suppose this is a good time to note I would be composing lots of things right now but I am moving house this weekend, thus I have had no time to compose or really do anythinh else for now, just thought I would mention it.
> 
> On the second hand, once I settle in and everythings sorted, I will update this thread with what I am actually working on.


Going to follow up here and say I have moved, and its the worst experience of my life, so [email protected]*ing pi$$ed off at everything that's happened & I very nearly reached my stress limit at one point, surprised I didn't pull the trigger right there and then, would have been a lot easier to sort out all these problems

at the moment I have no time to do anything apart from moving things, getting ready for council to come to the house to ***** around, cleaning the entire house, clearing out the attic of all of the crap the other tenant left on top of everything else, and I have the job centre tomorrow of which I have had no internet until now, sitting in the dark because the last tenant broke all the ******ng bulbs & lights, so they will probably sanction me and I will end up being in debt.......... great

wish I was Lilly Allen so I could get paid millions for doing ***** all and preaching leftist liberal nonsense so I wouldn't have to deal with all this crap


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## PoorSadDrunk

I'm currently working on three movement dance piece that was commissioned by Belhaven University's choreographer in residence. The choreographer and I have been working closely and resolved to take a less (or more, depending on who you talk to) orthodox approach. All the movement is already choreographed and it is my job to write music that fits the pre existing structure. I thought that having the form already laid out for me would make the whole process easier, but its proving to be quite a challenge. 

The dance itself is rather reserved whereas I have a propensity to write more....liberal...music. This means I'm having to take steps back and focus on more conventional approach, i.e things you learn in music school


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## musicrom

Well, I have a bunch of unfinished works that I may or may not come back to eventually, but the main ones I'm focusing on are:

A symphony (first 2 movements basically complete, + sketches for 3rd mvmt.)
A string quartet (first movement complete)
Some minimalist pieces for piano
An arrangement of Glazunov's _Grande valse de concert_ for orchestra


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## MarkMcD

I've been composing since I was in my late teens, I'm now 50. I have a huge number of unfinished scores that I recently decided to revisit now that I have a bit more time and a much better setup than I had back then. It's really been interesting to go back and see how (at least in my opinion) I have changed in the way I write and to take the old scores and make improvements and polish them up a bit. I've always done this as a personal entertainment, but just recently I thought I might like to see if anyone else actually thinks my work has any merit and so I joined the Music Composition Contest forum and managed to win a silver for my first entry. This really was a bit of a surprise and real boost to my confidence, I was never sure if what I do is really good enough or not. Being a pianist is quite insular (in my case at least) in that I've never played in orchestras or even really with other musicians and so never really had a clue about what others might think of my stuff.

So....... What would I write if I could write anything? 

I really have always written small 3 or 4 minute peices, mainly for piano but also some orchestral works too, but I would love to write a new symphony but don't know how to sustain the drama and tension for a piece that might last 20 minutes or so, and also understanding better how to write for big orchestras. Any suggestions on good reading material for this purpose would really be appreciated.

Mark


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## arnerich

I've been hard at work on my 3rd Sonata for piano. I love this piece.


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## Vasks

Vasks said:


> I'll be writing a competition piece too (brass & percussion), which I will of course lose as well. But that's to begin at the start of January. In such an instance as this, I'm going to make sure the piece highly entertains myself if I'm going to write for a less standard ensemble with less chances of future performances.


It must have entertained the judges too. I won!


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## musicrom

Vasks said:


> It must have entertained the judges too. I won!


Congrats! Do you know when it will be performed? Will we be able to listen to it?


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## Vasks

musicrom said:


> Congrats! Do you know when it will be performed? Will we be able to listen to it?


Thanks, musicrom. While the monetary prize is quite nice, unfortunately this particular contest does not also include a performance. However, as always, I'm trying to figure out how to entice someone (either that directs a percussion ensemble or plays in a brass ensemble) to consider performing. The fact that I can tout it as an award winner may cause those that see the score to more seriously consider it.

I'll always share live performances here when they meet a high enough standard. I was hoping to do so with my "Mixed Quintet" piece that was premiered in June, but alas the piano player was a last minute sub and he forced the tempo to be too slow and he left out spots and bungled others...ugh.


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## MarkMcD

Congratulations Vasks, Hope we can hear it soon, get working on your persuasion skills


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## ST4

I have been composing a very ambitious opera for the past four years and I have no signs of completion any time soon


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## DeepR

Nothing classical, I wouldn't dare.
But after many years I'm working on electronic/ambient music again and I'm enjoying it a lot. Fiddling around in Cubase with all sorts of cool soft synths and effects. It's fun and that's all that matters right now.


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## brianvds

I'm not exactly a composer. But as I noted in a thread elsewhere, I have started a YouTube channel where I shamelessly plug my artwork in the form of slide shows accompanied by music. My problem has been to get hold of music that is both suitable and in the public domain, so I am now considering writing my own. It's not like I need masterpieces; basically I just need some blandly pleasant plinking and plonking in the background, and that sort of thing I did a lot of in my teens and twenties. 

And so, I have been playing around on my ancient keyboard, seeing if I can get back into what I did in those days, which was not so much composing pieces as congealing them out of random playing around. Well, Beethoven it's never going to be: I could never play much above about grade 4 level or thereabouts, and I am almost wholly innocent of music theory. But I can report that I'm having quite a bit of fun.


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## Captainnumber36

brianvds said:


> I'm not exactly a composer. But as I noted in a thread elsewhere, I have started a YouTube channel where I shamelessly plug my artwork in the form of slide shows accompanied by music. My problem has been to get hold of music that is both suitable and in the public domain, so I am now considering writing my own. It's not like I need masterpieces; basically I just need some blandly pleasant plinking and plonking in the background, and that sort of thing I did a lot of in my teens and twenties.
> 
> And so, I have been playing around on my ancient keyboard, seeing if I can get back into what I did in those days, which was not so much composing pieces as congealing them out of random playing around. Well, Beethoven it's never going to be: I could never play much above about grade 4 level or thereabouts, and I am almost wholly innocent of music theory. But I can report that I'm having quite a bit of fun.


Looking forward to seeing some of your videos!


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## brianvds

Captainnumber36 said:


> Looking forward to seeing some of your videos!


Thus far I have two there, using other people's music... 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChZWJQ_7lB0989craVDQ0fQ

I'll have to see what I can come up with. Been thinking about sequencing pieces rather than trying to play them, but I'll have to find a way to enrich the tinny MIDI sound.


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## Captainnumber36

brianvds said:


> Thus far I have two there, using other people's music...
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChZWJQ_7lB0989craVDQ0fQ
> 
> I'll have to see what I can come up with. Been thinking about sequencing pieces rather than trying to play them, but I'll have to find a way to enrich the tinny MIDI sound.


I enjoyed the tree in the Schumann video1


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## brianvds

Captainnumber36 said:


> I enjoyed the tree in the Schumann video1


Thanks. 
The whole ting is actually rather frustrating: I learned from dire experience that my camera simply won't reproduce colors quite accurately, so the pictures never quite give a good impression of the originals.


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