Horn: Second Meeting

Earlier today I met with Jon to discuss how the horn piece had progressed.

From a strictly compositional standpoint, the draft had gone from approximately a minute to just shy of three while also developing significantly in terms of variety and complexity of material. More specifically, I expanded my use of harmony and systematically ‘color-coded’ different phrases with either an open, half-stopped, or stopped sound (playing around with this during our previous meeting was so helpful!), to allow the listener to get a better sense of thematic and harmonic connections within the piece ¹.  Additionally, I really stepped away from the very simple rhythms I began this piece with to explore more complex subdivisions and time signatures, which allowed for more subtle as well as more jarring syncopations. Though complexity is never an end goal for me, I felt that transition from simple to more nuanced rhythms really helped me, as the composer, to capture the sense of phrasing, direction, and tension/release that I wanted in a way that could be understood and, hopefully, embraced by Jon as he makes the piece his own.

Sitting down to have a chat and play through, this did indeed prove to be the case as the dots on the page were an excellent starting point for some enlightening conversations on color, phrasing, rhythmic dissonance, and how the question of breathing plays into all of the aforementioned. After playing around with how things sounded stopped, open, and half-stopped, Jon and I took some time to workshop a phrase to really get it right. Of special interest to me was the question of rhythmic dissonance and how a rhythmically-complex phrase could feel as if it were fighting against some previously established sense of pulse in order to reach a goal, as opposed to just being ‘weird’ or ‘floating’ ². I was delighted by the fact that Jon was more than willing to try things over and over to really explore the possibilities and get at what I was going for–not to mention adding some really nice comments about my music! It’s really quite a privilege to work with such wonderful people.

I think that’s all I’ve got to say about that meeting, but I do want to leave off with a few videos of music that I really think gets the question of phrasing, especially with regard to rhythm, right–in fascinatingly different ways ³. I hope you enjoy!

Here and Heaven:

John Coltrane – My Favorite Things:

Aesop Rock – Cycles To Gehenna:

Dutilleux – Tout Un Monde Lointain, final movement:

_____

¹ At the beginning, this might seem unnecessary, but as the piece progresses and,  almost inevitably, gets more mixed up, I’ve found this timbral marking to be really helpful as both a composer and a listener. I really feel that this is vitally important to how I conceive my music and also to how I hope it is heard.

² This is a bit of a side note (or footnote, as the case may be), but this is a question that I’m quite obsessed with: how does one make music move forward and dance in a way that conveys a sense of pulse without resorting to really simple rhythms or repeating patterns (though they do have their place!)? Music that hits that sweet spot between predictable and incomprehensible in terms of rhythm, and really every other musical parameter?

…even more of a tangent, the question of the ‘proper interpretation of the beat’ has actually even become a bit of an in-joke with some of my friends with whom I frequently listen to and discuss music…I’m definitely a bit obsessed!

³ To really appreciate rhythm and phrasing you can’t just listen, at least not passively. I can’t even begin to express how much joy I get from tapping along to the beat to see where things land and where I get tripped up. If I really know something well, I try to sing or play along. It’s absolutely stunning how far off you can be from a particular performance even if you ‘know’ it be heart.