"DUCK CONCERTO" + "LOUISA VOYAGE"

Those penguins really have a hard time while fighting for survival in this extreemly harsh, dark and cold place. One scene filmed from a far distance captured the sad drama when a bounch of small orphan penguins that didn't have any parents had gotten lost in a blizzard storm... and they kept on running in different directions... they had lost contact with the adult flock... now they were running for life... the lord of nature had no mercy on them... they started to shake more and more... and now one by one they fell in the cold snow to freeze to death. I was wondering for myself! How come the lord, if we say! He has planned their fate, is that demanding?

DUCK CONCERTO in A Flat.

I don't know which notation programme you are using for your playback, but I suspect you would get a slightly nicer tone and fluency if you used more articulations and some slurs. As the score is right now, it's all tongued, even the extremely short notes. Try slurring phrases for your woodwinds. (it's next to impossible to tongue notes that fast anyways)

Hi Michel,

Anything that can make it easier for my players is allowed. And I want them to play as much legato as possible.
I want it to be played this fast, but the musicians can slow down the tempo, suitable to their capacity. No problem for me!
The musicians are free to articulate "ad libidium", and can decide among themselves how loud or quiet they want to perform. So those who like my piece are in other words free to decide how to proceed.

Right now I'm having contact with a professional woodwind player, who is giving me advices.
This piece has already been updated about 20 times before I uploaded it here on YC. In the beginning, the first versions had passages of the oboe that were to low notated for this kind of speed. He gave me the advice to add an english horn for the lower parts.
He also told me that Prokovief used the low oboe register to portray a "duck", which is why I have given it the title, "The Duck Concerto".

Regards,

Fred

Although I am not overly keen on neo-baroque pieces, i have to say that I found the Duck concerto to have a fairly fresh sound most of the time so that it didnt sound too much like a pastiche. The realisation sounded quite convincing and effective. I couldnt really follow your score on soundclick but your counterpoint sounded pretty solid.

I should have added that you should never let your musicians decide for you how to play your music. Tell them exactly what to do and shout at them if they dont do it. Musicians are naturally stupid and passive and dont know how to respond when they are treated any other way. So never ask them to take the initiative. Put as much indication as you can into your score otherwise you will be pestered with endless questions about what you want here.. and there.. and somewhere else......

Hi ablyth,

Glad you enjoyed the Duck concerto!

Yes! of course I will write out everything the day someone actually will perform something I've done. Of 10 pieces, maybe only 1 will perhaps catch somebody's interest. I agree that I'm a lazy composer

The thing is that I have come to a situation when I write faster and faster, and more and more... I also sometimes spend a lot of time reworking a piece up to 20 times before I'm satisfied. This piece has undergone endless changes... I feel that I can always make it better from day to day... when it comes to polishing the final score, I just don't feel like sitting and spend all that time with dynamics, etc. I choose the for me easiest way, which is GPO, then capture the score on video

I know it's not going all the way, but one can at least get an idea of how it would turn out in the end.

I have played in several orchestras before. I played cello and had the occasion experience several conductors with different kinds of personalities. Some are calm and others more passionate in their conducting. So I have been a musician and even worked professionely at some occasions, playing cello at a theatre. Our amateur orchestra was collaborating with the local opera house musicians. It was an opportunity for me to hear and to play with musicians that work with music

It's very inspiring to meet musicians that have experience. A cellist from the Royal Stockholm Operhouse asked me, while we both were playing cello in the same operette "Die Fledermaus" by J. Strauss II: "You play cello well! Are you an academy student?" I replied: "No! I'm only taking private lessons!" I said!
He replied: "Well! You play very good!" I felt inspired like never before in my life! What a feeling to meet a real professional!

Those professional musicians were very generous and were glad to share their knowledge when you ask them.

Thanks for lending an ear, I love to write and it's fun when my music sometimes reaches out!

Regards,

Fred

OK so you get to see both sides. That is good from the perspective of understanding what musicians need and understand in a score. And yes, I also find it hard to leave pieces alone even though it is absolutely tedious going through a score and putting all the markings in, rethinking it, trying to decide what the difference is between a mf and an mp etc.

I loathe penguins with an unreal passion! <-- Seriously

Originally Posted by Dead Chicken

I loathe penguins with an unreal passion! <-- Seriously

Hi dead chicken! I guess you prefer ducks?

Hi again Ablyth,

I remember what Leonard Bernstein once said, while conducting Mahler's ninth, while we're talking about scores and instructions:

Bernstein:

"I could conduct Mahler's ninth symphony like a machine, if I wanted to! All the very detailed dynamics and articulations are carefully written out there, so if I conduct exactly according to his instructions, like a machine... it will sound perfectly allright!
It's just that I can't do that if I want to be true to myself! I feel that I have to convince the musicians of how I think Mahler would have wanted it to sound like!"