Sound

An addition for timpani: Watch how many notes you have at the same time, in the same register. I have experienced having to tune a timpani between to eighths because the composer wanted the notes Eb-D-F (all bebeath the bass clef) after each other. Only the two lowest timpani (29" and 32") can play those notes, making it impossible to do properly. (The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins) Also, while I dont mind tuning the timpani in the music, please dont make me do it all the loving time. A brass band piece called Whitsun Wakes had me tuning at least one timpani, often two, after almost every bar of playing.

I have had an affair with several modes, the latest one being the lydian dominant. Lately I have used a variant of the lydian dominant (or something completily else) which I can't fully explain. It is in a way a C-phrygian with G as the tonal center, and all the chords substituted with major chords (C-Db-Eb-F-G-A-Bb) wich gives sport of a spacey wholetone-scale-feel to it. Previously, I wrote allmost exclusivly in dorian mode, and I still sneak in that juicy I-IV progression whenever i have the chance.

This is the first (and currently only) movement of a choral rendition of the humorous old norse poem "Trymskvida". It was written for my conducting-class, who needed some new music for our conducting-exam this spring. The poem is about how the hammer of Thor, the god of thunder, gets stolen by Trym, the goblin king. In order to get it back, Thor has to disguise himself as a bride, due to be married to Trym. Trym gets a little suspicious, due to the ravenous apetite of his bride, but Loke, the god of deceit, disguised as the brides maid, calms him. The poem ends with Thor getting his hammer back, and killing Trym. The piece is written for a somewhat unusual ensemble, but i was limited to the instruments available in the class. The expression in this piece is quite varied, from a "Mars"-esque 5/8 part to a waltz and a Gangar (a norwegian dance in 3.). This was to make it a challenge to conduct. (Note that this is an upper secondary class of conducting, not university.) C&C is welcome. Trymskvida 1. mvt.