Il Mare

I wrote this piece in the Fall semester of '07, for a special collaboration between the music and language departments at my university. The idea was to have the language students recite a story, to which they had created a slideshow that would play behind them. All of this was to be backed up by live music, written and performed by students of my school. There were three projects, and mine was first.

I was given a script to work with and told the deadline. We worked with the three groups of Italian students, and mine had chosen to evoke elements of a dance in theirs. They also wanted a sort of twisted, supernatural sort of vibe to permeate the whole thing. I produced this piece, and assembled my players. The rehearsals were rather difficult (I discovered it's impossible to get a viola and a violin to play a good unison, EVAR!....). The performance came off well, but took place in a sort of super-swanky conference room without any possibility of a good live recording. The one I am linking to is a Frankenstein creation, put together from 45 minutes of rehearsal recordings. I was unable to master the recording before committing it to disc, so the volume level is fairly low. You may have to turn up your volume to hear it, especially at the beginning.

Here is the audio (should open with WMP or equivalent).

Here is the score. I produced it before I was capable of making pdfs, so I have linked to a .rar file with the original images. If anyone is insanely curious and unable to open the images, perhaps I can work something out. Though I do not anticipate that eventuality...

EDIT: Thanks to the all-encompassing power of teh Mike, audio is now mp3, and score is in .zip format.

yeah,the issue night be that most people may not be able to open the files you've posted.

I'm quite sure the audio will open with either WMP or iTunes. That should be enough. The score--whatever. People who refuse to review without a score infuriate me. As if music means nothing without the little dots and scribbles! Bah!

People who refuse to review without a score do so because it's impossible to say "ah yes the such-and-such major chord you used in measure whatever should be inverted thusly" - as in, maybe music is fine to listen to without "dots and scribbles," but very hard to critique in the same fashion.

Essentially what we're saying is if you actually want opinions, post files that people can view (pdf or even figgin' jpegs for the score, mp3 or midi for the audio)

Whatever. I am unable to produce an mp3. I have no such software. The file type I produced is the way iTunes converts AACs to a more universal format. It is for most purposes identical to an mp3. It's just a different layer, I am led to understand. If it does not play in your player, you obviously need a better player.

As to the score, I reiterate my dismissal of folks who require one. The piece is three minutes long, one full third of which is just vibes, on about 18 notes. Describing the place in the piece you mean to critique is not only very easy, it might add something to the review that would otherwise be overlooked.

EDIT: Score is now jpegs.

People who refuse to review without a score do so because it's impossible to say "ah yes the such-and-such major chord you used in measure whatever should be inverted thusly" - as in, maybe music is fine to listen to without "dots and scribbles," but very hard to critique in the same fashion.

Essentially what we're saying is if you actually want opinions, post files that people can view (pdf or even figgin' jpegs for the score, mp3 or midi for the audio)

people should view the wall/ceiling or the inner of their eyelids while listening to music... that is very sad that most of the people here are unable to criticise music without seeing the score or midi. What about your ears, folks? Can't you HEAR what's going on? I presume this must mean people can only understand a poem if they read it and have difficulties when someone performs it ...Nonsense. Is it so, that an inversion of this and that chord could be the key to anything? I doubt it... I tell you what: people simply can't say a word about a piece of music which is not composed in a certain style because where there are no rules or regulations there are no so called 'flaws' to seek. This is a plague among classical composers and should be cured...

Anyway,

This piece I find really smooth and enjoyable. Very airy, very lush recording as well, it is very very comfortable. I didn't find the Bach evocation that convenient but apart from that the piece is very well balanced in voices and articulation. It ends a bit rapidly comparing to its rather slow introduction, the strings could show more of themselves maybe.

The harmonies, the choice of instruments and basically the whole mood and character is 100% for me. Congrats and keep it up!

Thank you, maaton. I agree with both your statement and your critique. Music is for me something more personal and spiritual than the crossword puzzle some people think it to be. It's true: there are those who are incapable of enjoying music in its original form without looking at the cheat sheet. I don't understand that at all.

Interesting thoughts. I used the Bach-ish arpegiations because I knew the cellist would be used to that type of thing, and I could expect her to play them rapidly and cleanly. She pulled it off, pretty much. I also figured I could take more liberties with the harmonic and melodic elements if I put something familiar and dancelike in the accompaniment. You may have a point with your comment about the proportions, but I was working with restrictions on time. I sacrificed a balanced structure for greater atmosphere and hoped that I could hypnotize the audience, somewhat. I do try to perfect the mood of my pieces, if not the structural elements.

Thanks again, maaton.

I tend to review off of score alone, and give myself a rendering of the audio in my brain.

I don't think that's wise. Especially as concerned as I am with creating a mood, and establishing atmosphere. In reading a score, one can skip ahead just as quick as one likes, and that eliminates some of the subtler effects of timing and suspense.

Reviewing from the score alone is rather stupid, I'd say. No matter how full-featured the inner apparatus, one can never fully appreciate a piece of music until it is heard. This is excluding the initial impulse in the original composer's head, of course. That can no more exceed the technical ability of its creator's inner ear than water in a glass can have a greater volume than its container. And even he is often incapable of realizing some of the tinier details in his head. That sort of internal performance is fit only for musical crossword puzzles, in my estimation.

It's a very nice little piece - at once simple and effective. On top of that, a pretty good performance.

My initial reaction on hearing those arpeggiated cello lines was that they look to have been quite closely modelled on Bach, but then again, they're just arpeggios... Also, the ending is very reminiscent of my piano trio. :P

Yup, not much else to say really. Good piece, thanks for sharing!

...oh, that's right, the file formats. M4A is essentially the audio component of MP4 videos, which is to say that some players may not support it. Indeed, the ever ubiquitous Windows Media Player appears not to, although Winamp, QuickTime and iTunes do. As for the score, it would be more in-keeping with interwebs etiquette to share this in ZIP, as opposed to RAR, format.

Blah. Silly computery format strifage. I shall do my best to change what I can, and keep it mind for the future.

Thanks for your comments. I did consciously steal the arpeggio style from Bach (who hasn't stolen from Bach?). As I mentioned before, by imitating something familiar I could be sure the performer would find it more idiomatic for her instrument.

I'm glad to hear my efforts were fruitful, as far as creating an effective piece. I'm very pleased with your comment on the piece's simplicity. That's the ideal in all areas of composition, for me. Effective simplicity.

I dug the piece, and I really enjoyed the little Bach update. The solo vibraphone intro seemed to me like it would have been better notated in four, but if you want the whole piece in compound meter, that's cool too. The variations in dynamics and instrumentation are the best part of the piece to me, as they gave a somber little piece interest throughout. I think this would work well in some sort of suite.

And jeez, who doesn't have Winrar?

Thanks a lot. I think the intro is best notated in its present time sig. Keeps the performer thinking in groups of three. I'm glad you found the dynamics made the piece more interesting, as it was a bit of a struggle to get the performers to play them convincingly. I actually did all the takes in a very short amount of time.

It's funny you mentioned the idea of a suite, as I have been thinking about that for a little while. If I was to write a suite, I would also get that performed, surely. And I'm not sure I want to go back to that same ensemble again. It wouldn't have that feeling of progress I'm looking for. I'm working on some very different stuff, which will allow me to grow more, musically. We'll see where that leads me, then I might come back and write some new music to fit with this.

Concerning winrar: Yeah, people. Seriously. It's a useful program.