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Showing results for tags 'soliloquy'.
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This is my "Soliloquy for Viola No. 8, subtitled "Threnody for the Victims of the Israeli Genocides of Gaza (7/10/2023-) and Lebanon (23/9/2024-)". As many of you know, the soliloquy is one of my favourite forms. For me a soliloquy is a short, reflective, often calm and sometimes sad composition. At the time of its composition this was my 181st soliloquy. It is unique in being a "Threnody for the Victims of the Israeli Genocides of Gaza (7/10/2023-) and Lebanon (23/9/2024-)", genocides that have continued (albeit at a lower intensity) despite "ceasefires" (if you can call the cessation of genocide a "ceasefire) in effect from November 27, 2024 (for Lebanon) and from January 15, 2025 (for Gaza), genocides mercilessly targeting and killing thousands of men, women, and children, whole families, health workers, and journalists (the latest figures of the number of victims estimate more than 6,000 for Lebanon and 48,453 for Gaza*), and destroying thousands of buildings, churches, mosques, schools, universities, and hospitals. As a Lebanese experiencing one of these genocides, this piece constitutes my musical sorrow and outrage at the injustice and suffering its victims experienced and continue to experience. *These figures are from the time of this writing, on March 9, 2025. For sources, see the following: https://x.com/ObserveLebanon/status/1896041783877914893 https://sharjah24.ae/en/Articles/2025/03/09/ZX66 Here's the link to my previous soliloquy for viola: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t36334/soliloquy-for-viola-no-7/ -
This is my first soliloquy for chromatic harmonica. It is intended for performance with a chromatic harmonica with the alternative "classical tuning". It is among my compositions which I have composed during the Israeli genocidal offensive on Lebanon in which they have so far targeted and killed 3,645 people (including 692 women, 231 children, 226 health workers and patients, and at least 6 journalists) and injured 15,356 people (as of November 23, 2024) as well as destroyed much of Lebanon, and flattened or damaged thousands of buildings. So that is the background and setting in which I have been composing my latest compositions. However much one tries to keep such events out of one's musical mind and inspiration while composing and to go on composing pure music as though nothing had happened, such events are bound to influence one when the most powerful and most evil destructive force existing on earth, a power unflinchingly bent on the destruction of people, cultures, and civilizations besides its own, has (in the wake of its so far 414-day-old genocide of Gaza and its people) singled out my country to destroy it and its people, destroying thousands of lives and livelihoods, homes, memories, dreams. The question arises, what does music have to do with crimes and events like these? I believe music after all, despite being an art, has a moral purpose. Its composers live in the world and are influenced by the settings and events in their countries. And so composers and music cannot stand completely uninfluenced by the crimes going on around them. And as a composer I believe I have a moral duty to highlight the crimes going on around me, or at least in some way to draw attention to them, to rage against them, to condemn them; if not through my music directly, then through my words!
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This is my Soliloquy for Violin No. 34. I was just doing a listing of my compositions in the various genres. I have so far composed 177 soliloquies. Here are the instruments (and in some cases the ensembles) that I have composed them for: 34 for violin, 21 for clarinet (in Bb), 17 for oboe, 17 for piano, 13 for violoncello, 9 for flute, 7 for guitar, 7 for viola, 6 for tuba, 6 for organ, 5 for harp, 4 for piccolo, 3 for bass clarinet (in Bb), 3 for celesta, 3 for trumpet, 3 for string quartet, 2 for accordion, 1 for duduk, 1 for oboe d'amore, 1 for alto recorder, 1 for bass trombone, 1 for theremin, 1 for vibraphone, 1 for English horn, 1 for percussion, 1 for two violins, 1 for zither, 1 for trombone, 1 for alto saxophone, 1 for viola and piano, 1 for violin and piano, 1 for harpsichord, and 1 for nai. Here is how I defined the “soliloquy” for a concert’s program some years ago: “I call many of my pieces by the name of "Soliloquy" which to me signifies a short (aphoristic), reflective, often calm, and sometimes sad, piece written for one instrument (or sometimes a set of instruments behaving as one). These pieces often serve as a kind of character sketch of the particular instrument for which they are written, and/or to present a single musical statement/argument in a brief yet parsimoniously meaningful manner.” I think that that definition is still true ten years later. Here is the link to my previous soliloquy for violin: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t41732/soliloquy-for-violin-no-33/
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This is my "Soliloquy for Clarinet No. 21". Here is the link to my previous soliloquy for clarinet, composed in March 2020: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t39457/soliloquy-for-clarinet-no-20/
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This is my "Soliloquy for Duduk No.1", composed "in Memory of the Victims of Artsakh and Armenia in the 2020 War". It is my first ever soliloquy composed for the Armenian folk instrument called "duduk", a double reed woodwind instrument. My soliloquy is for the duduk in A. I dedicated it to the memory of the victims of Artsakh and Armenia in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, a bloody war that lasted from September 27 to November 9, 2020. May the memory of those innocent victims and of those of all unjust wars be blessed. Any constructive feedback from a competent duduk player happening upon this post would be greatly appreciated.
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This is my "Soliloquy for Violin No. 33". Here is the link to my previous soliloquy for violin: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t41587/soliloquy-for-violin-no-32/
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This is my Soliloquy for Piano No. 14. It is my entry to the YC Fall 2020 Competition "Metamorphosis" and based on the theme of Takashi Yoshimatsu's, "Waltz of Rainbow Colored Roses", the second of his three waltzes. I have used the theme as a starting point and accompanied it and continued it in my personal style and original way.
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This is my "Soliloquy for Violin No. 32". It came to me in one continuous burst of inspiration. Here is the link of my previous soliloquy for violin: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t37002/soliloquy-for-violin-no-31/
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This is my "Soliloquy for Piano No. 11". I composed it in memory of my uncle who recently passed away. Here is the link to my previous soliloquy for piano: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t34871/soliloquy-for-piano-no-10/
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This is my "Soliloquy for Violoncello No. 9", composed on July 22, 2013, as performed and recorded by me today.
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This is my Soliloquy for Violoncello No. 13. It was inspired by my getting back my cello after a long time. I practiced it, hoping to be able to adequately perform it and be able to post my performance of it instead of the computer-generated MP3. However, having not touched the cello for many years, I still need much more practice to give it a smooth performance, let alone a good interpretation of the piece, and hence do justice to the piece in performance. Maybe, I'll do so in the future. In the meantime, any cellist who is interested in the piece would be welcome to take up the challenge, perform the piece, and post their performance! Reviews are also welcome.
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This is my "Soliloquy for Clarinet No. 20". Here is the link to my previous soliloquy for clarinet: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t36672/soliloquy-for-clarinet-no-19/
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This is my 3rd soliloquy for trumpet. I have also written a set of "Three Sententiae for Trumpet and Piano, Op. 296", which, like the two previous soliloquies for trumpet, were composed in April 2017. I have provided the transposing score for the trumpet in Bb, as in all the previous trumpet pieces I have posted here. Here's the link to my 2nd soliloquy for trumpet: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t34999/soliloquy-for-trumpet-no-2/
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This is my 2nd soliloquy for celesta. I have used the instrument in another piece by itself and as part of a duet in another series of pieces.
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This is my Soliloquy for Bass Trombone No. 1, my first piece ever composed for Bass Trombone or for any trombone. I hope that you enjoy listening to it. I would hope to hear feedback from a bass trombonist and hopefully have someone play it one day.
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This is my "Soliloquy for Accordion No. 2". It is, as its subtitle declares "In Memory of a Martyr for Freedom of Expression in the Arab World: Jamal Khashoggi". I am sure you have heard about the disappearance and death of the journalist all over the news for the past 20 days or so. It has preoccupied the news media of late. And increasingly it has appeared that he was brutally killed. His last article in the Washington post had an apt title: "What the Arab world needs most is free expression" (I provide the link below for those interested in reading it). As such - and as a citizen of the same "Arab world" that Khashoggi comes from, this is perhaps my first piece which can be described as a kind of "musical commentary" on current events. May his soul rest in peace. And may the Arab world - and the world at large - come to enjoy the free expression that he dreamed of. As such, this piece can also be considered as a step in the path or process of championing the right to freedom of expression and achieving the end of all oppression. Link to Jamal Khashoggi's last article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/jamal-khashoggi-what-the-arab-world-needs-most-is-free-expression/2018/10/17/adfc8c44-d21d-11e8-8c22-fa2ef74bd6d6_story.html?utm_term=.de0ae3ff2d95 Link to my "Soliloquy for Accordion No. 1": https://www.youngcomposers.com/t34266/soliloquy-for-accordion-no-1/
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This is my 3rd soliloquy for bass clarinet. Here is the link to the second that I had posted almost 1.5 years ago: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t34896/soliloquy-for-bass-clarinet-no-2/
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This is the third installment of my pieces that were previously published here on Young Composers forum but got deleted during the renovation of the website in late April - early May 2016 and that I am choosing to publish again. Those pieces number 181 and I will try to post some of the best of them from time to time. What distinguishes this soliloquy is that, after I posted it, I was asked by a member of YC to choose one of my pieces for members of YC to compose pieces based on its theme. And I chose this piece since it was - and probably still is - one of my most original pieces. This is how I introduced my Soliloquy for Clarinet No. 5 when I posted it the first time back in October 5, 2013: "This is my 5th soliloquy for clarinet. I think it is the best clarinet soliloquy I have composed till now. And I consider it among my best compositions."
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This is my 5th soliloquy for harp. I had previously posted my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, but they all got erased due to the renovation of the website in early May 2016. I might post one or more of them in the future as part of my repostings of older, deleted pieces. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this one.
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This is my Soliloquy for Violin No. 31. Here is the link to my previous soliloquy for violin: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t35725/soliloquy-for-violin-no-30/
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This is my "Soliloquy for Clarinet No. 19". Here is the link to my previous posted soliloquy for clarinet: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t34671/soliloquy-for-clarinet-no-18/
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Back in October 2017, I composed this piece, my 7th soliloquy for solo viola, in response to Serj Tankian's "7 Notes Music Challenge" (Check here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZMJy7jO08Q). They have now chosen the best 500 from thousands of submissions worldwide and will soon choose the winner from the top 100. You can listen to the selected 500 and see the list of the top 100 in the following website: https://www.7notesexperiment.com/ I only listened to several of the many multi-instrumental and multi-genre compositions based on the 7-notes theme, but in my mind my continuation in the 3rd and 4th measures offers the most natural and logical one. Here is the link to my previous soliloquy for viola: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t34476/soliloquy-for-viola-no-6/
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This is my soliloquy for violin No. 30. Here is the link to my Soliloquy for Violin No. 29: https://www.youngcomposers.com/t34240/soliloquy-for-violin-no-29/
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This is my Soliloquy for Vibraphone No. 1, my first composition for vibraphone. It is my first ever video-composition. The video is that of a sea turtle, taken in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 29, 2017.
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I had somehow avoided composing for the trumpet for many years, perhaps because my first composition for it, back in 1997, although perhaps unrealistically difficult for actual performance, I regarded as maybe my best composition, and perhaps with a supernaturalistic fear, I avoided to compose for trumpet for fear that I might not succeed to reproduce the same quality! However, after I composed my previous sententiae for trumpet and piano (posted here two days ago), it seems my inspiration to compose for trumpet was stimulated, and so I composed my first soliloquy for trumpet which I post now, as well as a second soliloquy for trumpet (hopefully to be posted soon). I think/hope that nearly two decades later, I have succeeded to recapture something of the same high quality but with much less difficulty and more playability in this long-awaited sequel to my first trumpet piece!
