September 9, 2004
Now it’s time to shop!
I “finished” the score for this Juilliard commission two nights ago. I’ll keep tinkering with it until the first rehearsal on Monday, but it’s essentially finished. I think it’s fine. I’ve tried writing in a minimalist style before, but I usually tire of it after about 3 bars. This time, though, the material is really limited, and stays that way for the full 13 minutes of the piece.
At 13 minutes, it’s also my longest single-movement piece. I don’t know if that’s a good thing.
I’m getting a new printer tomorrow. Now I’ll be able to print 11×17 scores — double-sided! — at home. That will be a lot nicer than printing 8.5×14 scores and blowing them up. I’ll also be able to print parts at 11×14. (Good lord — if this is the type of blog content we have to look forward to, this may well be the most boring blog of all time.)
Speaking of parts, I have three orders for materials for “Damn.” That piece is 6 years old, and nobody has mentioned it since the premiere. Now, thanks to its appearance in the Olympics with the US Synchronized Swim Team, people are actually finding it. I have NewMusicBox to thank for that.
I really, really want this lamp.
I just need to sell a few more sets of “Damn” first!
September 4, 2004
This is the first entry in my first blog.
I don’t have any idea yet where this will go…
I’m still working on the commission for the Juilliard dance division. Robert Battle will be back in town on Monday, and he’s expecting to hear what I have so far — which really should be the finished piece. I have nearly 12 minutes of music so far, and the commission is for a piece 12-15 minutes long. I suppose I could “fade and ad lib” or something, but Robert and I don’t usually fade out at the end of pieces. If anything, we crescendo. Robert’s first rehearsal is on September 13 — a week from Monday.
Lots of travelling coming up this fall. I’ll be in Seattle for the first week of my “Music Alive” residency starting in late October. I’m excited about the trip, but disappointed that I won’t be back home for Halloween. Halloween itself isn’t a very exciting holiday to me, but there’s a nice block party on my street every year, and it’s fun to see how the residents decorate the brownstones.
Happy Labor Day weekend!
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Nice. So you went with blogger. Welcome. Bwahahahah....
I do remember a fade-out in the premiere version of Rush Hour. There is precedent. But perhaps it doesn't count, 'cause I think you re-wrote the ending...
Um, I re-wrote that whole PIECE several times. There was the original with the wussy fade-out, then the orchestrated version with the big ending (from the Percussion Concerto), then the re-worked chamber version for electric string quintet, clarinet, and drum set. Now I just re-write Breakdown Tango over and over again.
But don't tell anybody.
My greatest Halloween regret is that you won't be sporting the mullet wig. I'd have paid cash money to see that. Sigh.
Damn...I thought you were going to be a pimp for halloween, that would have ruled or seeing you in a mullet would have been just as good.
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abacus says
Don't worry. You're nowhere near the most boring blog in the world yet. You could describe all the various weights and brightnesses of the papers you're going to use, and the particular technologies employed in your toner cartridges, and you still wouldn't get there. And not only because this is the internet, so there are people who think that sort of thing is fascinating.
Fear not. Blog on.
Newman says
Dude. Duplex printing! Smaller text! I just don't know what to do with myself!
Best. Blog. Ever.
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