Categories AnalysisFormHarmonyInstrumentationNotation/EngravingPedagogyReviews

Benjamin Rickevicius – “Saxophone Quartet: Leaving Day” – Young Composer Score Call

Benjamin Rickevicius’s “Saxophone Quartet: Leaving Day” is a charming and well-structured piece, that clearly exists more in the composer’s head than in the MIDI realization.  The score can be found here, and the MIDI realization, that will sound much better and more fluid in real life, can be found here: The composer clearly has a […]

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Categories AnalysisFormInstrumentationNotation/EngravingReviewsRhythmScore CallsTools for Composers

“A Complaint” – Young Composer Score Call

Composer 1’s work “A Complaint” is based on William Wordsworth’s poem of the same title.  Please view the score here and listen to it below. This work has an apt sense of gesture, time, and structure.  The opening gestures of the work return to us at the end, in a “bookending” format.  However, the opening […]

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Categories AnalysisEngravingFormInstrumentationMelodyNotation/EngravingOrchestrationReviewsRhythm

Kyle Grimm – Pitchforks and Crow’s Feet

Kyle Grimm’s music spans the gamut of media and instrumentation.  A double bassist and dance collaborator, he also has experience working with ensembles and other performers.  This is evident in his work “Pitchforks and Crow’s Feet”. The score can be found here: Pitchforks and Crow’s Feet for Flute, Cello, and Bass. This work relies heavily […]

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Categories AnalysisFormHarmonyInstrumentationOrchestrationReviewsRhythm

Jacob Sachs-Mishalanie – Pole, Steam, Tree, Glass

Jacob Sachs-Mishalanie’s work “Pole, Steam, Tree, Glass” is an inventive approach to timbre, idiomatic writing, a certain poetry, and the interaction of acoustic and electroacoustic approaches.  As he writes in his program notes in the score, “Program Note: In this collection of four short pieces, I contemplate questions about electroacoustic music, searching not necessarily for […]

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Categories AnalysisEngravingInstrumentationNotation/EngravingOrchestrationReviewsRhythmTools for Composers

Gísli Magnússon – Svartifoss

It seems more and more that Iceland is becoming a haven for new music and new sounds in Hartford, CT.  From the influence of Bjork to the Hartt School’s international collaborations, the music of Iceland is seeping deeper into the Hartford area.  Gísli Magnússon’s piece Svartifoss depicts a waterfall in his native Iceland, and is […]

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Categories AnalysisFormHarmonyInstrumentationMelodyNotation/EngravingOrchestrationPsychology of MusicRhythmTeachingTheoryTools for Composers

Steven Maheu’s Elements of Creative Force – Part 5

Hi All, Here is another image from Steven Maheu’s Elements of Creative Force.  This explains how different elements can be contrasting or complementary to one another. We use the relationships between each number and another number to define if the two numbers are contrasting, or complementary.  This only applies when using the same color.  (We […]

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Categories AnalysisEngravingFormHarmonyInstrumentationMelodyOpinionOrchestrationProfessional DevelopmentPsychology of MusicRhythmTheoryTools for Composers

Meaning in Mahler Symphony No. 1 (Part 3)

(Chart referenced in this post) Meaning in Symphony No. 1 Titles and Program As we see in the chart taken from Mitchell’s writings, the original title of the symphony was “Symphonic Poem” in two parts. Parts I and II were indicated, but not explicitly titled. The other movements were given brief titles. We know that […]

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