Diderot is one of my favorite writers, and I’ve long enjoyed Le Neveu de Rameau. So, I was delighted to find a monograph on Jean François Rameau (by André Magnan), and particularly intrigued to learn that two melodies by that curious nephew had survived. I harmonized them, and made a piano piece from the result; […]
Entries Tagged as '*Music'
Rameau’s Nephew
July 26th, 2011 · 5 Comments
Honorificabilitudinitatibus
July 26th, 2011 · Comments Off on Honorificabilitudinitatibus
Shakespeare’s “long word” is used to create an acrostic quodlibet. I took one measure from each composer: the first measure of a piece by Handel, the second measure of a piece by Olagué, the third measure of a piece by Nichelmann, etc. The honor roll is: Handel Olagué Nichelmann Offenbach Ravel Iradier Franck Isaac Confrey […]
Quickstep
July 25th, 2011 · Comments Off on Quickstep
Stumbling Block
July 24th, 2011 · Comments Off on Stumbling Block
“Stumbling Block” is an essay in awkwardness: wrong-note harmonies, recapitulations that peter out, a right hand motif that gets stuck while the left hand moves on. I played this countless times in shows with Bill Irwin, particularly to accompany some clown and trunk business in The Clown Bagatelles. Here’s the first part of it.
To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing
July 22nd, 2011 · Comments Off on To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing
A round, on Yeats.
Im Hinterland
July 21st, 2011 · Comments Off on Im Hinterland
A song to a verse by H. L. Mencken, from his “Knocks and Jollies” column, in the Baltimore Herald, January 20, 1901: “You cannot civilize a jay, or from his belfry pluck the hay, im hinterland…”
Greenaway Pictures
July 20th, 2011 · Comments Off on Greenaway Pictures
Four songs for voice and piano, on verses from the picture books of Kate Greenaway. I wrote them in 2002. The verses are: 1. The Boat Sails Away (Kate Greenaway) 2. Dirty Jim (Jane and Ann Taylor) 3. Poor Dicky’s Dead (Kate Greenaway) 4. The Butterfly (Jane and Ann Taylor) Here’s a snippet of the […]
Pay Attention (2)
July 19th, 2011 · Comments Off on Pay Attention (2)
This brisk barnstormer was part of my show of the same name, back in 1984.
String Quartet 4: Chorales
July 19th, 2011 · 2 Comments
My fourth string quartet consists of chorales, fourteen of them. Some of my concerns here were chromatic voice leading, suspensions as concords, and extended chords implied with four voices. Here’s the first one.
The Guidonian Hand Applied to a Tracing of a Plaster Cast of a Yeti Footprint
July 18th, 2011 · 1 Comment
Finally, these two images are conflated. It’s about time.