It's been a while...

It's been a while since I blogged.  I just couldn't think of anything really meaningful to write.  But today, I found something to blog about:

Inspiration

I've been on vacation this week in Washington D.C., and I've hit some art museums.  The Renwick Museum contains more traditional art.  On the other end of the spectrum is the Hirshhorn, which houses very modern art.  It was much easier for me to understand the art in the Renwick.  Many of the pieces were creative yet functional works, such as cabinets, glassware, or pottery.  The choices made while creating these objects were much more clear to me, even in the more modern works housed on the second floor.  The Hirshhorn was quite the opposite.  Some of the art in that museum challenged my view of how I defined art.  Many of the works could have been created by elementary children.  Yet I found myself liking the shapes and colors.  Other works had humor that I totally got, such as a work simply entitled "Legs".  It was two floor to ceiling cylinders with feet attached to the bottom of them.  After following my rather long-legged husband (one of his steps equals two to three of mine), I understood that art work all too clearly. 

Regardless of the work, something inspired the artist to create it.  Some thought, memory, current or past event, feeling, person, time, dream directed that work to its final product.

D.C. has been one of the most fascinating cities I've ever had the privilege of visiting.  The monuments to the foundation of our country, our nations past and present, and those who have protected and served it have been inspirational for me.  Mt. Vernon, the home of founding father George Washington, has left a special impression on me.  I learned so much about him that I did not get from my history text books at school.  Washington was a spymaster, creating a spy ring that provided information that significantly contributed to our victory in the Revolutionary War.  He was a doting stepfather.  He and Martha never had children together.  She was a widow with children from her late husband, which Washington raised and loved as his own.  Most importantly, he could have been king, emperor, or supreme ruler, but resigned his commission in the military, becoming a humble farmer once again until government and nation could figure out what sort of leader they needed.  Believe me when I say the people would have unanimously and instantly made him king if he had not stepped away--the public adored him that much.  He waited for the Presidency to be created, and then stepped into the role, leaving it after two terms so that someone else could continue to add his influence in the shaping of our nation.

As I pondered George Washington, chords, the sounds of majestic brass, and melodies started forming in my head.  Nothing too concrete yet.  But I find that if I let my mind gel on things long enough, something will stick and I will put it down.

When it comes to inspiration, it is a personal thing for the creator.  What you have to do is be a willing vessel.  




 

I hope I get used to this at some point...

I upgraded to Sibelius 6, and I love it.  But there are no tutorials or classes on using it in my area, so I'm pretty much finding my own way.  My colleague, Joseph, has been very gracious in sharing some of his expertise.  I chose Sibelius because it is extremely user-friendly and does so many things automatically.  That is both a blessing and a curse, as I have found out by trying to get my scores to look right.  The automatic adjustments to score sizes and spacing can really make the pages look unpleasant, so you have to work on it.  Anyway, I got it all working, so my clarinet quartets and choirs look good.

I have five scores up on Score Exchange.  So now, I'll be working to finish the orchestral version of Jabberwocky and my clarinet/violin/piano Romance.  That's the title thus far.  I don't like it--it's too generic.

On the teaching front, my studio at TU doubled this year.  To accommodate all the students and the schedules of the other three professors with whom I share a studio, I have to be there Monday and Tuesday mornings and Fridays all day.  I do get a two hour break in the afternoon while the students are in band, but I can get work done or practice.  The Lorton Performing Arts Center is so lovely that it is a joy to be there.  Work places abound, so if I don't want to stay in my windowless studio, I can go elsewhere.  But the studio is nice.  It's just sometimes, you need a view of real trees and sky for inspiration.

Glitches

It is 4 a.m.  I got up at 2:30 a.m. because my brain finally clicked that there was a glitch in the Sibelius program.  I did a clarinet choir arrangement yesterday, and I didn't want to transpose the score except for the parts for clarinets in e-flat.  Problem is that if you click "transposed score" on the parts you want transposed, it treats those parts like you have already transposed the entire score, thus putting them a whole step higher than what you need.  So, I selected everything, put it in B-flat Major, and hit "transposing score".  Worked like a charm.

I need to make a basset clarinet part for this.  Many schools have them.  They are sweeter sounding than the alto clarinets--not near as brassy in the upper register, or nasal in the lower.

Clarinets and Salsa

Today was productive.  I spent all day on the laptop, finishing a composition and doing a clarinet choir arrangement of the same work.  It's called "Clarinets and Salsa", and it's originally for clarinet quartet.  Latin rhythms and a tango bass-line make it a really fun piece.  There are also lots of tempo changes and more than a few surprises.  And yes, this was in fact inspired by a dream I had after eating a favorite snack of mine--chips and salsa!

You can find both the quartet and clarinet choir versions of "Clarinets and Salsa" on Score Exchange's site.

Good to be back teaching

It is so good to be back teaching.  The summer was fun--had a great vacation time with the family--but it is nice to get back into a routine, and more importantly, to get into private teaching again. 

I love to teach clarinet lessons.  Working one-on-one with a student really gives me a chance to watch them grow and blossom as a musician and person.  Some of my students start with me in six or seventh grade, so I get to witness their teen years.  I'm sure that many of you think I'm nuts, but I am blessed to be in my fifteenth year of private teaching for the Owasso School District, and they have great young people there.  Those young people have good parents and band directors.  It is a joy to be there.

I also have the honor of teaching at my Alma Mater, The University of Tulsa.  This year, we moved into a beautiful new facility.  My clarinet instructor and unofficial "second dad", Bill, passed away a couple of years ago.  He too was a TU alumnus.  I wish he was alive to see the building.  He'd have been impressed.  I'm sure he's smiling down from heaven.

Composing-wise, I'm almost finished with a clarinet quartet I started in 2006, when I didn't have the confidence to publish.  Now that I do, I am close to finishing it.  It's name is "Clarinets and Salsa", and as it's name suggests, it is very much a latin-style dance work.  It's going to be really fun to play and a great listen.  I will also do a clarinet choir arrangement of the work.

Two clarinet quartets for download on Score Exchange

I know--I've already posted today.  But I found some old files that I've been looking for and have posted them on Score Exchange.  They are two clarinet quartet arrangements.  One is Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms.  It is being sold for $1.50.  The other is The Star-Spangled Banner, and it is free!  Both are for three b-flat clarinets and bass clarinet.  The Brahms would be good for a high school group (I might have one of my groups play it this year).  The SSB is a little easier, but it isn't cheesy or boring.  The reason that I have listed it for free is that every American ensemble needs an arrangement of this, and it needs to be a good one.  Playing a cruddy arrangement of our national anthem is like listening to a pop singer sing it and forget the words.  You just don't do it!  So, this arrangement is a good one, and I want the clarinet world to have it with my blessing. 

TU's new Lorton Performing Arts Center is absolutely stunning!  I am so spoiled to be teaching there.  And as an alumni who never thought she would see this building, I have to say that it is better than I ever expected.  I am so blessed!

Balance

I deleted instruments from my Jabberwocky orchestration--so much so that it is more of a chamber orchestra than a full orchestra.  The reason for this is that several instruments weren't playing very much.  I've listened to it a few more times and have taken a couple of days to reflect upon what I heard, and I feel that the texture of the ensemble is too thin in those places that I deleted.  Perhaps I should add more instead of taking away.

Over the many years of playing, I've played a few symphonies where I thought the instrumentation was excessive.  But most composers find the perfect balance and blend.  That is what I am striving to do.

As a composer, I want my works to sound modern, but not so strange that only a few select people want to listen to them.  I want to be true to myself as a composer, but I also want to create things that other people will want to play for years to come.  Again, this is balance.  I want to create new sounds, but not so different that it only has a small niche of listeners. 

Does this make me a "sell-out"?  Does this make me "commercial"?  Not at all.  I think it's very possible to sound modern and yet write things people like.  It's been happening for hundreds of years.  Beethoven was the "rockstar" of his day.  He pushed the envelope for his time.  Elvis and the Beatles did the same thing during theirs.

This is my goal.
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