Les Paul 1915-2009

Counterpoint

This week I bought a book about counterpoint from the BYU Bookstore (and even got $25 back for over paying!). This is an idea that fascinates me, but also eludes me. The notion of having multiple independent melodies all working together to create something harmonious is mind-blowing. It's also a feature that I think is missing in a great deal of choral music today.

The author quotes the late Robert Russel Bennett, an arranger for Broadway shows, who said that "counterpoint is the indispensable element in arranging; if it is missing, the audience's enjoyment of the music will be lessened, even thought they will not identify the missing feature."

Bold words. I can agree with him to a degree. I've noticed that a lot of new choral music coming out is mostly homophonic. Just a bunch of stacked chords. Now, don't get me wrong, I love stacked chords, and homophonic music can be really effective and moving. It can, however, be severely limiting. I want more to music that just chords, and singers want more to sing that just chords. There's something missing right now.

There's a certain kind of lost art/black magic associated with modern polyphony. It's an interesting kind of language to work in. There's only a handful of living choral composers I feel that really have it down and I am certainly not one of those. That's why I bought this book. I want to start understanding this element that is lacking from so much music today, but that makes a huge difference in the end result.

So, I've started with chapter one and will work through it slowly and probably blog about what I've learned and maybe even post some results. I have no idea how much of this I'm going to grasp, but I'm excited to at least give it a try!

Trip to Moab

For Pioneer Day weekend I went down to Moab with some my greatest friends, and saw Arches National Park. It's really quite a remarkable place. It was very timely too, because I was getting very sick of the routine I was in. This was a great get-away, to spent some time relaxing and recharging. There's nothing quite like a good break.

On one of our hikes we got to talking about why we go on vacation. We asked ourselves what was so relaxing about hiking in sweltering heat in southern Utah in July. What's our motivation to get up and get away? When we take breaks, why do we travel long distances instead of seeing what our neighborhood has to often?

Regarding the last point, I knew some people in Northern Ireland who had never been to see The Giant's Causeway. From my own hometown, some friends have never see the Golden Gate Bridge or even bothered to cross it. It's funny sometimes how we'll travel around the world to see something, but wont bother with the wonders in our own backyard.

Anyway, I took this break because I wanted to get out of my office. Travel someplace where I could mentally escape my responsibilities even if only for a few days. I'm not trying to get out of my duties, I just needed some space.

More importantly, I went on this trip because I wanted to spend time with my friends, including my best friend. I wanted to strengthen my friendships with these people who are, in my opinion, the creme of the crop. They've meant a great deal to me. I was glad to be able to reconnect. Camping out in Moab, without any outside stress or obligation, allowed us to focus on what's most important.

At night, we were bombarded with stars. Our perspective of these constellations is quite fragile. We constantly forget about them simply because they are overpowered by city street lights. We all need a reality check now and then.

I highly recommend seeing Arches National Park and spending a lot of time there. Just go during a cooler time of the year!

Another BYU Singers Recording

This time it's Monteverdi. This is us singing "Si ch'io vorrei morire."



This was actually not that difficult to edit. I had two recordings that sounded very similar to each other by way of mic placement and intonation and two coughs were in places that were rather easy to edit out. I'm not always that lucky.

Page one from "It Came upon the Midnight Clear"

Here's a little sample of what I've just finished writing. Not sure when I'll actually hear this, but it's still fun to write. Maybe someday.

BYU Singers Recording (Sneak Peak!)

Hey, I'm working on the archive CD for Brigham Young University Singers and wanted to share what I was working on. This is a recording of "Un soir de neige," by Francis Poulenc. It's a very difficult work, and definitely an acquired taste, but truly unforgettable.



Just wanted to let every who's waiting on the CD know that it's coming. Tell me what you think.

New Composition!

So a few days ago I finished writing a new piece. It's a new setting of "It Came upon the Midnight Clear." Completely different melodies, harmonies, and rhythms. Nothing is the same. I'm cleaning it up right now and just tweaking it. I spend most of my time polishing stuff.

It's actually kind of amazing. I composed the majority of this piece in a single afternoon. That doesn't happen very often for me. Most of the time it stretches out over months, weeks, days at best. But this all happened really quite quickly. It was either A) a fluke, not likely to be repeated B) a byproduct of having my keyboard finally connected with my computer through the MIDI interface of my MBox 2 or C) the result an extremely focused mind. I had determined that I wanted to finish the piece that day and with that goal nothing was going to get in my way, so my inspiration gave way.

I've personally got money on A or B. I know I don't really let on about my whole process of writing. I don't really share this part of my life with a lot of people. Composing is a very personal and private affair for me, but I love sharing the results (most of the time).

I'll be posting a page or so in the future. Until then . . .