A Composer’s Journal Entries: March 12-15, 2005

Journal entries by composer and pianist Laurie Conrad

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A Composer’s Journal Entries: March 12-15, 2005

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Saturday, March 12
3 p.m.

Went to the television studio last night just as the snow storm started, & did the paperwork so that Paul could sign out the equipment. A last minute barrage of concert e-mails from Bob, Paul and Al. They are trying to set up a sound system for the television and audio recordings, & everyone wants to plug into Bob’s system. Now Paul wants Bob to go through the television studio mixer. I doubt Bob will agree to that. The television crew wants to get there hours early, to set up, & Bob has the key. All the TV equipment is in my piano studio, lugged there by Paul & his crew late last night during the snow storm. Must remember to unlock the studio for them before noon tomorrow. Steve called - he’s arriving tonight around midnight, a surprise visit. He wants to be at the premiere of the Quintet & will leave to go back to California on Monday. Carolyn is arriving soon, & will also stay overnight, without Ian. Which is just as well, the new hook for the upstairs middle door is still in my jacket pocket, wrapped in its thin paper bag.

Myra, my harpist for “Visions”, came to the rehearsal yesterday - she will be in N.Y.C. this weekend. Then she drove me into town, so that I could go to the bank & deposit the grant money in my checking account, to pay everyone tomorrow. A frantic e-mail from Bob. In the subject line: “Too late to panic”. He wants the titles of the movements & the piece for the programs & other details. His suggestions were: Quintet II, “The Pragmatic”. Movement I- Hopeful, Movement II - Desperately, Movement III - Eventually. When I stopped laughing I wrote him back with Andante, Allegretto & Dance. I said that I would stay with the name he invented for all the promotion material, the simple but firm “Quintet II” - without the subtitle “The Pragmatic”.

Carolyn & I will buy flowers for the musicians after dinner tonight, I’ll put them in water until tomorrow. Phoned Karel Husa, to invite him to the concert, but no one answered. I think he is out of town. E-mails from people who can’t come tomorrow, wishing me luck. Last minute notes to myself, what to say to the musicians during the open rehearsal tomorrow. The tempo changes - not to worry too much about the exact new tempo, rather be aware if faster or slower than the present tempo. The piece has so many tempo & meter changes, I don’t want them to focus on them rather than the phrasing & emotion. I have notes to myself all over the house, with things to be done scribbled on them. Don’t forget the video cassettes for Paul. The money for the musicians. Unlock the studio door before noon.

Meanwhile, ideas for future string quartets & quintets are beginning to form themselves inwardly. First, I will finish the cycle for choir & orchestra.

Went to Authorsden.com last night & found over twenty reviews of my Journals. I had forgotten about the reviews feature on that site, so I clicked on the button & there they were. I was very touched by the comments.


Monday, March 14
1:30 a.m.

Steve left today, to go back to California. Carolyn left Sunday night. I miss them both terribly. A standing ovation at the concert, and they played very well. Some of their playing was truly incomparable, partly due to Bob’s instruments - but also the result of the artistry of the musicians, their phrasing and musicianship in general. They also captured the essence of my piece. I have never heard such beautiful playing, not live nor on recording.

Themes from the Quintet have been running through my head all day. Steve said the same.

Wrote the grant report tonight & will take it into town tomorrow. Need to pack up more CDs to send out, the empty boxes are before me now, near the coal stove. Stacks of things to do are scattered all over the living room, in neat or messy short piles. Bob gave me the CDs of the open rehearsal & concert at dinner. I will listen to them & decide if we need to re-record. Looked at some of the raw TV footage at the studio tonight. They used three cameras, & some editing is needed. The sound on the mixed version is not as good as Bob’s recording, so we might use either Bob’s or Al’s audio. Al said he would drop off his CDs tomorrow. Need to ask for the scores back from the players, so that Bob & I can make corrections to the main score. Then I will send the scores & a demo CD of the piece out to musicians all over the world. More lists of things to do, scribbled on separate bits of paper. I will put them all in stacks & attack them later, hopefully before the world ends.

Have decided to add harp & flute to the Prayer to Our Lady movement of the Prayer for St. Michael cycle. And in the last movement to the Holy Spirit. I envision the last movement as exploring various sound effects in the strings. Especially making use of the range of Bob’s string octet - the highest violin goes an octave above the traditional violin, the lowest an octave or so lower than the traditional bass. I can see it, but no notes as yet. So far, it is just a visual image. Otherworldly, mystical. Like the Wind, the Divine Breath. I have not even chosen a prayer for this movement yet. Bob suggested a concert with the new cycle & also the string quintets & possibly some of the Visions for harp & flute for next year. In that case, I might as well score these last two movements of the Prayer to St. Michael Trilogy for harp & flute as well as the octet. The sound of the flute soaring above the other instruments, mingled with the voices - it could be wonderful indeed.


Tuesday, March 15

Al dropped off the audio CD of the concert today, hung from the front door in a plastic bag. M. found it there & brought it in. An e-mail from a radio station: Dear Laurie Conrad, Radio X. is very thankful for the music CDs you sent us! We play it almost every day. If you need any favor from Serbia & Montenegro you can count on me ... Sincerely yours, Sergey.

Below that is a photo of Sergey sitting near his computer & music equipment, wearing jeans & staring intently into the camera.
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