A Composer’s Journal Entries: January 13 - 16, 2007
Saturday, January 13
Wrote the harp part for Movement II of the piece for string orchestra and choir today. Will do metronome markings tonight, while M. is out at a concert. Decided Movement III would have both harp and flute - Spear had requested flute and harp. Had some ideas and an inner voice said: it’s already written.
Carrie e-mailed me back: the string quintet has disbanded, the recording might not be possible. E-mailed her back saying I hoped they would honor their promise to record the String Quintet; no reply as yet.
Decided to finish copying out the new Piano Quintet version of the Unsung Song before beginning Movement III of Trois Prieres, since that concert might be in the spring. And will orchestrate Trois Prieres when I am done with the string orchestra version. At least I have made some decisions on chronology; writing music is often very easy compared to deciding what to do next ... Also concluded that if Spear’s group is still disbanded when I have finished the score, I will approach another professional string group to perform and record it - one already using his instruments. E-mailed Spear for the name and address of one group I heard at the State Theater a year or so ago, at the string convention Spear had organized here in Ithaca.
Musically, it is as though I am starting life over again, or as though I had moved to another town or country ...
Sunday, January 14
M. & I are both sick now; half of Ithaca is sick. Put in metronome markings today, for Movement II of Trois Prieres. They are very approximate - one needs to hear the choir and orchestra play it first. The instruments and voices will help set the tempi, & they are often very different than the tempi one hears in ones head. The String Quintet II tempo markings changed once we all heard the piece played in rehearsal, & in the end the musicians decided on the final tempi.
A pitiful note from Bob Spear: he is discouraged, his group disbanded & so few players are using his new violin family instruments. I wrote back & said that I was pretty discouraged myself: I might never hear Trois Prieres performed. He gave me the name of a group in California who is still playing his new violin family - the Hutchins Consort. The chances of my going to California to conduct rehearsals are almost nil, but I will contact them. Spear wrote: “We had a wonderful performing octet in St. Petersburg that has unfortunately disbanded due to the severe cuts in arts funding that occurred when Putin took over.” The problems for the arts are now worldwide ... Russia was one of the last great strongholds of the classical arts. Spear continued: “I am not sure whether my group will ever rise from its own ashes or not, and there are days when I am very ambivalent about the idea.... I often think that if I had not squandered so much time on music and performance (for his string octet) and used those hours to build new instruments instead, I’d have three complete octets by now. But then, there would be no one to play them.” Poor Bob. Either we can clarify & validate each others discouragement/despair, or I can try to cheer him. Perhaps I will begin with validation, I am not in a very cheery mood myself just now. Spear’s musicians were wonderful to work with: dedicated, fine musicians - & we rehearsed in Ithaca.
He does want to have dinner together soon, as long as we do not discuss music.
Monday, January 15
E-mailed Carrie again, asking the players to send me a Xerox of their scores of Elegie and the String Quintet - so that I can put the corrections we made into the main score and into Spear’s computer.
Contacted the Hutchins Consort about Elegie, the String Quintet and Trois Prieres. Perhaps they will perform & record them. Our Ithaca group was recorded live during concerts for the first two pieces - but there were mistakes, too many to put those recordings out on CD. Musically speaking, I might never find a group who can interpret those pieces as well ... Perhaps the Ithaca group will rally in my behalf, consent to record them. We’ll see.
Tuesday, January 16
No response from Carrie as yet. Snowing today, a light snow. Called Marcus, to put the wheelbarrows in the basement. Watching him from the window: when Marcus was little, he had climbed a pipe over the woodpile, to try to get into his mother’s window. The pipe looked ready to detach from the house, & I was horrified & was admonishing him - & he had looked down at me and said: “Send angels!” Of course, I began to laugh - and sent angels ...
Cleaned the kitchen. Made myself a cup of tea & thought about the Piano Quintet. Finally found the ms paper that I had drawn up months ago; piano, violin, viola, cello and bass nicely labeled on each empty page of manuscript paper. A nice stack nicely labeled & empty pages ready to have notes scribbled across them: I find the prospect absolutely enticing. Still snowing, small flakes on an angle, headed south for the moment. I might as well plunge in, start copying out my revised sketches onto the main score ... Patterns emerging in black ink, covering the pages ... The perfect task for a cold, snowy day.