6/8:
When we last left our intrepid adventurer, he had -oh, wait, that's me. Start again.
When I last checked in with you all, I had just had my first lesson, as well as had a lovely evening with Emma's friend Terese. The future was bright and all was quiet on the Western front, except for the music of Lutosławski (which I hope some of you listened to).
Friday found me a little less hopeful. I headed down to the MHS to do some more composing, but had some difficulty getting into the building, which is only available via access card. Thankfully, the receptionist let me in after I had floundered about outside the front door for a bit, and was even able to give me an access card (which I hope still works. I just realized I put it through both the washer and the dryer, panicked, stopping typing, and ran and retrieved it from my -now clean- jeans. It's look okay. We'll find out on Monday, I guess). Once I did get in, not much got done. I was relieved to get my fingers on a piano again. I had missed playing it, and I ran through the pieces I supposedly have memorized before I really sitting down to compose. From the time I devoted to composing on Friday, I got out one harmony, which at the moment I have holstered until I can figure out when best to use it. There was a guitar in the practice room as well, so, while procrastinating (a large and, if not necessary, consistent part of the artistic process) I tried to work a little more on guitar. Eventually, rather discouraged, I gave up the whole endeavor for the day and headed home.
Somehow, I didn't seem to manage to get much else done that whole day, I'm sorry to say. A lot more guitar practice. It's getting easier to stretch my hand to get some fingerings, but it's a tricky instrument, and, like any sort of craft, doing something well takes some time (and less than successful beginning attempt), guitar playing as much as composing, baking, painting, or learning a language. I also began work on making the parts of Michael Rose's Sun-coaster band piece. I must say that part making is my least favorite part of copy-work, but, obviously, each player needs a part to read, so it must be done. And I owe a debt of gratitude to Michael for doing the preliminary work of determining where I need to put cues (putting in the music of other instruments so players can keep their bearings is the longest part of part-making, ironically).
My attempt to do laundry was also foiled. I had to go into a separate building to do laundry, but when I went down into the basement (which was creepy as all get-out, I might add), I discovered I had to sign into a computer and that I had to have reserved a time to do my laundry. Obviously, I had known nothing about this, so I signed up for a time Saturday afternoon (the earliest time available).
The day had not been an enormous success, I went to bed early, hoping that Saturday would be a little better. If nothing else, I had another lesson to look forward to.
(no pictures, as you can tell)
6/9:
Today was my lesson with the other professor who agreed to work with me from the MHS, Bjorn-Tryggve Johannsson (I may be wrong about the surname). Our class was to cover either orchestration or analysis. For our first lesson, Bjorn, understandably, wasn't exactly sure what my intentions were, and so he launched into a lesson he had from his orchestration class. We discussed in great depth the the challenges and the rewards of orchestration, as well as looked at rhetorical techniques in orchestration (how the use of certain combinations of instruments can contribute to the form of a piece because they only appear in that specific combination at certain times). The piece under scrutiny in this lesson was a student's orchestration of Arnold Schoenberg's 3 Klavierstücke, Op. 11, No. 1. I have to admit, of the German composers in Schoenberg's circle, Schoenberg himself is not my favorite, nor is this particular piece. But, it was interesting to see how arranging the piece for orchestra (which is a reductionistic definition of the act of orchestration) brought clarity to the piece, as well as made it more interesting and pleasant to listen to. Understandably, most pianists are a little defensive about piano music being orchestrated, but, in Schoenberg's case, I think it did him a great service. Unfortunately, there are no videos on YouTube of any orchestrations of this piece, so I have provided the piano version, and you'll have to use your imagination to come up with instruments you might have perform the piece instead. As an example, however, of the differences between a piano and orchestrated version of a piece, I have also provided a comparison of two different versions of the first movement of Debussy's work Petite Suite: En Bateau. The original piece was for piano 4-hands (2 pianists sitting at one piano) and Debussy himself orchestrated it. Debussy is recognized as one of the most masterful orchestrators. He and Maurice Ravel and the two names which are most mentioned in conjunction with orchestration. Ravel is responsible for what many consider to be the definitive orchestration of Rimsky Korsakov's Pictures at an Exhibition (indeed, the orchestration is better known than the original piano suite) and his famous work Boléro relies more on its orchestration than it does on actual musical material.
Arnold Schoenberg's 3 Klavierstücke, Op. 11, No. 1
Claude Debussy's Petite Suite: I. En Bateau, for Piano 4-Hands
Claude Debussy's Petite Suite: I. En Bateau, for Orchestra
My next lesson with both teachers is going to be on Monday. I am very excited to continue! Thankfully, after my lesson with Bjorn-Tryggve (perhaps because my brain was already warmed up to music), I was able to get some composition done. It's not much, but it's a starting point, and starting points cannot be underestimated in their importance. After all, the starting point usually sets the tone (or the tones, haha, I'm so sorry for the pun) of the whole piece.
It's a start. A page of an 'orchestrate-as-I-go' sketch with a reference reduction underneath. While I eventually filter everything through Finale, I find it is important to handwrite the music first. Personal preference, though. I know everyone's creative process is different. If nothing else, though, having an actual hard copy is very handy, in case of computer tragedies.
Stopping before I was tired, I left the MHS with half a day still ahead of me! I thought I would try to hit the last major museum on the map which Staffan had given me, the Moderna Museet. The museum was over by the area I where I had met Terese: Gustav Adolf's Torg. I stopped at one of the restaurant's on the square, La Grappa (again, Italian-themed) to have lunch, a delicious pasta carbonara, presented very beautifully with the creative garnish of an egg-yolk still in a shell!
I can say without shame that I devoured the whole thing. Obviously, not the egg-shell, but everything else. Even the pasta was probably enough carbohydrates for one meal, the bread came in handy for soaking up the extra sauce!
A day-time photo of one of the big buildings in Gustav Adolf's Torg
From there I had only a short distance to walk to the Moderna Museet. The picture I took of the exterior is pretty cool, but I'm sorry to say that I wasn't incredibly impressed by the art inside. In fact, half of the museum was closed. Rather reasonably, the lady at the ticket desk told me that, since half of the building was closed, I only had to pay half-price (this without any prompting). Seemed perfectly fair. Perhaps it was that the art seemed a little dated to me. It clearly rode the waves of the Women's Lib. movement. But I guess one of the problematic aspects of the exhibition is that the artist's (who was a woman) emphasis on female sexuality seemed to be trying to make an assertion of woman's power, while using the same vehicle (the female nude) as countless male artists whose work has been accused of objectifying women. A double standard? Maybe I'm missing part of the argument, but in any case, Freud would have had a field day with her and her work.
The Moderna Museet. A stark intersection of old and new.
Afterwards, I headed for home, did some grocery shopping, and did my laundry (within my schedule time period, of course). I'd like to note that, while, perhaps in comparison to the ordinary person I get comparitively little done, I would like to remind readers that I have been relying on my own two legs (and subsequent feet) and Malmö's public transportation bus service to get around town. I spend rather large percentages of my day on busses. If I am not at a location in my blog, it is safe to assume that I'm on a bus. Now, post-dinner, I'm looking forward to a day of rest!
Godnatt!
-Trey
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