What do you think about my new piece "Phoenix"?
I have uploaded the whole piece to amazon.com's download section, so anyone can download it a and listen to it for free 100% legally! 
Phoenix download plus more info and picture of the cecilia choir.
I composed it from december 2002-april 2003, spending over 1000 hours working on the score (which includes a few secrets...)! And although I'm sure it's not for everyone (we all have different tastes in music, right?), I'd really like to hear what you, the good folks at AI, thinks 8)
EDIT: oh yeah, and just a reminder that "The Hope" is also (still) available for free download (see my sig)...
Phoenix download plus more info and picture of the cecilia choir.
I composed it from december 2002-april 2003, spending over 1000 hours working on the score (which includes a few secrets...)! And although I'm sure it's not for everyone (we all have different tastes in music, right?), I'd really like to hear what you, the good folks at AI, thinks 8)
EDIT: oh yeah, and just a reminder that "The Hope" is also (still) available for free download (see my sig)...
Comments
Here are direct links to the the mp3 files:
The Hope
Phoenix
Enjoy! ...I hope
(if you haven't heard any of my music, I recommend starting with The Hope, but don't miss Phoenix)
Originally posted by Wagnerite
hey, can i have the score while i am listening? 8)
hmmmm... well, I haven't prepared a pdf for The Hope yet.
You can download the first two pages of Phoenix from here
...say, give it a listen first, then we can talk about the full score later if you're still interested
Originally posted by 1337_5L4Xx0R
Wow, I'd love to give it a listen. You should put it up on mp3.com.
The Hope is already up at mp3.com, but not Phoenix - I'm not a big fan of mp3.com, don't know why really, but something about the whole layout annoys me...maybe I should give it another look
i can't really comment intelligently on the composition itself, as i only had two composition classes: 20th century composition and a general composition class.
gonna listen to The Hope now..
btw, has anyone win the free cd for 25 posts yet?
Originally posted by Wagnerite
Phoenix: listening (for the second time) as i type. definately european sounding choir
i can't really comment intelligently on the composition itself, as i only had two composition classes: 20th century composition and a general composition class.
gonna listen to The Hope now..
btw, has anyone win the free cd for 25 posts yet?
Yep, the sound is quite pure - the sopranos sometimes almost sounds like a (pure-sounding) boy's choir - it's also a very young choir (as you can see from the photo) ranging from 19-35 and with an average age of about 25-26.
Actually no one has won the CD's yet, so there are a good chance for a new contestant... 8)
Originally posted by Wagnerite
before i edited my post, i talked about how great the intonation of the boy's choir was. then i checked the score and there was no boy's choir
yes, It's an understandable misconception I tend to push the sopranos up very high and in that range they may sound a little like a boy's choir - if their intonation is pure that is
i bet the musicianship of the singers in your country is way better than the ones here. based on my experience, only 3% of college level choirs can sight read. Took us a whole year to learn a samual adler's piece that was composed for us. sure it was 12 tone, but it was only 15 minutes long.
oh, and dont make me tell you how long it took us to get the tuning right on Arvo part's Magnificat.
Arvo Pärt. Really like his more artistic work. I have heard other pieces of music that reminds me of it especially when they really try to push the vocals into new areas.
So any advice on where to start if I want to find some music that is 50% Pärt, 40% Guggenheim Museum and 10% the visuals in the decendent to Jupiter in 2001?
Originally posted by Wagnerite
how long did it take the sopranos to get the synchopation? i only have the first two pages of the score, but i KNOW, US college level sopranos would have problem with that, prolly will take at least 5 minutes for them to get that synchopation. that is, of course, with the conductor beating the crap out of each beat. oh and the fact that it's in two certainly will not help them either
i bet the musicianship of the singers in your country is way better than the ones here. based on my experience, only 3% of college level choirs can sight read. Took us a whole year to learn a samual adler's piece that was composed for us. sure it was 12 tone, but it was only 15 minutes long.
oh, and dont make me tell you how long it took us to get the tuning right on Arvo part's Magnificat.
It took them a while...
anyway, here's the complete score of Phoenix, so you can study it closer if you like. Heck, maybe you can even show it to the conductor of your choir and see what he thinks
Note: This pdf of the full score only contains the (original) danish lyrics. I have an English translation, but haven't had the time yet to write it in to the score. Maybe it would be better for someone speaking English natively to do so anyway.
Originally posted by Anders
NOW seems like the right time to ask.
Arvo Pärt. Really like his more artistic work. I have heard other pieces of music that reminds me of it especially when they really try to push the vocals into new areas.
So any advice on where to start if I want to find some music that is 50% Pärt, 40% Guggenheim Museum and 10% the visuals in the decendent to Jupiter in 2001?
well, the first thing that springs to mind would be some of Ligeti's choral works... here are some of them.
EDIT: fixed link
so i guess if i was copying the score, i'd put in this "slur" mark or phrase mark from bar 5 (bass) to end of 28. and apply it to all the other parts. that will also indicate to the singers that they are to use stagger breathing. i hope my explaination isn't too convoluted.
another example is measure 53-54 of the sop part on "Pho-nix), slur mark from "a" of bar 53 to bar 54s "a". maybe this example makes my point more clearly. (same thing with sop/alt on bar 71)
did you leave those slurs out on purpose?
i like the piece.
Originally posted by Wagnerite
power apple, i have a very small things that i'm not sure if left out on purpose. in the Phoenix, for example, from measure 5 to end of bar 12, in the bass part, that long "E-" (i am not sure if it's suppose to be Evig or just "E" vowel) but if a vowel changes pitch, i usually see what looks like a "slur" mark. Well, this "slur" mark isn't really a slur mark, but it is to remind the singers that dispite pitch change, there is no change in the text.
so i guess if i was copying the score, i'd put in this "slur" mark or phrase mark from bar 5 (bass) to end of 28. and apply it to all the other parts. that will also indicate to the singers that they are to use stagger breathing. i hope my explaination isn't too convoluted.
another example is measure 53-54 of the sop part on "Pho-nix), slur mark from "a" of bar 53 to bar 54s "a". maybe this example makes my point more clearly. (same thing with sop/alt on bar 71)
did you leave those slurs out on purpose?
i like the piece.
Sure, I know exactly what you mean! And you are correct that I could have done that. I choose not to (throughout the score) simply because it was not neccesary at the time, but when it is published some day, more details will be added. However, it is not a given "law" that they should be there. F. ex. look at most baroque scores (which Phoenix in some ways are inspired by), such as, say, Bach: Johannes Passion. large parts very similar to the bar 53 example with no slurs.
Of course you can argue that most modern scores are much more detailed than older scores and thus Phoenix should be too, and when I get the time I might also add it - even before it is officially published. In the meantime I do think it is mostly self-explanatory.
I'm glad you like the piece!
i'd also like to add that while bach didn't put those markings in, the players at that time knew how to interpret the phrases (either by convention of the time, or by ear). i am assuming that they rehearse a lot more than today's groups. so in bach's case, they were just conventions of the time.
those slurs are a bitch to add in Finale, well, not really a bitch, more like a chore.
i've done quite a bit of audio editing and score editing, it's fun
I must also confess that the score-editing is my least favorite part of the work. I enjoy the whole composition process immensely (mostly) but when the work is finished I want to go on to the next thing, not spending hours and hours adding slurs (which is cumbersone in Logic to say the least) which for the most parts are self-explanatory.
Yeah, I guess I could use an editor, you interested in the job Wagnerite? ....just kidding
Originally posted by Power Apple
Yeah, I guess I could use an editor, you interested in the job Wagnerite? ....just kidding
sure dude, i'm up for it. does it pay?