“Works and Progress” is dead!

Long live “Daniel Powers, composer and arranger!”

Thanks for reading.

I’ve already migrated this blog over there, and I plan for future entries to take place there. At some point, I suppose I’ll be retiring this blog, but on the other hand, maybe I’ll keep it going, possibly with a different name and purpose.

The new blog is still pretty ugly to look at, so I’m looking at new themes. I hope to have it all nice and pretty by the end of the week. Check it out if you want, but don’t expect too much yet.

At the same time, I’ve been struggling with my new website, www.danielpowers.info, which needs a better name and has never looked right to me.

I’ve recently decided that I’m not really using the blog to its full potential. I’ve also learned that WordPress can be used to design full websites, a fact that I somehow overlooked all this time. It seems that I can solve both issues at once, by installing WordPress on my website and migrating this blog over to it.

Hopefully I’ll be doing that within the week. Over the next few days I plan to use this blog to prepare for the migration. Expect frequent changes for a while (if you’re a regular visitor!).

No arrangements of anything are on the table, which is fine with me (I’m still a little bit tired of them for now). But I currently have three new compositions in various stages of completion.

1. Cloudscapes for flute ensemble. Commissioned by Joyce Wilson for the ISU Flute Choir. Scored for 6 flutes, alto flute, and bass flute. In two movements, Cirrus, which is done, and Nacreous, currently in progress. Total duration will be about 6 or 8 minutes. This needs to be done fairly soon, so it’s been taking up most of my work time.

2. Untitled piece for cello & virtual instruments. This is something that’s been running through my head for several weeks, so I thought I should try to get it down on paper. This may eventually end up on the CD of relaxation music that Martha and I have been talking about for a while now. Instrumentation is still uncertain, but will probably be an accompanied duet for solo cello (real) and glass armonica (virtual), accompanied by virtual strings and synthesizer pads. I’ve mainly been working on it in my spare time between students. Currently a draft score is nearly done. I’ll probably work up a full score before I even think about recording it.

3. Trio for clarinet, bassoon, and piano. Because I’ve had to prioritize the flute choir piece, the trio has been on the back burner for a few weeks. I have a good beginning on it, though, and am looking forward to getting back to it.

Other stuff. My friend and colleague Alison Edberg is giving a viola recital in a few weeks, and wants to include several movements from Marin Marais’ viola da gamba works. She asked me to realize the figured bass for them, so I did. Also, I worked a bit on Strings In The Earth and Air this month. The draft is mostly done and the final score is in progress. It’s still a low priority because there are no performances planned yet. But I want to finish it soon, if I can.

I could also mention a few electronic pieces I’ve been doing for the last couple of months. I’ve mainly been doing these for fun more than anything else, so I haven’t mentioned them here. I think I should have something to say about them, but they really need their own entry, so I’ll talk about them tomorrow (I hope!).

And I’m thinking about redoing my website again! More about that later, too. Too much going on, as usual.

I got started on the trio for clarinet, bassoon, and piano, but my inital effort didn’t go anywhere good. So I’m starting over with a different idea.

Also underway is the flute octet (6 flutes, alto flute, bass flute). Currently it’s just a mass of random sketches searching for a structure, but so far it seems promising.

An electronic piece is well underway as well. It’s been on the back burner for a while, but I hope to finish it soon. This will be the opening work in the still-untitled Martin Codax project. More on that later.

Finally, Strings In The Earth and Air is back on the table. Since there’s no immediate performance prospect, I haven’t worked on it in some time, and it’s still a low priority for now. There’s still some work to do on the draft score, but I’ve started the Finale file. Hopefully it will be done soon.

Damien, who had to come from Indianapolis, was unable to come. Good thing he didn’t try, because there was a huge pileup on I-70. Kurt Fowler, though, was coming from Indianapolis too, and he made it. A couple of saxophonists were driving in from Crawfordsville, and for a while, there was some uncertainty about whether they were going to come in. But eventually they said they were going to make it, so I decided to put on an abbreviated recital.

Then ISU announced that they were closing the campus in the evening. So, no recital!

Martha and I spent the afternoon rescheduling everything. The recital hall was open on Friday, so we reserved it, and started calling around to see if everyone could come. Miraculously, everyone could!

It finally took place last night, and went off without a hitch. Everyone played beautifully, and the recital was pretty well attended. And I got a great recording. When I have time to work on it, I plan to upload some recordings.

I feel a little guilty, since it was my recital, but I didn’t really do anything. Everyone worked hard, and all I did was sit there and listen. I’m truly lucky to have such a dedicated group of performers to work with, and all their work is deeply appreciated.

I can’t allow another 25 years to pass before I give a recital again. But the next one will not be in January!

First of all, I hate to think about this, but this is the first composition recital I will have given since my years as a grad student, approximately 25 years ago! Hard to believe. Hopefully the next one won’t have to wait until another 25 years have passed (which would make me 73 years old).

The performance will be next Wednesday, January 28, in the recital hall at Indiana State University, Terre Haute IN. Everyone’s been working hard, and I expect everything to go smoothly. If the recordings turn out well, I’ll try to post them later.

I’ll be typing up the program and writing program notes over the next few days. Here’s the program;

Links II for alto saxophone and cello
Paul Bro, saxophone, and Kurt Fowler, cello

O You Whom I Often and Silently Come
Sometimes With One I Love
Damien Geter, bass, and Martha Krasnican, piano

Chorale
Scherzino
Martha Krasnican, piano

Were You There
Deep River
My God Is A Rock
Damien Geter, bass, and Martha Krasnican, piano

Between Spring And Summer
Nomine Saxophone Quartet

Wish me luck.

First priority in the near future will be a trio for clarinet, bassoon, and piano. I’ve mentioned this several times over the last few months. The commission came from TriofuS several months ago, but I’ve been too busy to start it till now. I have a few pages of sketches done, and I’m starting to get a feel for the piece. I expect it to be in three movements, approximately 15 minutes long total.

Other prospects include a piece for flute ensemble and a short woodwind quintet, both of which would be for student groups here at ISU. These have been proposed, but aren’t definite yet.

Also, Martha and I have been discussing a new CD project for a long time now, and I’m making a tentative beginning on it. I may have alluded to it once or twice here on this blog, but never went into detail. The project will be all new music, for piano and possibly other instruments, with electronic and virtual instruments. It will be based on the Cantigas de Amigo by the 13th century Galacian troubador Martin Codax, and will alternate between my arrangements of his songs and original works. I am working on the first track of the CD right now, which is a treatment of Codax’s Ondas do Mare, the first of the Cantigas. The first track will be all electronic, and will be followed by a track for piano and cello. Beyond that, I don’t know much about what’s going to happen. Still, it’s a new direction for me, and I’m excited about it. More information as it progresses.

New Compositions.

1. In Praise of Folly (trombone/euphonium/piano)
2. Fanfare for Brass Quintet

(That’s it?!!!?)

New Arrangements

1. Back Home Again In Indiana (a cappella chorus)
2. Air Corps Medley (On a Wing and a Prayer, and Army Air Corps for voice and orchestra)
3. I’m Gonna Float My Boat Right Back To Terre Haute (voice and orchestra)
4. Shall We Gather At The River (voice and orchestra)
5. Beyond The Sea (voice and orchestra)
6. Stardust (voice and orchestra)
7. The Way You Look Tonight (voice and orchestra)
8. Unforgettable (voice and orchestra)
9. Angels We Have Heard On High (v0ice and orchestra)
10. Moon River (v0ice and orchestra)

Various other things, some unfinished, some still in progress, some I’m trying to forget.

It seems that 2008 was a year of arrangements. Which is fine, but I hope 2009 can be a year of compositions.

Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, by Leon Jessel, realized by Daniel Powers

The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers is something I get to play frequently, as it’s a popular selection on orchestral concerts this time of year. Unfortunately, the edition we always use is terrible; badly edited, full of wrong notes, inconsistent articulations, and the like, and (worst of all) is entirely lacking in rehearsal numbers. So this year I had the idea of creating my own edition in Finale. I haven’t finished it yet, mainly because I want to add to the instrumentation, so that it will be playable both in the original instrumentation for theater orchestra, as well as the larger standard symphony orchestra. But because of other stuff going on, I wasn’t able to finish it in time.

Still, since I had a Finale file already, it seemed like a good idea to take that and use it as the basis of a MIDI realization, both for the Garritan CD, and for promoting the publication. Anyway, I went ahead and did it, and you may now hear and enjoy the results.

For those who are interested, most of the instruments come from Garritan Personal Orchestra. One of the clarinets, the tuba, and the all the percussion except the bass drum come from Concert and Marching Band. Both trumpets and the trombone come from Jazz and Big Band.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!