Into town and xeroxed all the instrumental parts for 'On Acceptance'. Once bound they are the last to be sent to OPUS 20 along with 'A Time To Die'. Also xeroxed 'Deadfall'.
Iain Cameron is back from Tokyo and wrote yesterday. He's received the copy I sent of QTD, and sent information about Patti Smith whose music I don't know. Jacob Heringman kindly sent me a Dufay Collective CD called 'A Dance in the Garden of Mirth', which I'll look forward to to getting at. (Bill hides behind Susanna on the front cover of this). J. also says 'Black Sun' has arrived. Also spoke with Steven Wray who is sending me a recording of his performance of Tippett's Second Piano Sonata. Phone conversation with James Wishart who says the students are allowed to include vibes, marimbas, guitars if they want to as part of their duet pieces, coming from a question someone asked in the lecture last week. Good news. They are also allowed to write for harpsichord or organ, rather than piano, if want to which should make things interesting. Ex-student, and old friend, Ian Mayer also made contact asking about the McFall's CD and QTD. We'll meet, all being well, on Thursday in York.
(Just discovered that there have been over 25,000 visits to this Diary in just over twelve months).
3 01/30/2001 Awoke feeling much recovered. Cough still hovers, but the cold is on its way out and I'm generally feeling much better.
A full day of teaching/instructing awaits, plus xeroxing of the instrumental parts of 'On Acceptance'. Then on with Katharine Durran's invitation to write a short setting of Ruckert. It won't stop with the Ruckert!
Pleased to hear from Robert's Diary that Peter Sinfield has agreed, in principle, to contribute a Diary. We still await to hear about the funding for Catherine and Jacob's piece. It should be VERY soon now. Last evening listened to 'Islands', and then to compared the former CD edition of 'Lizard' with the new digitally re-mastered version. I wondered why electric guitar has been included, in 'Cirkus', towards the end of verse 2, particularly underpinning the words 'In his cloak of words strode the ringmaster/Bid me join the parade'?
2 01/29/2001 Had to get out and have a walk yesterday. Walked the circle at Scorton. Coffee in the new barn-shop place. Blocked nose means it's impossible to taste/smell anything which I eat. Last evening staggered-through Krenek's 'Studies In Counterpoint'. This may be of help to one or two of the students at Liverpool. It deals with serialism, and the composition of two/three-part exercises. As the students have been asked to write a duet they could put one or two of the ideas into operation which the book suggests. Then read an old copy of 'Perspectives Of New Music' from 1977, in particular an article by Hans Nathan called 'On Dallapiccola's Working Methods'. I have a great deal of time for the music of Dallapiccola, and feel that his approach to serial technique was about the most satisfying I've come across. The main thing about it is that D. always fused intuition with pre-compositonal techniques. He often began by writing a piece - a series of chords or melodic/rhythmic material - before deriving note-rows from his original. This may also be useful to the students. Went to bed at 21-00.
Awoke this morning feeling slightly better, though temperature is again up. Had to go to work: cannot afford to stay away again. Complete day at school, although I felt I was actually elsewhere: mind not quite operative. In student absence looked through second movement of Ravel's Piano Sonatine for possible orchestrations. How did I get through from 9-30 - 15-30? Went to Post Office and paid the tax, and then went to see my parents. Posted a couple of CDs off to people and a score of Concerto Nekyia to Adrian Spillett.
E-mails from John Casken and Peter Sinfield (with another excellent remedy included - thanks again, Peter!); Melanie Brandon, Alison and Terry as well.
1 01/28/2001 It's foggy outside, but behind the shroud lies a sun waiting to burst through. Gradually the cough is releasing its grip, but I've been left with a nasty cold. Peter's kind gift of the Weleda sinus and catarrh remedy have helped overnight. The cough medicine is also excellent stuff: the cough has been reduced quite radically. Still not 100% myself, though. I have to say that this brief period of inactivity has brought one thing home to me: A.G.K. - don't overdo things! Take it easy from time to time. The big problem is this: it would be easy to do that if I didn't have to do all the teaching, and also write/arrange pieces. One can become run-down in the vicious circle of things. However, to some extent I've got through it. Since 1998 quite a lot has been achieved.
Phoned Kevin and Linda yesterday who have also been struck-down by the virus. Linda had a very high temperature and, last week, had to come home from work. Then I finished the cut/paste assembly of parts for 'On Acceptance'. As far as I'm aware this is the final one, and now both that and 'A Time To Die' can be posted to Scott Stroman. The next thing that happens is to meet with Bert and discuss if revisions are necessary, and I await to hear David Singleton's take on the ongoing logistics of the project. If all goes well it could be recorded before the year's out. I jolly well hope so!
Yesterday also received a letter in the post about a string quartet composition project, which I will apply for: 'Striding The Edge' requires acute surgery.
Sue picked up 'Black Sun' and 'Seule' from the binders, put the labels on and posted them to Jacob and Catherine. It's odd how composition projects seem to grow of their own accord. It was in Slovenia last summer that both J & C asked for these pieces and, quite honestly, I didn't feel all that enthusiastic about tackling them. But, in retrospect, I now see the pieces grew out of the Slovenian experience and kind of wrote themselves.
David Wilkinson (who was responsible for the sleeve-notes photography of QTD) phoned last evening. He says he's enjoyed the album but finds it a little avant-garde. Point taken, David. It's strange how our ears accept dissonance in higher degrees if we're exposed to it a lot. When I was a chorister the choir would sing canticles by Edmund Rubbra (Mag & Nunc in Ab), Tony Hewitt-Jones, Kenneth Leighton's etc. These are reasonably dissonant pieces in places. There is also a brilliant anthem called 'O Praise God In His Holiness' by Hewitt-Jones (Psalm 150) which was, along with the Rubbra, my favourite. There are all those harmonic crunches in Tudor (Thomas Morley) and Baroque church music (Purcell, Wise and Blow) created by false-relations which I used to love. From an early age I became used to dissonance. Even on hearing 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' in late 1969, although it was huge shock to my system, I was used to some of the harmonic dissonance. Also, as a young flautist I'd played Lennox Berkeley (not the world's most avant-garde composer!), Debussy, Hindemith, Honegger and Messiaen etc. so my ears have always been used to music which isn't purely tonal. The point I'm making is that, perhaps, if we are exposed to certain musical forms and they become part and parcel of our musical character, we are going to be able to use those materials quite un-self consciously. We are not going to be necessarily aware that others may find the language somewhat difficult. Maybe this is why I've never really been into Minimalist musical techniques: there seems to be a disctinct lack of harmonic tension and release (and rhythmic, for that matter) to create strong musical structures. The closest I got to anything vaguely minimalist was during the repeated sections of the piece 'Quickening The Dead', but done in my own terms. The big problem with purely atonal music is that, because of the emancipation of the dissonance (as Schoenberg termed it) we hear continual tension. My own stance has been to combine all kinds of musical techniques and styles. Is this a typically postmodern way of doing things?
7 01/27/2001 Yesterday got out of bed at 16-00. Felt dreadful. Went downstairs and sat in chair.
Was looking forward to RNCM today, but have had to phone to say that I won't be in. Feeling awful...but...
Postman brought surprise: a big package which Sue opened revealing Weleda cough medicine, special eye ointment etc. and nice postcard from Peter Sinfield. He must have read my Diary for the past week. Peter, thank you! I've immediately put all these remedies into action. You know, I think the cough medicine is working. (I'm writing this in today's Diary because the damn E-mail isn't working!)
6 01/26/2001 I've had to take the day off school again. Went to see the doc yesterday at 17-30, who gave me some other antibiotics. The cough has now eased, but I awoke in the middle of the night with a blinding headache and temperature. Have to get right for tomorrow as it's a Parent/Teacher afternoon at the RNCM J.S.
Managed to cut/glue parts for 'A Time To Die' yesterday. Took them to the binders. Can't collect them today, so it will be Monday. Spent last evening at the computer writing short reports for RNCM J.S. students. E-mails from Alison and Terry, Jacob H., and Dan K. Leigh and Riccardo also wrote. Melanie Brandon, who performs 'Unseen Shadows' on QTD, also made contact. Now, back to bed for me. Haven't been hit by anything like this for a very long time.
5 01/25/2001 Lecture seemed to go well yesterday. Webern, Kelterborn, Ades, Debussy, AGK all listened to and discussed. Ran to two large record stores in town, but can't find the Tippett. I'll have to order this. Orchestration also re-commenced.
Before setting out for L'pool hurried to try and get the pieces for Jacob and Catherine bound. The actual binding machine was elsewhere so the copies have been left at the shop, picking them/posting them on Friday.
Read about Television (Tom Verlaine et al) on the train in the new issue of Mojo. Got out my copy of Marquee Moon last evening and listened. It's much easier chronologise (is there such a word?) these bands from a historical perspective. KC Mk IV, via Exposure and Red, surely owes something to Television, Talking Heads, Blondie etc. I have a sneaking feeling that many of these bands also picked R.F's guitar style as, perhaps, a way to get away from blues styles. The interesting thing, with Television at least, is the prototype interlocking guitar style of KC MkIV. I have to say that the Fripp, Belew, Levin and Bruford is a quantum leap away from these bands, mainly because of the Reich/Glass phase/repeat structures of some Minimalist music which KC IV employ. Whatever, it seems to me that R.F. was determined to take on board a more American than British approach. Also listened to the final KC Mk III concert in Central Park. Cerberus is a monster improvisation and, in my opinion, one of the best - certainly one of the loudest.
Back to the Soundscape orchestration cut/paste part-assembly line today. I must also have a virus: this cough is developing into a very painful thing and my eyes are aching. Can't afford to take the time off work, but it may come to that if it worsens.
4 01/24/2001 Lat evening at around 21-00, just as I'd completed the revisions of 'Seule' and 'Black Sun', John Mercer, from Riverrun, phoned with more splendid news about the developing label. It seems John has three more very interesting recording projects in the pipeline two, of which, had come into being only yesterday. He also tells me that the Riverrun shop-front is now up and running on the the RvR website and that a number of titles, including 'Quickening the Dead', are obtainable from there.
After that, put the finishing touches to today's lecture at Liverpool. I very much enjoy teaching Composition. Is it possible to teach the subject? A number of friends have asked me to do this in the past and I have declined. I don't think it is possible to teach style as this is something personal. I feel the same way about harmony in original contexts. Of course, we can learn by listening and looking at the music of the past, but if someone comes for a lesson and says 'I want to learn something about how to construct my harmonic-fields from an original perspective', then I'm able to show them how composers may go about this, including my own approach, and the chances they'll be able to take something from that and develop their own. It is quite apparent that some people don't need Composition lessons: they are perfectly able to compose without help, or hindrance, from anyone. The story of Messiaen's refusal to teach Xenakis comes to mind.
Sue wasn't able to buy the Weleda medicine yesterday, but some bronchial stuff instead. I didn't read the label which said 'take with an equal quantity of water' and wondered why it just about blew my throat from here to Preston. The saga of the cough continues.
3 01/23/2001 Actually slept last evening. Took a sleeping tablet and that did the trick. I asked Sue if the coughing continued even though I was dead to the world. Apparantly so. Sue is off to the health food shop today to try and get some Weleda cough medicine.
Last evening at 21-00 approx I wrote the final double bars of 'Black Sun'. This is being taken to school today so I can play it through and add revisions. Also had a look at the final section of 'Seule'. MS prepared for the revsion of that, too. E-mailed Michael to ask if has a CD copy of Tippett's Second Piano Sonata. My own copy has vanished, and I'd like the students to hear it at some point. Went into Blackpool yesterday, but the library there doesn't even own a CD. I have the score, though. Also working on some of Howard Skempton's music at the piano. I'd like to play one of these miniatures for the students tomorrow. A lot to talk about, but how much can one actually cover in a two hour lecture?
Ingrid Sawers, from Bacchanalia, phoned saying she's received the copies of QTD I sent. She was generous in her assessment of it.
2 01/22/2001 Yesterday, stayed indoors all day. Didn't cough much. Thought 'I've beaten it'. Began copying up 'Black Sun' into fair-score and by the end of the day this was almost complete. Again, things change even at this stage.
By teatime the cough had more or less vanished: I felt it had more or less evaporated. Rejoiced inwardly. Yet...an ominous feeling. Last evening analysed the first movement of Webern's Variations for Piano, Op. 27. Much impressed with the way the palindromic phrase structure mirrors the three movements, as well as the note-rows which Webern utilises. These are not picked at random, but each row either ends a semitone higher than the subsequent one which is heard as a resolution; the final two notes of a row correspond with the first two pitches of the next which means the music can be overlapped; the rows are a tritone apart giving little sense of resolution. Webern often increases motion through his music simply by writing shorter note values and this is what one hears rather than the serial structure.
Then I went to bed and then is when the cough returned with a vengeance. I had two hours sleep, and ended up on the sofa in the lounge as the only place where I wasn't a disturbance. Then I had an incredibly significant dream. Sue has little interest in Jung, but interpreted the dream brilliantly as we drove to work this morning.
Teaching/instructing for most of the day, and managed to continue with a little more of 'Black Sun'. Went to see my parents. Watched Sir Andrew Davies (former conductor with the BBC Symphony Orchestra) on 'This Is Your Life'. The final guest was Terry Waite. I found what he had to say supremely uplifting. Although he had never met Sir Andrew there was a connection between them: whilst T.W. was held hostage his captors had given him a transistor radio. The first time he used it was for a performance on the BBC World Service of the first night of the Proms. Sir Andrew was conducting of Elgar's 'The Dream of Gerontius'. T.W. said that this music was like food for his soul, connecting him to his loved ones back home. Elgar: self-taught, humble background, struggled to make his way as a composer but, somehow, his music is imbued with archetypes - both cultural and spiritual. And yet, Elgar had no real conscious influence on the next generation of British, or otherwise, composers. How things changed as a result of the two World Wars. But, Elgar's music continues to speak today.
1 01/21/2001 A very cold day. Snow, sleet, gales, grey skies. We were hoping that, maybe, we could go somewhere but probably not wise bearing in mind health and weather conditions. Phoning Kevin and Linda to tell them excursion is definitely off.
Sat in chair last evening and watched television. Cough, cough, damn cough! Damn cough feels slightly easier this morning. Peter e-mailed and suggested a remedy. Sue did as well: 'I'll hit you over the head with a cricket bat if you don't stop coughing!', she said. Jacob also e-mailed with exciting news of a Virelai recording project with other pieces by myself and other selected composers. As yet, still nothing about possible funding for the SKHK project. It should be soon. Hoping to complete 'Black Sun' this week, then piece together the instrumental parts for 'A Time To Die' and 'On Acceptance'. Also need to write the small revision in 'Seule' and send to Catherine. Lee e-mailed.
Read Robert's Diary last evening. I was invited to attend the current Guitar Craft course in Italy, and reading the Diary makes me sad to think I can't be there. I see Cathy is present is well. However, I couldn't have gone in my present condition.
Looked on the internet for holidays to Slovenia. Found a heading saying 'Off the Beaten Track'. Aha...
7 01/20/2001 Yesterday was spent doing very little at all in an effort to shake-off this wretched cough. Did it work? No! It seems even worse today. However, managed to work a little more on 'Black Sun' which is getting there by degrees. This piece is dangerously melancholic. Also had a look at 'Seule' It's the final part of this piece which needs surgery: by recapitulating the beginning I hope a listener will hear it as a structural arch. All the other materials seem to work, and I don't really know why considering it was written at the speed of light. More and more I'm becoming convinced that pieces written like improvisations are often the best. Also sat in the chair last evening and analysed one of the Kelterborn duet pieces. Interesting how linear material is used contrapuntally as a means to reach melody/accompaniment material, with fragments of the melodic material re-surfacing to bind the whole together. It is a serial piece. What guides K. in his choice of the note-rows? One point is that his prime (PO) is only eleven pitches, and he ingeniously omits the dominant so a listener doesn't hear any sense of resolution at all. The piece also descends as it progresses through time.
Managed to get to Manchester today, coughing all the way there, during teaching, and on the train back again. Only relief from the cough was to suck sweets. Devoured a complete packet of Hall's Soothers. Students continue to produce some interesting pieces. I was approached by a member of the percussion department to consider writing a short piece for him. Will think about it.
Reading Kerouac's 'On The Road'. I feel echoes of Plath's 'Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams' or 'The Bell Jar' in this, as well as some of Virginia Woolf's work, being a kind of 'stream-of-consciousness' approach, although the Kerouac speeds by at 1000 mph. Plath's ambition was to be a novelist, and although I like her prose work one gets the feeling that she excelled primarily as a poet. Those final poems, collected posthumously as 'Ariel', have an incredible dynamic range. Plath's fate is mirrored in this work, in the same way that Nick Drake's future was reflected in 'Pink Moon' (and before).
6 01/19/2001 It's very seldom that I have a day away from work due to illness, but today that has had to be done. Another night of cough...cough...splutter...get up and drink Lemsip...down the hatch with cough medicine etc. My chest hurts with coughing, but...do I detect a 'break' in the cacophony? A day spent in-doors should, hopefully, sort this out.
Worked further on 'Black Sun' yesterday. The piece is changing. It's more dissonant than some of the pieces I've written over the past couple of years due mainly, I suspect, to the source material of the Nerval poem. It is framed with a dissonant major seventh/tritone dyadic oscillating motif high up the lute, before going into the ritornello. The motif crops up all over the place, and finishes a minor third lower than it began, and is cast in three sections with a short coda. Strangely enough I've discovered the little descending tone/rising minor third motif of 'sad Steps' is also present. It seems that 'Sad Steps', 'Reclaiming Eros', 'Black Sun' and 'Seule' are connected by subject matter as well as by musical materials.
Also prepared the first Composition lecture for Liverpool next week. I have to present something on instrumental duet writing and piano writing. Problem: I didn't know any duet pieces till I went to the RNCM library last week and found Rudolph Kelterborn's 'Vier Miniaturen' for oboe and violin. Yesterday John Foster, who teaches violin at school, and myself on flute, recorded two of these onto mini-disc and then tranferred them onto tape. They are serial pieces and will tie-in with Webern's Op. 27 Piano Variations which I've chosen to discuss. I've also chosen a Debussy Prelude, something from Bartok's Mikrokosmos 6 and my own piece, Pneuma, as a way into structure, and the combination with serial and free writing a la Berg. Also prepared semester 2's Orchestration material which comprises Ravel or Debussy, Bartok or Prokofiev piano pieces. Also, further marking of student pieces from the RNCM Junior School.
E-mails from Jacob, Peter, Henry, Rachel and a phone call from David Stoll. David has two albums out on RvR and, in February, we have a meeting with Angela Voss to discuss contributing music to the follow-up release of 'Secrets of the Heavens'. Sounds interesting.
5 01/18/2001 A cough is a bit like a musical composition: on day 1 it's sketched-out; on day 2 it develops a little; on day 3 the essence is forming further; on day 4 it keeps you awake at night; on day 5 it's almost fully-fledged; on day 6 it's in fair-score; on day 7 it's complete, so that we are in a position to hear a premiere; on day 8 the critics have had a field day following said premiere, and rumours are spreading such as ' Have you heard my dear...'; on day 9 the first flourish is beginning to crack; on day 10 certain phrases return to the mind; on day 11 it's a fading memory; on day 12 it's all but gone; on day 13 it's...almost...; on day 14...it's...gone. Currently on day 6.
4 01/17/2001 Touch down! Two days of running around the country have just come to a stop. Monday was 'Reclaiming Eros'/Newbold Piano Quartet/Wigmore Hall day. I met Jacob Heringman outside the Wigmore and we went for a quick bite to eat before the performance. My cough was grinding me down, but it didn't cause too much commotion during the performance. The Newbolds played Faure, Keeling and Brahms in that order with my piece just before the interval. It sounded fabulous. Steven, Jacob and many others were very encouraging about the piece and the Newbold's performance of it. Someone said it sounded 'like a dream'; someone else said, 'at last a composer who balances intellect with what audiences like!' (This was a moment when I thought, 'something achieved!') The piece has taken wings since it was premiered in Deal, and the ensemble had played it in Scotland on the previous evening, so it was really ready to explode.
Afterwards, stayed with Jacob and listened to Fred Frith's 'Guitar Solos' album, the demo that Dill had sent of OPUS 20 performing 'Red' and a weird album of arrangements of Kraftwerk pieces played by...? (I can't remember but it was fun). Next morning went out for breakfast as J & S have workmen in, and then got the train to Victoria. Sorry to wave goodbye to that town mouse J.H.. Phoned Iain Cameron but he was in Paris. Decided to head-off for home immediately and arrived back here at 16-30. Lots of thoughts on the train: a) the dissonance between, on the one hand, what musicians like to play, audiences like to hear and, on the other hand, what critics are often compelled to write which is, by necessity, culturally conditioned. There must be some assimilation of fashions prevalent in any creative work. We can no longer write like Schubert or, even, Boulez because it would be seen as pastiche. Schubert's and Boulez's contribution have been part of collective experience from which we've been able to learn. Perhaps today's artists/composers/poets etc. are 'synthesisers': we take on elements from the past to produce montage-like pieces, where the new is formed by collisions with other material and, therefore, referencing the past; b) very heavy frost in Lichfield, which reminded me of the story of George Fox (founder of the Quakers) who walked into Lichfield on a frosty day (17th century) shouting, 'Woe unto you, city of blood!!' Fox didn't know why he did this, but felt compelled to do so, later finding out that thousands of Christians had been executed by the Romans in the market-place, and the streets had 'overflowed with blood'. George fox was a very remarkable man. I've often thought that I should join the Society of Friends, who seem very fair-minded people.
Continued with 'Black Sun' over the past two days. Lots of thoughts about this: it needs to be more rigorously contructed. Sue picked up the vocal parts of 'A Time To Die' and 'On Acceptance' today, and there is still the instrumental parts to complete (cut/glue method). I've also decided to tighten-up 'Seule' and sent programme notes for this and 'Black Sun' to Catherine for the Spitalfields Festival in June. Also began to think about next Wednesday's Composition lecture. The students have two pieces to complete by the close of the second semester: either a duet piece or a piano piece; a choral piece or a song.
Went to Liverpool today for a meeting to moderate student marks. C'est tres froid! Completed the Hebdige book (excellent!) and read 'Bliss' and 'Psychology' by Katherine Mansfield on the train. 'Red', 'Exposure' (as pivotal work - Janus faced, even) and others to the fore. Wrote ideas on a scrap of paper as notebook was left at home: stupid to forget! Coughing badly.
2 01/15/2001 Continued early yesterday with 'Black Sun'. More done. Then we drove to Chapel Stile and ascended Loughrigg from there. It was very cold. Ice on the paths made walking treacherous. On reaching the second ascent Sue said, 'There's a choice to be made: either we continue to the summit or walk to Skelwith Bridge for coffee'. This time there was no contest: to Skelwith Bridge! Stopped at Loughrigg Tarn, with the Langdales in the background in brilliant sunshine. The tarn was completely frozen over. Loughrigg lay behind, orange in the light. Tried to find the return path from Skelwith Bridge on the other side of the river, but couldn't. Had to retrace our steps in the failing light. This made the walking even more difficult as it was beginning to freeze, getting back to the car as it was almost dark. Arrived back home at 19-00 and continued with 'Black Sun'. Second sketch completed by 22-00. Now the composition can begin. Later, another idea emerged just as I was reading late last night.
E-mail from Angela Voss asking if I'd like to contribute to a future project. Answer in the affirmative. Sid Smith also E-mailed, and another from Peter Sinfield. Seems like there will be a lot of activity in February. Jacob was also in touch re the lute-song project.
7 01/13/2001 A bright, sunny day. A good day at the RNCM Junior School, with lots of new pieces from the students. I played my little piece called 'Quaternaries' (1992) for flute/alto flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin and cello to two groups thinking they would hate it, but merely for the sake of showing how the piece was made. Strangely enough the students thought it was fine! I view it as a rather immature compositional exercise, but maybe it has more going for it? I can't really see it, though.
Read Dick Hebdidge's book 'Subculture' (Routledge, 1979) on the journeys to and from Manchester. Hebdidge makes great play of the connection between white and black post-war popular musics, especially the conection between punk and reggae. As I write this TOTP 2 is on the TV, with The Police playing 'Walking On The Moon'. Also went to the RNCM library and took out several volumes of goodies. Answered telephone message from Neil Sadler when I arrived home, and sent E-mails to Jacob and David Symes who are both hoping to be at the Wigmore concert on Monday evening.
Last evening more done on 'Black Sun' which is now on the second stage write-up and continues to develop. Also spoke with Katharine Durran today who is trying to secure funding for the song commission. I've had a musical idea for this, and spoke to K. about the possibility of integrating Peter Sinfield's poem 'Raindrops' into the Ruckert. She seemed enthusiatic about the idea. I'll have to see if it holds water (no pun intended!).
6 01/12/2001 Yesterday was spent sketching a new piece for solo lute for Jacob Heringman to play at the Spitalfields Festival in the summer. I don't often read my previous Diary entries but noticed, when I checked that yesterday's entry had been successfully tranferred to the main pages of the Website, that one year ago I'd decided to name my then, developing piano quartet piece 'Black Sun'. Eventually the title changed. 'Seule', for solo mezzo-soprano, which Catherine is performing at the same concert at Spitalfields, is a setting of the poem by Nerval which includes the words 'on my lute is etched the black sun of melancholy'. So, I decided that this short, four minute lute piece should use material from the mezzo soprano piece which will connect both pieces in the concert and that it should be called 'Black Sun'. It's strange how things work themselves out.
Prepared material for RNCM Junior School which begins tomorrow, and worked on the lute piece in between students more or less all day.
Arrived home to find that the CDR of OPUS 20's performance of 'Red' had arrived. I played it fifteen times. Yes! It works! It has spirit! The first thought was how incredibly similar to some of Michael Nyman's music (I'm thinking of his Fourth String Quartet) this is. Maybe Nyman is an admirer of King Crimson? In a way this whole arranging KC/Fripp project has re-directed me away from boring old academic music making, yet I can utilise what I learnt in the past. The thing about 'Red' is that it sounds highly charged and, for me, this is where music should be at. Thank you, Scott and OPUS 20, for this excellent performance!
Train ticket for London, on Monday, has arrived. I've now developed a cold, so hope I'll be OK. Got up to take some cough medicine in the night and looked out of the window to see a beautifully still, silvery light from the moon. Cough, cough...hack, hack...
5 01/11/2001 Charged over to Liverpool yesterday to collect student orchestrations. Several encouraging comments from members of staff/students re Composer-in-Focus talk given before Xmas. I'd completely forgotten about it. Completed the Lind book on the journeys.
Charged back home. E-mail from Catherine King saying 'Seule' has been approved for performance at the Spitalfields Festival in the summer. Jacob has invited me to write a short piece for solo lute for the event. An idea has emerged. The CDR of 'Red' still hasn't arrived yet. Must phone Dill. It isn't his fault, but I feel it's been lost in the post.
Marked seven orchestration portfolios last evening. Sorted out timetable for this Semester's Orchestration/Composition teaching. Sent info. to Sarah. Train tickets for Monday's London visit ordered. Spoke with Jacob.
4 01/10/2001 I continue to be impressed by events which seem to unfold naturally. Those things which come into being by, and of themselves, often seem to be the best. Richard Lind's book is also the right book to be reading at this moment. I would recommend it to anyone. There is a section on self domination in which Lind makes the point that if we (I) have a dominating approach to life we (I) often mirror the other. There is something very close to Jung's concept of shadow-play in this idea. Lind also says that the self has to pretend to be successful so others, or itself, can't detect failure. The point is made that these drives seem to originate in childhood and pass onto to the young adult, being tranformed into cultural expectations. In other words, we (I) are (am) always seeking approval from others. Thinking about it, this somehow fits my own life like a glove. For example, one of my RNCM students has asked to listen to a little chamber piece I wrote many years ago. I dug it out last evening and listened for the first time since it was performed. It's horrid! I was studying with one notable teacher when I wrote it, and the expectations of what to write has mysteriously been passed from teacher to student. Still, one has to learn and one cannot be completely objective in any of this. We are all different and what one requires from life is not what another requires. Coming back to the chamber piece, I was able to learn useful techniques which have been assimilated into my own musical language. Some seeking is, however, absolutely essential. The question remains: is it possible to teach Composition? We can only teach compositional techniques, but the 'spark' remains personal.
First day at school. No problems. Completed the Soundscape orchestrations and prepared them for binding. Bert wrote to say he's received the score of 'A Time To Die'.
Played Enesco's 'Cantabile et Presto', the final movement of the Poulenc Sonata, and some Handel transcriptions on the flute. Also some tone and articulation exercises.
Leigh phoned saying the CD is released today, and that Riverrun hope to have a shopfront up and running on their Website by the end of this week. E-mails from Peter, Neil and Lee.
At 1600, as I walked along the sea-front in a break, I looked to the east and there, bouncing along just above Grit Fell in the distance, was a huge, pink moon. Scott Appel has said that the ancient Chinese called this the 'parhelion'. It was an omen. I returned home, switched on the TV news and heard that there was a lunar eclipse. Watched it during breaks in the cloud. Ominous?
3 01/09/2001 Arrived at school yesterday to find the lights off, the school deserted etc. Has the rapture taken place? Maybe I'm the only one left on earth? Consulted calendar. Oh dear! Everything begins on Tuesday! Could've sworn it was Monday, though. Silently slipped away so as not to be seen...(DUR!!) Returned home to discover message from Peter who says his E-mails aren't getting through. Others have had a similar problem reaching me in this way. So, I've gone back to the old Onetel address before we transferred it over to Pegasus which speeded communication up a great deal, but bounced messages back to people.
Went to David's and picked up CD of the Vivaldi Lute Concerto in D, then drove to see my parents and played said CD.
Arrived home and the weather is reasonable. Go for it! Get in car and drive to Cawthorpe Fell (the limestone hill overlooking the M6 just north of Granada Services, and south of the South Lakeland junction). Climb to the top, which takes about half an hour. Good views from the top: the Howgill fells to the north-east in bright sunshine, and the Lakes obscured by clouds to the north-west. Bright sunshine to the south on Morecambe Bay and Silverdale etc. Fed sheep the left-overs of cheese sandwiches, and phoned Sue from the top of the fell. (Sue has recently bought me a mobile phone which no-one has the number of, and a machine that is left constantly switched-off).
School DOES begin today and so does the process of reviewing the Soundscape orchestrations.
2 01/08/2001 A dark, damp Monday morning. The teaching/instructing begins again to day. I've had two dreams that sort of point to the amount of work that has to be addressed this term. When teaching in just about to be resumed these kind of dreams often occur:
6/i/01: I've been appointed the Head of Music of a famous English Public School. There is huge amount of work to be done.
7/i/01: I've climbed the first part of a mountain and stand facing the main section of it. This is a vertical wall of rock which reaches up to the sky. I look up and see people, like ants, walking on the summit ridge. I think, 'You'd have to be a climber to reach the top. Is there a way around the back?' Retreating, I traverse a dangerous edge, and then down to accompany a student at the piano which I manage badly.
Or does the second mean something else? Oh well!
(Steven Wray has placed an encouraging review of the OPUS 20 concert on the Review section of the DGM Website. Cheers, Steve!)
1 01/07/2001 We planned to go walking yesterday with Kevin and Linda but the weather looked so unpromising that we postponed. I still wasn't feeling 100% myself, so we drove to Kendal hoping to have a look around the town. However, on reaching the Kendal junction I saw the mountains covered in cloud beyond and thought, 'Damn It! Those mountains look good. Let's take a chance and carry on!' So, we continued into the Lake District and drove up towards Troutbeck, parked the car on the side of the road and walked along the old farm-track towards Jenkyn's Crag. Cloudy and threatening rain. Had a cup of coffee and turned back. The darkness descended fast, but we reached the car just as it became impossible to see any further. I feel much better now, both in body and mind.
Steven phoned and let me know about the OPUS 20 concert. He feels 'Red' worked very well in its new arrangement for strings. Also read about the concert on Sid Smith's Diary in a review by David Symes, who was at the concert, confirming that it also worked. I wish I could have been at the concert but, as usual, it sounds as though OPUS 20 performed splendidly. I will be very interested to hear a recording which I hope to receive before too long. I've planned several new arrangements of KC material (including, all being well, an arrangement of one of Peter Sinfield's songs, one of Ian McDonald's and an instrumental piece from Robert's 'Exposure') which should be complete sometime in 2002.
Completely finished 'On Acceptance' by preparing front cover/instruments page. Gathered all six Soundscape orchestrations together and had a further look through them. These will be revised in due course when we know the logistics of recording/rehearsals sometime this year. However, 'A Time To Die' and 'On Acceptance' will be revised this week.
Today we drive to Stockton to take Nicholas's hi-fi etc. as he left it here.
7 01/06/2001 Now on the road to recovery. Managed to drive Christopher to the station yesterday and wave him goodbye as he departed for the south of England. He phoned last evening saying he'd arrived back safely. The house feels a little empty again without the lads. Also felt sad that I wouldn't be at last evening's OPUS 20 concert. I wasn't just looking forward to hearing if 'Red' worked as an arrangement, but was also looking forward to hearing Nicola LeFanu's new piece.
Walked around the river. Couldn't stay indoors anymore. And then, a sudden experience of being in the 'present moment': shining sun, cloudless sky, there yet not there, and completely aware of that moment in time. The main point was an awareness of 'being' and of myself. This continued for at least ten minutes. The same thing happened in 1993 on a walk on Maiden Moor in the Lake District: nothing mattered, past or future, but I 'knew' that 'Wrestling With Angels' would win the competition which it had been submitted for. At that moment it made absolutely no difference if the piece won, lost or whatever. I always feel that this moment was a 'breakthrough': the moment when striving ceased for me; a moment of my connection with the environment and myself. After that many things followed: the music that had to be written came about; the places the pieces were performed seemed right; the ensembles for whom the pieces were written appeared at the right time, and included the right people; aggressive self-promotion was put aside in the knowledge that I was on the right track. It was a moment when I grasped what the term individuation really meant. Nor did I enter anymore pieces for Competitions: a lesson had been learnt about my psychology in doing that, too!
Over the past couple of days have begun reading: Richard Lind - The Seeking Self (Phanes Press, 2000). Lind, as a trained therapist, says that when we seek recognition, personal success etc. we endlessly strive to improve ourselves, but even if we attain better things we create another quest and are never able to enjoy the life we have. We create further neuroses in the pattern of endless searching. What Lind seems to be saying is that in seeking we drive ouselves into neurosis. I also think, unknowingly, he makes the point that people are not content just to 'be'; to accept what happens as part of the process of life's unfolding; to live in the 'present moment'. Nor is he offering prescriptive methods by saying 'give up'. He is simply saying transformation, more often than not, seems to happen spontaneously and, most often, as a result of crisis but without aggressive seeking. I remember reading in Jung's 'The Undiscovered Self' (at least, I think it was there) that we often miss the point of life: that humans are essentially designed for living simply. Jung often retreated to the house he'd made for himself at Bollingen beside the shores of Lake Kusnacht. There, he could live quietly in introspection, without the luxuries and distractions of the twentieth century such as electricity, wireless etc. Jung had certainly discovered the secret of living in the 'present moment', and his writings testify to the fact.
Completed 'On Acceptance'. Gathered the six Soundscapes into one folder. Now comes the process of revising and honing. Peter Sinfield sent a very interesting E-mail re Neil Ingram's analysis of 'The Song Of The Seagoat'. (See you soon, Jacob. Pleased you got 'The Golden Bough' [abridged version, I'm guessing?]. Garlic? I'll give it a whirl!)
6 01/05/2001 Started out to London yesterday, but on reaching Preston felt really unwell. Decided it was best to turn around and come home which was, in retrospect, a wise choice. Still feel ropey this morning. There are many, in our area, who've gone down with similar symptoms. I'm seldom ill but, on this occasion admit defeat. E-mailed Steven Wray, Scott Stroman and Paul Sherman to apologise for my absence at tonight's concert.
Managed to write a little more of 'On Acceptance'. Listened to Scott Walker's Third and Fourth albums, and spent the day not eating. There's one consolation: this is an excellent post-Christmas diet to knock off the results of the food and drink one has absorbed over the period.
5 01/04/2001 Felt increasingly unwell yesterday. Awoke this morning hoping that I'd have made a miraculous recovery. Not! I'm going to try and change my train reservation from today to tomorrow, to get to OPUS 20 concert tomorrow evening. I don't feel like waiting around cold platforms with delayed trains etc. (Later: they won't change the ticket which looks like I'll have to take a chance and go). Scott e-mailed last evening saying 'Red' had sounded good in rehearsals. Robert also sent an encouraging e-mail about my ideas for KC arrangements. Managed to continue with 'On Acceptance' yesterday: nine bars remain to completion. I'm sorry to hear that Diane has moved on from DGM, and wish to say 'thank you' to her for her help and encouragement.
4 01/03/2001 Nicholas went to London yesterday to meet some friends. At about 12-00 we received a phone call: the London train, he was meant to take from Manchester, had been cancelled. We suggested he got on the next one. Did he arrive? No phone call, so we're guessing he did.
Worked on 'On Acceptance' all morning. Three pages remain till it's complete, then revision begins. In the afternoon went to Preston with Sue and Christopher. Looked around the Harris Museum. There are some 18th century plates/ornaments in glass cases which I always look at every time we go there. I find this period of history fascinating. I can't say why, simply that there is some degree of empathy there. Could it be the experience of singing Purcell in G minor, Purcell in Bb, Blow in the Dorian Mode, Remember Not Lord Our Offences, Salvator Mundi etc. etc. etc. in the choir? Or, perhaps, that my boarding-school was housed in the 17th century Bishop's Palace?
Went to see David Wilkinson last evening. David and I have been friends for 29 years. In our Art classes at St. Annes Tech we used to talk more about King Crimson, T2, Nick Drake, CSN&Y etc. etc. than draw/paint. We used to go and see many concerts together, KC being the most memorable. We also went to a great concert at Wembley Stadium to see Jesse Colin Young, Joni Mitchell, The Band and CSN&Y in 1973. Naturally, I failed Art O Level the first time around ( I re-sat all the exams and passed, being determined to go to study the flute, which I eventually did). David became a Graphic Designer, and took the photo of me on Loughrigg which is on the soon-to-be-released 'Quickening The Dead' album. We have planned a 30 year reunion with other friends next year to celebrate the time David wrote-off his parents car on Christmas Eve, 1971, an event both etched on our minds forever! He also owns a copy of Peter Sinfield's book of lyrics and poetry. I lent mine to someone and it was never returned. I was able to write out a couple of the poems by hand. There is one called Raindrops. The Ruckert poem, for Katharine Duran, is also about rain. Ideas, ideas!
Also found some material for the Liverpool Composition teaching in one of the countless folders upstairs.
Have begun to feel progressively worse: sore throat and generally lousy. Hope I can get to London tomorrow.
3 01/02/2001 The holidays are drawing to a close, and I've started with a sore throat. Grey skies and rain, and reports of floods in the south. I hope it's going to be possible to get London later in the week.
Continued with 'On Acceptance' which is gradually taking shape, and listened to some interesting music with Geoff who is a big Daryl Hall fan. Geoff has a rare copy of 'Sacred Songs' on vinyl which he picked up in a sale many years ago. I also listened to 'The ConstruKction Of Light'. One shouldn't compare, but I think it is a stronger work than 'Thrak', although the double trio counterpoint of the title piece is of great interest. 'Dinosaur', 'Walking On Air' and the two 'Inner Garden' songs are also thoroughly memorable. Whatever one says, one can always count on King Crimson records ('works' is a better definition) to produce different levels - multi-levels - of meaning. One can always revisit them and come away feeling thoroughly satisfied. As I write this it reminds me that I have to press on with the arrangement, and get onto the KC book proposal. No time for faffing-about!
2 01/01/2001 Snow gone, temperatures up, sun out! The first day of a new year, and Nicholas is 21! We went to my parents' last evening, let in the New Year and celebrated N's birthday. Two games of Bingo (I won the first, which is a first!). Another celebration this afternoon at Carolyn's and Geoff's.
Just before we went out yesterday Paul Sherman from OPUS 20 phoned asking if the arrangement I've done of 'Red' follows the original. I explained that I'd composed quite a lot into the piece, having to think about the absence of the drums and how to make up for that vital, missing component. I've also added some quiet bars in the middle. I feel a little worried about the new parts I've provided for the ensemble, which I hope are legible and negotiable in terms of page-turns. There has simply been no time to prepare better parts since writing the piece, mainly because of the many projects I've been working on. Also, I don't work with a score-writing computer programme. Maybe it's time to learn, as it would make things easier in the long run. However, the main problem is one of time of which there is a definite absence.
Spent most of yesterday working on the fair-score of 'On Acceptance'. There are a lot of notes in the score and writing the many repeated semi-quaver sextuplets will take time. I spoke to Bert Lams on the phone before beginning, and he likes the sound of the S.A.T.B./two horns/whip;timpani/strings: 3-3-2-2-1 set-up. I was worried that it may be too symphonic, but Bert sounded enthusiastic. Octave C's have been added in the lower strings and horns at the place where the sextuplets begin again so as to reinforce that event. The voices sing wordless pitches ('ah----') taking the sustained, contrapuntal lines which are doubled, mainly, by the strings. I don't want to add too much in the way of voices as it may become tiresome for listeners. 'A Time To Die' also has voice parts, but no horns or percussion. I also decided against adding harp as it, too, can become a cliche if used too much. 'Being and Becoming' has quite an extensive part for harp. It seems to me that as much contrast as possible should be aimed for in this project. Currently we have:
Pie Jesu: strings, 3-3-2-2-1
Midnight Blue: strings, 3-3-2-2-1
Black Light: strings, 3-3-2-2-1
Being and Becoming (Newlyn): small orchestra, 1-1-1 (doubling bass clari)-1; 2-1; Perc. 1 player (tam-tam, bass drum, tubular bells); harp; strings, 3-3-2-2-1.
A Time To Die: voices (SI,SII,AI,AII,T,B); strings 3-3-2-2-1
On Acceptance: voices (SI,SII,A,T,B); horns I & II; Perc. 1 player (whip, ped. timps.); strings, 3-3-2-2-1.
We hope it be interesting for King Crimson/Robert Fripp enthusiasts as well as many other people, and will add something to the already growing repertoire of Soundscape material.