I have created this blog to document the thoughts and actions involved in creating my music. On the one hand, this is a feeble attempt at gaining self-discipline and on the other, a way to keep track of music composition techniques that I might usually take for granted. Hopefully this is a worthwhile resource for other musicians as well, particularly those who may be interested in performing my music or simply learning more about music composition.
During December last year I began working on an instrumental interpretation of At the mid hour of night, which I came to know through Benjamin Britten's version from Vol. 4 ('Moore's Irish Melodies') of his Folksong arrangements. The song is sung from the perspective of someone who is remembering and trying to recapture the experiences they shared with a lover who has passed. The mood of the music and the text is regretful, but contemplative. The persona finds solace in the midnight sky and in song (the respective subjects of the two verses), as these things allow him/her to still feel connected to their lover.
My arrangement is for two classical guitars and string quartet. The dynamics are always a major concerrn when writing for classical guitars, as their sound tends to get drowned out by most other orchestral instruments. Being a guitarist myself, I naturally want the guitars to be a prominent element of the work. In order to achieve the correct balance I have to use the string quartet sparingly, so that the guitars have a chance to seep through the cracks of the entire instrumental mass. When I say sparingly, I don't mean to turn any string players off this piece. Every instrument is important to me and the players should all get their turn in the spotlight. I have been searching through the scores of composers such as Mahler and Debussy in the hope that their amazing treatment of the string section might rub off on me. Maybe delicately is a better word than sparingly. I can work with that.
My starting point was at lifting the 9/8 time signature and Eb major key signature from Britten's arrangement. Since then I've just freely composed little bits here and there, only thinking about the actual melody when in need of some inspiration. My main focus has been on instrumental colour, rhythm and of course, dynamics. For the opening (see excerpt below), I tried to recreate the celestial mood of the first verse's text with the instruments. The second guitar plays harmonics, while the first guitar, viola and cello pluck around an Eb major chord. The rhythmic and dynamic changes in the first guitar part create the effect of a stumbling start to a waltz-like dance. In fact, I like the idea that the memory of this funny dance incident could be what takes the persona's mind back to their beloved.
During December last year I began working on an instrumental interpretation of At the mid hour of night, which I came to know through Benjamin Britten's version from Vol. 4 ('Moore's Irish Melodies') of his Folksong arrangements. The song is sung from the perspective of someone who is remembering and trying to recapture the experiences they shared with a lover who has passed. The mood of the music and the text is regretful, but contemplative. The persona finds solace in the midnight sky and in song (the respective subjects of the two verses), as these things allow him/her to still feel connected to their lover.
My arrangement is for two classical guitars and string quartet. The dynamics are always a major concerrn when writing for classical guitars, as their sound tends to get drowned out by most other orchestral instruments. Being a guitarist myself, I naturally want the guitars to be a prominent element of the work. In order to achieve the correct balance I have to use the string quartet sparingly, so that the guitars have a chance to seep through the cracks of the entire instrumental mass. When I say sparingly, I don't mean to turn any string players off this piece. Every instrument is important to me and the players should all get their turn in the spotlight. I have been searching through the scores of composers such as Mahler and Debussy in the hope that their amazing treatment of the string section might rub off on me. Maybe delicately is a better word than sparingly. I can work with that.
My starting point was at lifting the 9/8 time signature and Eb major key signature from Britten's arrangement. Since then I've just freely composed little bits here and there, only thinking about the actual melody when in need of some inspiration. My main focus has been on instrumental colour, rhythm and of course, dynamics. For the opening (see excerpt below), I tried to recreate the celestial mood of the first verse's text with the instruments. The second guitar plays harmonics, while the first guitar, viola and cello pluck around an Eb major chord. The rhythmic and dynamic changes in the first guitar part create the effect of a stumbling start to a waltz-like dance. In fact, I like the idea that the memory of this funny dance incident could be what takes the persona's mind back to their beloved.
Fig 1: Opening bars of At the mid hour of night arrangement
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