Klarinet Archive - Posting 000783.txt from 2002/01

From: Alexander Brash <mactrek@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: my Duo, Trio and 2nd WW Qnt.
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 13:45:12 -0500

Bear,
I was looking forward to playing your music with my Trio until I caught
wind of the ego. Good luck winning the Pullitzer! And remember, this is
coming from a huge fan of 20th century music: 90% of it is pure crap.

Alexande

> From: Bear Woodson <bearwoodson@-----.com>
> Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 14:29:34 -0700
> To: Klarinet List <Klarinet@-----. Michele deGastyne"
> <Michele.DeGastyne@-----. Lawrence Whitney"
> <Phoenix_811@-----. Da=
vid
> B. Niethamer" <DNietham@-----. Alexander Brash"
> <MacTrek@-----. Thomas
> Piercy" <TBPiercy@-----.Com>, "=
Mr.
> Brent Eresman" <BEresman@-----.Com>
> Subject: my Duo, Trio and 2nd WW Qnt.
>=20
> Hello, Klarinet List, et al.
>=20
> I am DAYS behind in answering E-Mails, because
> I've been so busy with so many things lately! I know
> I have answered a few of you, but I'd like to fill in
> some gaps, so I will write to all of you at the same
> time.
>=20
> As some of you know, I was never a woodwind
> player, and stopped playing piano many years ago due
> to nerve damage in the right arm. However I am a big
> believer in the Hindemith Philosophies of writing good
> Counterpoint, controlled use of dissonance, and to write
> Unaccompanied and Chamber works, Accompanied
> Sonatas, Konzertst=FCcke and Full Concerti for each major
> orchestral instrument.
>=20
> I originally trained as a composer 30 years ago, got
> out of music during the 1980's and came back to do
> Graduate work since the Mid-1990's. Well, in just the
> last 7 years, I've written sonatas that can be soloed by
> flute, violin, viola, cello, and all the orchestral brasses.
> Now I'm focusing on woodwinds, and frankly I'm
> having fun with this!
>=20
> In the last 3 years, I've joined over 25 of these
> Instrument Lists, and therefore store and/or answer
> about 40 E-Mails a day, for the last 3 years. (Lately
> it's been about 90 daily, while also writing and editing
> music, etc. I occasionally cheat, and even get a little
> sleep.)
>=20
> In the 1980's I wrote a "First Woodwind Quintet"
> and "Bassoon Sonata" both of which were WAY too
> long, and had the winds playing almost non-stop, with
> few places to really rest the lungs. Neither will be use-
> able without weeks of re-structuring, and I'm juggling
> too many new projects right now.
>=20
> In 1997 I wrote my "Second Woodwind Quintet"
> which solved the problems of Breathability, but the
> writing is still Hard to Play, but acceptable for Pro-
> fessional Level Players. We recorded it in May 1999.
>=20
> "Second Woodwind Quintet" (Sept. 1997, 5 mvts,
> 18' 28") It was recorded in May 1999 by Lisa
> Maree Amos, Flute; Kimberly Potter, Oboe; Holly
> Haddad, Bb Clarinet; Victor Valenzuela, Horn in F;
> Enid Blount, Bb Bass Clarinet. (This is a profound
> work, that equally shares the spotlight between the
> 5 players. All movements have complex Motivic
> Development, while some have Canons. The Horn
> leads the Fifth Movement, as if it were a Harmonized
> Variation of the Third Movement "Theme and 7 Var-
> iations" from the "Sonata for Unaccompanied Horn"
> that was written at the same time.)
>=20
> I Maestoso 4' 44"
> II Adagio 3' 00"
> III Allegro: Fortspinnung 2' 48"
> IV Adagio 5' 06"
> V Allegretto Maestoso 2' 50"
> Total Time: 18' 28"
>=20
> I am completely re-editing the "Second Woodwind
> Quintet" now. It's taking a lot longer than I had planned,
> but it will look a lot better, when it's done. It was WAY
> too small of a print size before, so now I have enlarged
> it, and have to do so for 5 movements in the Full Score,
> Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, Horn in F, Bassoon and op-
> tional Bb Bass Clarinet Part Books.
>=20
> (Since then I wrote a Flute Sonata that some people
> call the New Poulenc Sonata, because it's so lyrical.)
>=20
> I then did a number of brass works (Horn Concerto,
> Sonata for Horn and Piano, Sonata for Trumpet and
> Piano, some virtuoso unaccompanied pieces, etc.), and
> now have come back to woodwinds.
>=20
> Since December 2001 I wanted to go directly into
> work on the Sonata for Bb Clarinet and Piano, and
> Quintet for Bb Clarinet with violin, viola, cello, and
> string bass, but the intended dedicatee is swamped with
> other duties for the next few months.
>=20
> Then, here on the Klarinet List, you guys got to
> talking about different scorings of Trios. Therefore I
> got interested in the idea and quickly wrote this:
>=20
> "Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Bb Clarinet"
> (Jan. 2002, 5 mvts., 15 min.)
> (Composed from December 30, 2001 to January 12,
> 2002.)
>=20
> I Vivace 3' 10"
> II Andante: Fugue 3' 40"
> III Pastorale 2' 10"
> IV Adagio: Aria 3' 25"
> V Capriccio 2' 40"
> total: 15' 05"
>=20
> The Second Movement of the Trio is a genuine
> Fugue, in 7/8 Meter. I've already had an Oboist friend
> in the Tucson Symphony look through it. She will not
> have the time to play through it for a few weeks, but
> she says this whole Trio is "Stravinsky Hard", as far
> as fingerings goes, but the Breathability is "OK", and
> the ranges are "conservative".
>=20
> In this Trio, the Flute rarely goes down as low as the
> E above Middle C, and rarely as high as the G, 4 lines
> above the Treble Clef. The Oboe rarely goes down as
> low as the D above Middle C, and rarely up to the D, 2
> lines above the Treble Clef. The Bb Clarinet is usually
> in the Low Range, but in a few spots goes up to the C
> and E, 2 and 3 lines above the Treble Clef.
>=20
> Then, somehow, I got fixated on the idea of writing
> a large Duo for winds. On the several Brass Instrument
> Lists, they keep asking for Duos, but instead I kept
> thinking of the Shostakovich use of 2 Bassoons.
>=20
> (Do any of you know the Shostakovich "Second
> Cello Concerto"? He scored it for a large orchestra, but
> usually only uses One or Two instruments against the
> Solo Cello, in duos and trios with: the Bass Drum, Flute
> and Harp, 2 Horns (in a series of really neat, snarling
> "rips" and fanfares), and 2 Bassoons! The 2 Bassoons
> have an energetic passage of rapid figures, that outline
> chords accompanying the Solo Cello, in parallel Thirds
> and Fourths. They sound like a frantic Quack Attack,
> but it's a very fun spot in this work, and inspired
> phrases in the first movement of the resulting duo.)
>=20
> "Suite for Two Bassoons" ("Duo Suite")
> (Jan. 2002, 5 mvts., 18 min.)
> (Composed from January 13 to January 25, 2002.)
> (to be transcribed for 2 Bb Bass Clarinets, 2 Bb
> Soprano Clarinets, 2 Celli and 2 Viole.)
>=20
> I Vivace Serioso 1' 55"
> II Andante 2' 25"
> III Scherzo - Salsa - Salsa 4' 40"
> IV Adagio 2' 00"
> (Canon at the Major Seventh, in
> Retrograde-Inversion for the whole
> movement.)
> V Theme & 5 Variations 6' 48"
> total time: 17' 48"
>=20
> First of all, this is NOT a work, where the first player
> is the star and the second accompanies. No, no, no. In
> this work, one plays the Lead Melody for 2 to 4 bars,
> and then they switch. They therefore share the spotlight
> equally, and, in fact, the few highest notes are usually
> in the Second Bassoon, (which in the First Movement,
> is a brief Concert Cb in the Middle of the Treble Clef).
>=20
> Usually, the highest note in the entire Duo Suite, in
> the Bassoon Version is Concert A in the Middle of the
> Treble Clef, which will be Written a Major Ninth higher,
> as the B above the Treble Clef in the Bb Soprano Clar-
> inet Version.
>=20
> There are complex compositional devices in each
> movement of this Duo Suite. The First Movement is
> an ABA Coda Form, with a 12-Tone Melody (used
> ONLY as a melody) in the B Section. (Just to be clear,
> I NEVER did like, nor use 12-Tone Formulae. I
> always write in a Chromatic Modal System, but using
> a Fully Chromatic Melody, now and then, is OK.)
>=20
> The Middle Movement of the Duo Suite is a
> Scherzo in Changing Meters, with the Middle "Salsa"
> Section being the traditional 3+3+2 Meter. (Instead of
> a Scherzo-Trio-Scherzo in my Flute Sonata, I used a
> Flamenco-Salsa-Flamenco Form. That's when I found
> out that a "Salsa" is NOT just "1980's Tex-Mex Teen-
> ager Music", but rather is "an Afro-Cuban Dance
> Rhythm, that goes back as far as Spanish Colonial
> Time, and always has the 3+3+2 Meter"!) The use of
> Salsa Meter in this work, is also as much fun, as if was
> in the Flute Sonata.
>=20
> The Fourth Movement of the Duo Suite does some-
> thing completely RARE in all Music History! The
> upper instrument plays a Through-Composed Melody,
> which I then dropped down a Major Seventh, in Retro-
> grade Inversion (Backwards and Upside-Down) and
> wrote it out, as the Lower Instrument and Harmony
> to the Upper Instrument. (I did that for a 4-bar Phrase
> in the 4th Movement Fugue of my Trumpet Sonata,
> but to do it for an entire TWO Minute Movement, may
> be the First Time in All Music History, or at least, One
> of the Few!)
>=20
> I try to put similar, uniquely rare feats of counter-
> point in many of my works. Too many people assume
> that because I have a nickname like "Bear", and am
> still an "unknown" composer, that I write simple music.
> Actually, many scholars keep pointing out that these
> kinds of feats of counterpoint have led a few other
> 20th Century Composers to Pulitzer Prizes, and suggest
> that the same fate could await me.
>=20
> Many professional players, who only play Traditional
> Tonality (Popular) Music can not cut my music. (I have
> never written 12-Tone, but have also never stooped so
> far into the past, as to use a Key Signature. Let's face
> it. Many 20th Century Composer have never used a
> Key Signature, certainly not me; even though I know
> that Popular Music has never left 18th-Century-Based
> Tonality.)
>=20
> But if someone plays a lot of 20th Century Masters,
> then they can play my music. This is not ego, it's simply
> a fact of the style of difficulty of my writing. I'm am
> deeply touched by the kindness of some young players,
> who have written me, but I had been told that unless a
> clarinetist can cut the Nielsen Concerto, they won't
> have an easy time of my "Second Woodwind Quintet".
> I'd have to guess that the same holds true of these
> newer works.
>=20
> The Fifth Movement of the Duo Suite starts with
> a quirky, Allegretto, Prokofieff-styled Theme. The 5
> Variations are then slow, fast, slow, fast, slow, with a
> fast Coda. I hope it will be a valued work, but then
> only YOU performers have the true right to judge!
> Too many 20th Century Composers have written
> Complex Junk, that had all kinds of clever explana-
> tions, but had No MUSIC in their writings! The only
> way to keep from deluding myself in the same way,
> is to send a few free copies to some of you, and let
> YOU decide what to tell the Klarinet List!
>=20
> Meanwhile, we are having one of the coldest times
> in Tucson Weather History, where it has been snowing
> in the mountains around Arizona. We are a state with
> Hot, Low Deserts, and high mountains. We only get
> about 12 inches (30 cm) of rain a year, and are about
> 5 inches (13 cm) behind on rain in the last 12 months!
> It's gray and cloudy outside, and that only rarely hap-
> pens here! (As if right now, 2: 25 p.m., Wednesday,
> January 30, 2002, it's SNOWING in Tucson! It's not
> collecting on the ground, but at least it's falling as
> snow!)
>=20
> I gotta get back to other work. I hope this answers
> some questions. Right now, Dr. Kent Moore, the Bas-
> soon Professor at NAU, (Northern Arizona University),
> is looking over this Duo Suite that I wrote for him. As
> I get time in the coming days, I will be very happy to
> transpose, edit and mail off a few free copies of these
> new, difficult, works, because I want to see what you
> will think of them. (Which reminds me, could someone
> please E-Mail me a new Lobotomy!?! I'm long overdue
> for a new one!)
>=20
> Also, I'm having trouble with my Internet Connection,
> and could end up being off-line in the coming days. I
> will therefore include my phone number.
>=20
>=20
> Bear Woodson
> Composer, Tucson, Arizona, USA
>=20
> Please note that I have a back-up E-Mail Address at
> HotMail, in case "Home.Com" goes out of business.
> Please ONLY use my HotMail Address if your messages
> to "Home.Com" are returned to you, as I rarely check
> the HotMail account.
>=20
> "Bear" Thomas C. Woodson
> 3636 N. Campbell Ave.
> Apt. 3119
> Tucson, AZ, U. S. A.
> 8 5 7 1 9 - 1 5 4 5
>=20
> Home: 520 - 881 - 2558
> Voice-Mail and Digital Pager:
> 520 - 575 - 2077
> "Bear Woodson" <BearWoodson@-----.Com>
> "Bear Woodson" <BearWoodson@-----.Com>
>=20
>=20

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