Klarinet Archive - Posting 000785.txt from 2002/01

From: ClaireAnnette@-----. Wilson)
Subj: [kl] RE: Re: my Duo, Trio and 2nd WW Qnt.
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 13:45:14 -0500

Alexander, in the future, please, do not copy me emails of this nature, especially if you are plannig to use florid language, if you have comments such as that, you need to direct them to the individual in which it is intended, thank you.

Alexander Brash <mactrek@-----.com> wrote:

>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@-----. David
>> B. Niethamer" <DNietham@-----. Alexander Brash"
>> <MacTrek@-----. Thomas
>> Piercy" <TBPiercy@-----.
>> Brent Eresman" <BEresman@-----.Com>
>> Subject: my Duo, Trio and 2nd WW Qnt.
>>
>> Hello, Klarinet List, et al.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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, Konzertstücke and Full Concerti for each major
>> orchestral instrument.
>>
>> 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!
>>
>> 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.)
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> "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.)
>>
>> 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"
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> (Since then I wrote a Flute Sonata that some people
>> call the New Poulenc Sonata, because it's so lyrical.)
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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:
>>
>> "Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Bb Clarinet"
>> (Jan. 2002, 5 mvts., 15 min.)
>> (Composed from December 30, 2001 to January 12,
>> 2002.)
>>
>> 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"
>>
>> 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".
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> (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.)
>>
>> "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.)
>>
>> 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"
>>
>> 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).
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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.)
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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!)
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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.)
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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!
>>
>> 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!)
>>
>> 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!)
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>> Bear Woodson
>> Composer, Tucson, Arizona, USA
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> "Bear" Thomas C. Woodson
>> 3636 N. Campbell Ave.
>> Apt. 3119
>> Tucson, AZ, U. S. A.
>> 8 5 7 1 9 - 1 5 4 5
>>
>> Home: 520 - 881 - 2558
>> Voice-Mail and Digital Pager:
>> 520 - 575 - 2077
>> "Bear Woodson" <BearWoodson@-----.Com>
>> "Bear Woodson" <BearWoodson@-----.Com>
>>
>>
>
>
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