Harp! See, turn all. and circle talk.
Uh, right. Went to see the Harvard on the Hill Choir concert tonight ("Harps Eternal", choral Americana). But before I get to that, I guess I should start at the beginning (it seems a very good place to start).
Began the day watching "The Illusionist." Good movie, but the downside to being a former Philip Glass nut is that any movie he scores (such as this one), is difficult to pay attention to because I keep hearing all the other pieces he reuses and trying to identify them (and being pissed off because there is nothing new). And really, when you own as much Philip Glass as I do (including the entire Qaatsi trilogy on dvd...I am a nerd) and it makes you angry, well, it just seems like a waste of money and time and..whatever. But that's not the point at all, moving on...
Then I made some vague and half-assed attempt to do something and be productive. Which, and it may seem obvious, failed miserably. Again, seemed to be due to a lack of ability to focus.
Met up with Hdez for some dinner and a concert. Found a nice little persian resturant with yummy food, and talked of composery things. And then the concert. It was good, performed well, Dr. James is just amazing and has done wonderful things for the choral department. Purely American works, although some of them did not sound that way (and now I understand why someone once told me that for a long time, American music was just several decades behind what Europe was doing). There were two pieces in particular I was interested to hear. One was a bit of a disappointment, I thought it was going to be more than a reharmonization. Not that it was a bad harmonization, I just thought it would be more (and it is one of those post-wtc attack extreme nationalist pride uber Americana things I am so over with). And the other, started out alright, but then went into straight what I thought it was going to be (think Danny Elfman-ish). I enjoyed the Whitacre because it's all warm and fuzzy tone clusters (I think I'm developing a thing for seconds).
Post-concert chat on the way home, completely depressing. I know it wasn't intended that way, just my mood, and the lack of productivity of late. Talk of how not to hang oneself with freedom...or was it not beat oneself up with a shovel? It seemed much clearer in the car. In any case, maybe it is not just a matter of "doing." Maybe I need to find some inspiriation, rip off something (which would, of course, require the "doing" of listening, reduction, transcribing, whatever. commence with more circular talk here).
Been reading Stravinsky's autobiography (what I do when I can't focus on anything else) and he talks a lot of orchestrating and doing piano reductions, of his own works and others. I guess I should probably do the same. and again with the "doing" issue. But I wonder if my problem with the orchestra piece is because I'm overwhelmed with all the instruments and possibilities? Or just an overall lack of inspiration musically? Would I be able to write something else more effectively? Somehow, I doubt it.
Began the day watching "The Illusionist." Good movie, but the downside to being a former Philip Glass nut is that any movie he scores (such as this one), is difficult to pay attention to because I keep hearing all the other pieces he reuses and trying to identify them (and being pissed off because there is nothing new). And really, when you own as much Philip Glass as I do (including the entire Qaatsi trilogy on dvd...I am a nerd) and it makes you angry, well, it just seems like a waste of money and time and..whatever. But that's not the point at all, moving on...
Then I made some vague and half-assed attempt to do something and be productive. Which, and it may seem obvious, failed miserably. Again, seemed to be due to a lack of ability to focus.
Met up with Hdez for some dinner and a concert. Found a nice little persian resturant with yummy food, and talked of composery things. And then the concert. It was good, performed well, Dr. James is just amazing and has done wonderful things for the choral department. Purely American works, although some of them did not sound that way (and now I understand why someone once told me that for a long time, American music was just several decades behind what Europe was doing). There were two pieces in particular I was interested to hear. One was a bit of a disappointment, I thought it was going to be more than a reharmonization. Not that it was a bad harmonization, I just thought it would be more (and it is one of those post-wtc attack extreme nationalist pride uber Americana things I am so over with). And the other, started out alright, but then went into straight what I thought it was going to be (think Danny Elfman-ish). I enjoyed the Whitacre because it's all warm and fuzzy tone clusters (I think I'm developing a thing for seconds).
Post-concert chat on the way home, completely depressing. I know it wasn't intended that way, just my mood, and the lack of productivity of late. Talk of how not to hang oneself with freedom...or was it not beat oneself up with a shovel? It seemed much clearer in the car. In any case, maybe it is not just a matter of "doing." Maybe I need to find some inspiriation, rip off something (which would, of course, require the "doing" of listening, reduction, transcribing, whatever. commence with more circular talk here).
Been reading Stravinsky's autobiography (what I do when I can't focus on anything else) and he talks a lot of orchestrating and doing piano reductions, of his own works and others. I guess I should probably do the same. and again with the "doing" issue. But I wonder if my problem with the orchestra piece is because I'm overwhelmed with all the instruments and possibilities? Or just an overall lack of inspiration musically? Would I be able to write something else more effectively? Somehow, I doubt it.
posted by Jessica at
11:36 PM
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