Hello Everyone,

Today we’re going to talk about my composing dichotomy.

noun, plural -mies.

2.division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups: a dichotomy between thought and action.

But first, some brief background to explain why I’m going into this:

As you all know, my collaborations with Dr. Benoit Granier and TIMI were the impetus and inspiration for my Con Edison/Exploring the Metropolis Composer Residency. Well, as it turns out, Benoit is working with the computer company Leonovo on a NYC project; he invited me to be a collaborator. The concert project–which should be held at the Soho Gallery for Digital Art on November 20–will feature a new work for me on saxophone plus guzheng and three cell phones live processed through laptops. The rest of the concert will be split between Benoit’s and my music. In honor of this event, I decided to write a new piece.

Here’s the dichotomy:

Being a composer/performer, I am referring now only to works I write for myself or ensembles I am playing in, not pieces for others or by commission. My compositions seem to fall into one of two categories, and this seems to be determined–and this hit me like in the last 48 hours–by what instrument I am playing. If I am playing clarinet, my pieces are very lyrical and tonal/modal; they also are firmly in the classical realm in-so-far as structure and being through-composed. My works such as Three Graces for Clarinet Solo, Gymnopaedia, Moonlight of Lost Dreams, and even the new Autumn Yearning that I am composing at this residency, fall completely into this category. Very conservative; very ‘classical.’ If I am playing flute or saxophone, the music is very indeterminate, improvisatory, more experimental. I use graphic notation (sketching gestures, symbols, text, geometric shapes, etc.) instead of standard music notation. These pieces have rather specific structures, but vary from performance to performance in-so-far as exact timing and content. Pieces like all three of my Interludes, …no longer to his father…, In Celebration of Sunrise, Paleo-Rock, the pre-recording ‘score’ of Corpus Apparatus, and my entire third CD, Sfumato, fall into this category.

So, in many ways, I have two rather distinct–and in many more ways, opposing–voices. Hmmmm…

I really don’t know why I do this. It’s funny: most US audiences (read: conservative) really like the more classical/lyrical pieces. I also am very aware that many boards and grant committees that do not include all composers tend to prefer such works (again, I’m amazed by the conservative nature of most visual, writing, and theater artists; it’s not a bad thing, just always surprises me). European and NYC audiences (experimental, progressive) tend to prefer the latter works and my success over seas is centered around these.

Well, anyways…considering the fact that the China/Soho project (as I am now want to refer to it as) is an experimental/computer concert, I decided this weekend to write a new improvisatory piece for me on saxophone. When I say ‘write’ in this case, I really mean sketching out a diagrammed improvisation. The new work, Soho Sophisticate, will blend bebop and free jazz elements with distinctive references to Ellington and Beat poetry. It’s also a tad melancholy. Kind of has the ‘aging hipster’ vibe to it, not unlike Steely Dan’s Deacon Blues…

…but it fits the scene…

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One of the other things that happened this weekend was that I had lunch with another of the resident composers, Paul Yeon Lee, an excellent and passionate composer who’s powerful orchestra piece Echo of a Dream was just premiered by the American Composers Orchestra at this year’s SONIC Festival.

Our conversation, not surprisingly, centered around writing for orchestra.

Mainly, we were discussing how writing for orchestra has become a lost art–I agree with this sentiment–but it also brings up a major question: is the orchestra still relevant? Now…I could go on at length about the the fact that the symphony orchestra is a 19th-century vehicle that is long past its prime–I won’t (but I WILL some day)–but I will talk about it in relation to me and other composer/performers. My music–most especially my improvisational music–does not lend itself to orchestra. My teacher Chinary Ung always said don’t write for orchestra (or opera, for that matter) unless you have a performance; otherwise, it will sit gathering dust on your shelf. I took this to heart. Also, as someone who primarily writes for himself, solo works and chamber ensembles make the most sense. When I’ve wanted large forces, I’d use electronics/computer.

It’s interesting, I think that the level of performers, the advent of technology, and the new(-ish) phenomenon of the composer/performer (remember, after Liszt there was like a ninety-year gap before this came into vogue again) has made our choices for creative vehicles exponentially more interesting.

Ever time I think that it’s time to bite the bullet and write a major orchestral work, I stop and ask ‘why?’…all the pieces I write now get performed, a lot…

…of course, if someone ASKS for one, well, that’s a different story…

Until soon,

Demetrius

Well, it’s down on paper…

I went into this weekend hoping to get at least the final ‘B section’ of Autumn Yearning done, and maybe get through the conclusion within the next week or two. Instead, I was able to plow through and write 2 minutes of music each day to finish the piece–or, at least to get everything down on paper; there is still a great deal of editing to do, but at least pretty much all of the notes are there.

The editing is the impatient part…far less creative than composing, I now must “dot the ‘I’s’ and cross the ‘T’s'”…meaning that I have to add dynamics, phrase marks, articulations, maybe a measure or two to smooth things out in the transitions…stuff like that. In other words, I have to make it ‘performance ready’ and ensure there are no ‘inconsistencies’ in the score or parts. I mean, I know what I need to do, but it still will take a lot of time.

My hope is that we will start rehearsing the piece in the near future. It will be premiered on my Flushing Town Hall concert on February 18, 2012. If you recall, I wrote the piece for clarinet, viola, and piano, the same instrumentation for my Mozart concert at Cornelia Street Cafe in January with Alexandra Honigsberg and Jed Distler. It seemed logistically to make the most sense, plus I really like the instrumental combination.

There is an incredible feeling of both exhaustion and satisfaction after finishing a piece. Kind of like giving birth…although the fullest feeling of satisfaction won’t really occur until after the editing when it is ‘publication ready’; of course, the premiere will be pretty darn satisfying, as well.

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One of the other great accomplishments of the weekend here at the residency was the reformatting and posting/publishing of my ‘Compositions’ page on my website.

http://www.dspaneas.com/compositions/

I had this page originally organized by year, but the wonderful folks at DOTDOTDOTMUSIC who are helping me reconstruct my website and branding suggested that I list everything by genre, which admittedly makes far better sense.

It’s funny…I only have listed my ‘mature’ compositions, starting from 2004′s As If for choir and chamber ensemble. I consider this the first piece of my mid-career period, the piece where my concepts finally solidified…I was 35.

There was a period in my life where I stopped writing. I refer to this as my ‘Dark Ages’…before this were my ‘student’ pieces, the works I wrote while studying with John Heiss and Robert Ceely and Chinary Ung and in the years immediately afterwards. Then during my Dark Ages my writing exclusively consisted of being a professional arranger and orchestrator…I was a good one, I wrote many, many of these, but no real original music other than working out ideas on paper.

Major life changes led to a moment where the original music needed to pour out again–it had been years, more than 8–I was scared, I must admit…As If was my salvation, my Prometheus…the fire was brought back to me and I could then give it to others…it needed to happen, and in many ways, I am very happy it did in this way…ever since, my work has been constantly flowing, as you can see from my composition page…

I also was never ‘imprisoned’ by either getting a degree in composition or trying to make my living exclusively as one. I was free not to have to subscribe to a philosophy or school of thought, and my teachers never made follow them, but had me learn to develop my own sound. I am grateful for this freedom.

I now have to decide about the early works…I don’t want to be like Alan Hovhannes and destroy all of my earlier works. I have this fantasy of taking all of the early works out of storage–and there are quite a few–and update and edit them for future cataloging and publication. I mean, I still mostly ‘sound’ the same, although the craftsmanship is definitely at an exponentially higher level. I have stolen from myself quite a bit recently; works have been reborn in completely different forms and genres 20 years later, which has been quite fun. But I think it would be fun to rewrite some of the pieces to stand with the recent works. Of course, I’d get these weird copyright dates of like 1989/2012, but that would be fun, too–and there would be a story of how/where it came from.

Maybe I can get a composer residency to do this someday….

Until soon,

Demetrius

Greetings All,

As I begin to write this, it has occurred to me that I have reached the half-way point of my residency here at Flushing Town Hall. I am looking back on seven weeks of excellent experiences, both creative and social, and am pleased with the progress on my project(s); I am also looking ahead and thinking “I better step it up here…running out of time…more composing and less leisurely lunches of noodles and dumplings…”

Even so, the residency has been wonderful not just for composing, but also for other creative/artistic work, like practicing. Practicing is big…the one major advantage that this residency has is that I can practice ‘loudly’…I am not constrained by the noise ordinance codes of New York City apartments (where, truth be told, I have mastered the art of practicing as quietly as possible…) and can ‘wail’ to my heart’s content. As my many solo/chamber concerts approach over the horizon, I am very lucky to have this…

That being said, I did spend a lot of this weekend beginning to prepare for the above-mentioned concerts. The one with the most logistical issues is the Best Buddies Carnegie Hall Concert on November 10. I mean, even though last year’s concert had me both playing unaccompanied jazz and conducting the New York Chamber Vituosi and soloists, it was logistically easier than what potentially was in store for this year.

Conducting tenor Enrique Pina and The New York Chamber Virtuosi, Puccini; Carnegie Hall, October 6, 2010 Photo by Akabueze Kamau

You see, I have learned with age and experience to make things as easy as possible when it comes to performance logistics, mainly in regards to what instruments I am playing. Now…on this upcoming Best Buddies concert, I had composed a new work, Around Monk-night, and arranged Piazzolla’s Libertango (for me and Elaine); both for tenor sax. The wild card on this concert was the live debut of the William Susman OCTET, in which I am both the (only) reed player and also music director.

Bill is great. He is a wonderful composer and a close friend and I am always delighted to work with him. We have had many interesting and unique collaborations over the years, many of which I have played multiple instruments on. One of the pros and cons of being a multi-wind soloist is that sometimes folks want everything, and many times I am surrounded on-stage by many feet of plumbing. For Bill, I have used flute, alto flute, clarinet, and soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones (many at the same time). Other composers have also had me bring out the big guns (baritone sax and bass clarinet) as well (but don’t give Bill any ideas; he’s said about some of his pieces in the past “wouldn’t this sound great on bari…?” ) For this concert, I had no idea which instruments Bill would have me on, and I was a tad concerned with playing very intense ensemble music on one (or six…) instruments and switching to another instrument quickly to be the featured soloist. The big ‘S’ on my chest is a tad more faded than it was when I was 25…or more likely, I now realize the pitfalls of such situations…

Now, not knowing the program logistics added to my uneasiness. Would I have to play solo on jazz tenor sax and then immediately have to sit down and sound like a classical flutist? Or, would the ensemble be first and I would have to solo on a cold horn (not to mention a dry reed…)? How much time would there be (if any!) to warm-up whatever I was playing where and when?

And I’ll be honest here…I had no desire to carry my entire woodwind arsenal through the subways of NYC…this would be not only a logistical nightmare, but I’d probably in all seriousness strain a shoulder or back muscle; not good before a solo performance…I also probably wouldn’t attend the reception because I would have nowhere to put them all…

Well, this week we got the new music from Bill. Alto sax…only. “That’s it?” I mused. “No contra-alto clarinet, piccolo, or Egyptian nai flute?”

So I thought “well, that’s easy…I can do this on two horns: alto for the ensemble music, and tenor for my solo stuff…” But then “wait a minute; why am I bothering to make this even that difficult?” I mused…I muse a lot…”why don’t I just rewrite everything for alto and be done with it, and I won’t have to carry two horns through the subway? One horn, easy, done, goodbye.”

And that’s what I did. Even though I conceived of both the composition and the arrangement for tenor, I adapted them this weekend for alto. Admittedly, the pitch level is a little different than what I originally wanted, but that’s OK. Alto is my ‘touring horn’ because it’s the most flexible for the most situations…my ‘go to’ horn. It’s really funny, I have been using the same basic alto set-up for about 25 years; it’s easy, it’s simple, it works…the mouthpiece is nothing fancy or super expensive, just a store bought Meyer 5. Nice and flexible, all-purpose.

Everyone should be happy.

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The other task I undertook this weekend was to begin exploring the Uilleann (Irish) Pipes for my composition Roots Music. As of now, the exact line-up of Irish musicians for next March’s Beijing concert is still a tad up in the air, but I was guaranteed a piper…this pleases me, I really wanted a piper.

These pipes are really amazingly beautiful. It must be remembered that every culture at one time or another had some form of bagpipes, although the Scottish (Highland) pipes are far the most famous, and by far the loudest…The Irish pipes a much softer, and also extremely flexible and also, as I just found out, completely chromatic.

Here’s a little bit on the Irish pipes from the website http://www.cranfordpub.com/articles/Bagpipes.htm

The full set of Uillean pipes were designed as a mini-orchestra, complete with melody, chordal accompaniment and drones. A lever allows the drones to be switched on or off as desired, and the regulator work is an individual style-choice, ranging from rhythmic hits to full chords. Because the fingering proceeds from a closed system, a wide variety of style and ornamentation is possible, giving the player much discretion in how he/she interprets the music. Laments and slow airs are especially effective and demonstrate the mature player’s mastery of technique. A multitude of fingering options coupled with effects produced by lifting the chanter ‘off the knee’ allow a broad range of personal expression, a quality which is expected of the advanced player.

I will spend a considerable amount of time exploring this instrument since it will be, along with me, a major soloist for Roots Music. The fact that it does have a two-octave chromatic scale gives me a tremendous amount of flexibility–I was actually under the impression that is was primarily a mixolydian instrument like the Highland pipes. You learn something new and exciting everyday…

Speaking of which, I want to leave you with this incredible recording of the great Irish piper Seamus Ennis. As I said, this is an amazing instrument that I’m enjoying getting to know:

Until soon,

Demetrius

I’m a formal composer…

What I mean by this is not that I sit at my piano wearing a top hat, white tie, and tails…no, amazingly…it does mean, however, that I consider form and structure to be the basis of a composition. The idea of sitting at the piano/computer waiting for inspiration to strike like a blue lightening bolt from Heaven is anthema to what I consider the real merit and skill of a composer: his/her craft. I believe that in any situation, a professional composer should be able to create without being hampered–as odd as this sounds–by something so etherial as an inspired idea. In other words, one’s craft should be strong enough to create whatever architecture is needed to build the rest of the piece on; with structure comes the ‘mass’ to fill in the empty spaces. This is why before I start the actual note-writing process of any piece, I spend the proper time deciding on the overall structure–the architecture, the form–that the piece is going to take. I know where the climax points are and where the ebbs of intensity occur well before I begin. This way, I have goal points where the rest of the ‘music’ fills in the pathways and staircases to achieve. Otherwise, as far as I’m concerned, one is just flailing around without direction…

…this being said, I got a little unexpected arrival this weekend…

My goal this weekend was to get the rest of Autumn Yearning–the piece I’m writing for clarinet, viola, and piano based on the Chinese traditional song 妝臺秋思–down on paper. Now, by no means did this imply that I would finish this work; it did mean that I would have all of the material down so that I could edit and tweak and organize later: there is always a measure or two to be added, another counterline to edit, performance markings, something, but the main piece would be down.

This didn’t happen…

This piece has been a bit of an enigma. The original idea was to make a relatively simple transcription of 妝臺秋思 for western classical instruments. Sure, I’d add counterpoint and what not, but the nature of it would still be a transcription. If you remember from an earlier blog about my residency, this new piece took on a life of its own from the introduction I wrote to bring in the theme. From that, I new that I had to step back and create a different structure since the piece could potentially be much larger than originally planned….so I did…

The structure that I came up with was a ‘free sectional’ form that restated the original theme at the end: A-B-C-A. A is the first theme, B is a lyrical contrast, C is an area of instability which would eventually resolve back at A. I like forms like this that ’round back’ to the original theme. I’m also a big fan of classical rondos (A-B-A-C-A; A-B-A-C-A-B-A) and many of my pieces follow this structure. Even my large work Gymnopaedia does through its five movements (A-B-C-B-A). For you non-musicians, when the themes are restated later, they are not exact replicas, but in many ways changed dramatically…they have to evolve.

So…last week, I wrote down the C section of Autumn Yearning and this week was going to assault the summit, so to speak. “OK,” I thought, “now I’ll just write a brief, couple measure transition to move back to A; easy.” Wrong again, Boy Wonder…the transition started to develop…and it became it’s own theme…a D section…one I didn’t plan for…whoa…

But I really like it…well, like isn’t the word…I expected the C section to be the tension, but it’s not, the D section really brings this intensity, this pathos, to a new level…I am quite amazed how darkly intense this section is…where did it come from?

Inspiration, perhaps…?

Regardless, this, of course, means that I have to restructure the piece to compensate for the new section…oh, boy…an A-B-C-D-A form seems to be quite unbalanced, most especially since C is intense and D is just downright overwhelming…can’t just go home to A after *that*, can I?

What I believe makes the most sense is to transit from the D (the most dark section) to B (the most light and lyrical section) just to give the listener (and me, believe me) somewhere to ‘breathe’…*then* I move back to the A and end it. A-B-C-D-B-A. I think this’ll work…

…of course, maybe ‘inspiration’ has other ideas…we’ll find out this weekend…

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The other accomplishment of the weekend was that I arranged Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango for saxophone and piano, for me and Elaine Kwon to perform at the Best Buddies fundraiser at Carnegie Hall. This is always an amazing and special event, and I’m always delighted to be able to be a part of it. Plus last year, I got to hang out with Charles Grodin, which was a trip…

Until soon,

Demetrius

2011 Composer-in-Residence Demetrius Spaneas

We chatted over email with 2011 Composer-in-Residence Demetrius Spaneas. Demetrius talks about his inspirations for cultural diplomacy, memorable travel adventures, and upcoming projects.

You’ve traveled the world as a cultural diplomat. When did your interest in musical diplomacy begin? And how did you come to work with the US Department of State?

Coming of age and beginning to mature artistically at the end of the Cold War made me passionately interested in Eastern European and Central Asian cultures. The possibility of contact with countries and cultures that had been off-limits for so long had a huge impact on the direction of my creative work. Studying the traditional music of these cultures while in my 20s – beginning in the Balkans and moving eastward – I sought out teachers and traditional musicians to learn from and perform with. In my own work as composer and improviser, I began to adapt this traditional music and combine it with Western European and American forms. This blending and adaptation continues to be my main creative focus. I continually seek traditional musicians to improvise with, and together we create a dialogue using our own musical languages, finding common ground and understanding within melodies and phrases. In my work, musical dialogue leads directly to cultural understanding.

Cultural diplomacy is really an outgrowth of this process. Becoming interested in the cultures and music naturally led to an interest in the individual artists. People want to communicate. They want someone to listen to what they have to say. Cultural diplomacy, for lack of a better word, gives people an opportunity to create dialogue. Diplomacy is really dialogue. Stimulating conversation is the key to any type of collaborative process, be it political or artistic. I want to help people be heard and give their ideas a voice. This is what any individual really wants.

I started making cultural diplomacy the focus of my career in the mid-2000s, mostly due to connections with musicians/artists through social media sites, especially MySpace. It was through this networking that led to many opportunities overseas, including a 15-country Eurasian tour while living in St. Petersburg, Russia for one year. It was at this time that I started working with the US Embassies – first as a lecturer and performer on American music and culture in Russia, then at other locations in the former Soviet Union, where they helped support my collaborations with local cultural organizations.

As an active concert performer and lecturer abroad, what do you choose to highlight?

All of it. My career has evolved me into a composite musician: composer, performer, and educator.  I can’t do one without the other. And now I am expected to do all, usually at the same time!  Leonard Bernstein said that when he was with composers he was a conductor, and when he was with conductors he was a composer. My situation is similar (of course, I still actually want to grow up and BE Leonard Bernstein…).

What have been your most memorable moments in your travels?

Well, there are two parts to this. The first has been the uneasy and somewhat dangerous situations I have been in – political settings and natural disasters. In Uzbekistan, I was trailed all over the country by the NSS (former KGB) and barred from lecturing and performing at many locations. They also threatened teachers, students, and journalists with arrest if they were to work with me. The official line was fear of me starting a “democracy riot.” I’m glad they think that an American jazz musician can have such a societal impact! They even threatened The Samarqand College of Music with arrest of the entire faculty and school shut down if I stepped foot on the campus. In terms of natural disasters – ice storms at 12,000 feet in the Pamir Mountains, no water or electricity, flash flooding, my plane crashing on the runway (yes, that happened).

But…the other side of this has been seeing not only the great impact my presence has had on locals, but their immense kindness and hospitality toward a foreigner. People are people. And many in the former Soviet Union – most especially the Islamic countries – are kind, courteous, and treat strangers as guests. They want to talk to you and know everything about you. They know what you’ve accomplished by going to the opposite side of the world to visit them, and they are incredibly grateful. This kindness and willingness to share and communicate is what keeps me going.

How does being a composer in NYC differ from the other cities and countries you’ve worked in?

New York is magnificent. Simple. The resources of music and musicians are better here than anywhere else in the world. This is especially true as a composer. There are many, many musicians and ensembles who are interested in exploring new music. And these are wonderful musicians who could play anything they wanted, but they choose what’s new and relevant.  No other city has this, anywhere.

One of your upcoming projects is “Roots Music,” which incorporates Irish, Chinese, European classical and jazz musical traditions. Please explain how you conceived of this amazing mix.

I didn’t! The piece is a commission from the Beijing-based TIMI Modern Music Ensemble and their director Benoit Granier. I have collaborated with this ensemble in recent years as both performer and composer here in NYC, Boston, and Beijing. The ensemble one of the few new music ensembles in China. And as far as I know, they are the only ensemble dedicated to both new classical music and traditional Chinese music. For that purpose, the ensemble mixes western classical and traditional Chinese instruments. In “Roots Music,” I will combine these two styles with American jazz – meaning me as “jazz” saxophone soloist – along with traditional Irish musicians who will be in Beijing collaborating with TIMI for the Beijing Irish Modern Music Festival in March 2012 (yes, it exists…).  My idea for the piece is to take traditional/folk music from each culture (such as Blues and Spirituals from America) and blend them into a large concert piece.  The work will not be a pastiche of styles, but a true blend in which they complement each other. The term “roots music” means music indigenous to a specific group or culture. Much of our roots music is very similar in the deepest layer. It is another way in which we are all connected.

For your Con Edison Musicians’ Residency at Flushing Town Hall, what do you hope to accomplish?

The main goal of my residency is to research and explore the music and traditions that I will incorporate into “Roots Music.” Needless to say, Chinese culture is very important to the makeup of Flushing, which makes it a perfect place to immerse myself into Chinese music and culture. I have been researching Chinese music and poetry styles, as well as mastering the Chinese dizi flute (I have a large collection of world music flutes). I have begun to meet with and play with local traditional musicians and educators, and will be exploring collaborations with them as well.

I am also composing another work for classical instruments (clarinet, viola, and piano) entitled “Autumn Yearning” that is based on the traditional Chinese music that I have researched. This piece, along with other works, including a possible collaboration with Chinese musicians, will be performed at my Con Edison Residency concert on February 18, 2012.

Any more travel plans?

Well, I will be in China for the premiere of “Roots Music” in March. I also have a premiere in Italy of my work “Love Letters in the Ether.”  It’s being scheduled for the spring by the Rome-based new music ensemble Piccola Accademia degli Specchi.  A concert or two in Russia is also in the works for 2012.

What’s next?

In November, I will appear as soloist and will also have a premiere in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.  My work for solo saxophone - played by me – is called “Around Monk-night” and is an improvised-sounding toccata based on Thelonius Monk’s famous “‘Round Midnight.”  This event will be a benefit concert created by pianist Elaine Kwon for the charity Best Buddies. In December, I will be performing a solo/duo concert of my music for Composers Collaborative’s Serial Underground concert series at the Cornelia Street Cafe. I will be joined by CCi’s Artistic Director, the great pianist Jed Distler, for the premiere of two works that evening, ”The Love We Made” and “Giuffre Sketches,” the latter a tribute to my former teacher, the late Jimmy Giuffre.

To keep up with Demetrius, check out his website and blog.

Please visit Exploring the Metropolis

Hello All,

So, here’s an interesting thought: I just spent two days at my composer residency and didn’t write a note of original music. It wasn’t writer’s block, believe me–I don’t believe in writer’s block because I believe that a professional composer relies upon craft and technique far more than any ethereal concept of ‘inspiration’…not trying to sound cynical, but really, do instrumentalists suddenly have a block and can’t practice or perform? No. They may not be in ‘the zone,’ so to speak, but their technique and experience can always compensate, period.

For me, however, this was a weekend of exploration. Having to consider how all of the varied aspects of Roots Music (Chinese, Classical, Jazz, Irish) will fit together, I began exploring some American roots music, most especially Blues. Blues is wonderful…it is so simple yet at the same time filled with the infinite variety of creativity. I don’t know any other art form that can create so much variety from such limited material. Having my saxophone on Thursday (which was my first day at the residency this week do to a schedule change) instead of the Chinese and European flutes allowed me more freedom in my exploration of Blues; remember that the ‘American’ part of this piece will be on saxophone, and more than likely derived from Blues, Gospel, and/or Spiritual rather than Jazz. I need to find American music that will both blend and contrast with the Chinese…complimentary, but not completely harmonious. This is tricky…the piece, if I’m not careful, could fall into ‘camp’…there is already plenty of ethnic-music camp out there in the ether; I need to create something that doesn’t only borrow and patch together, but achieves unity both aesthetically and spiritual with respect to all cultures involved. A tall order…

For this reason, I have connected with a well-respected Chinese musician and educator, Dr. Hsing-Lee Chou, who teaches Chinese culture at CUNY. We met today for an extended period and spoke about my project and my artistic goals for wanting to speak with him. We had a wonderful conversation, getting to know each other and our musical heritages. The conversation morphed into a lecture (fine by me!) on Chinese poetry and music, comparing and contrasting the different dynasties and how music and poetry (which should be considered one and the same, not unlike in Ancient Greece!) evolved over the centuries.

Then, we decided to play to see what our communication was. I had my alto flute, so I began to improvise; he came in with a Sung Dynasty poem, following my lead and musical contours. It was lovely. We then tried again with me playing piano (mostly inside the piano, mind you) with the same poem done differently; again success. I came to find out that he is actually very well known performer in Taiwan, but hasn’t done anything here in NYC, where is known primarily as an educator. I suggested the idea that he join me on my Flushing Town Hall concert on February 18th. We agreed to see what we could do by playing more together over the coming months. I think that a music/poetry improvisation would balance my other music, especially Autumn Yearning, beautifully.

Interestingly enough, at that moment, a group from the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society/Global Family for Love and Peace, that Dr. Chou has been helping, arrived at Flushing Town Hall; they are organizing an Interfaith Prayer and Cultural Performance for Love and Peace here next week. Dr. Chou spent some time speaking with them, in particularly the director, the Venerable Guang-Gou from Taiwan. They asked about my project and interest in Chinese culture and traditional music, then asked if Dr. Chou and I would perform a little for them, which we gladly did. I must admit, we performed well…the same poem (sung, with movement), again with alto flute, but with a different aesthetic this time.

After we finished, the committee was rather impressed how we combined the Chinese traditional poetry with my rather modern and experimental flute playing. They asked if I’d be interested to collaborate with them on some musical/artistic projects in the coming year, including in NYC, Chicago, and perhaps Taiwan…I of course said yes. Their mission of world peace through culture is in tandem with mine and my cultural diplomacy projects…just like improvising a musical performance, let’s see how we communicate and watch what happens next…

Until soon,

Demetrius

Hello and welcome to blog #4!

I have to begin with by saying that my work-in-progress Autumn Yearning has taken shape. As I mentioned last time, what I expected to be a short almost transcription of the traditional song 妝臺秋思 has evolved into a medium-sized chamber piece. I decided last week before I began (I always begin with form/structure, remember…if you don’t have this figured out beforehand, all you’re doing is flailing around and wasting everyone’s time…) that the piece would be in an A-B-C-A’ form.

Last week began with the creation of an introduction which lead into the first statement of the 妝臺秋思 melody. I kept this in a minor/modal (related) centric context (with well-placed chromatic pitches, of course). This transited to the B section which was more in a major/modal (related) realm. amazingly, the A section is almost entirely based on the antecedent phrase of the first statement, while the B is based on the consequent phrase. Very limited material can be developed in many, many ways.

This weekend was a focus on the C section. What I wanted here was a tension-filled area of instability and stress, not unlike–if I may so bold as to say–an evocation of a storm. I try not to write literal music…I don’t really like music that describes a scene. Now, considering my somewhat Existential titles, I obviously don’t write completely objective music, but I do focus more on ‘etherials’ rather than ‘realism,’ if that makes sense. I like implication of thought and feeling. This was my intention with this section: more of an emotional storm rather than a literal one. I mean, we are speaking about yearning, a very powerful and primal feeling…one that calls into questions the nature and life-quality of one’s Existential being.

And speaking of Existential angst, I also decided this weekend to create a leadsheet for my piece The Love We Made (*there’s* a good example of one of my titles for you…). You will recall, dearest readers, that I composed this piece over the summer at ARTErra in Portugal. It’s basically a jazz ballad, falling somewhere between Weather Report and Styx. I originally conceived this for a ‘classic’ jazz quartet of tenor sax, piano, bass, and drums (and arranged it this way), but have decided that it will have other incarnations, as well. The main one will be for my concert for Serial Underground on December 4th at Cornelia Street Cafe. My thought is to play a more free version of this with Serial Underground’s host and downtown piano maven Jed Distler. I think a freer version of this, being able to play off each other out of time, may be it’s best incarnation…we will see…

I also spent some time listening to tangos. I need to decide on one (or more) to arrange and play with the wonderful Elaine Kwon for the Best Buddies Fund Raiser in Carnegie Hall. I of course gravitated towards my favorites, like Piazzolla’s Oblivion, which I usually play solo with orchestra (on soprano sax with strings). I’ve asked some friends to suggest others…there are so many wonderful, wonderful tangos to chose from…it’s going to be difficult.

The only negative this weekend was that the nasty weather made my meeting with Dr. Chou not occur. He was delayed Upstate due to rain-caused delays. We have rescheduled for next week.

Oh, and before I forget to mention it, my concert where we will premiere Autumn Yearning had been scheduled for 2PM, February 18, 2012 at Flushing Town Hall.

Until next!

Demetrius

Flushing Town Hall Workspace

Hello All,

Welcome to blog #3 on my Residency.

So, this weekend I decided to approach things from a different direction.

For the past two weeks, I have been researching ‘source material’ for Roots Music, the major work which I’m focusing on for this residency. I spent a great deal of the first two weeks listening to traditional Chinese music and instruments (and some traditional American as well, if you recall). I found a lovely traditional piece entitled 妝臺秋思, which roughly translates as ‘missing hometown in autumn’ (and there are numerous variations on this title). I spent much of the second week playing with this melody; harmonizing it in different ways, even improvising on the melodic material to see all of the possibilities. By this third week, it was time to try something.

Now…for this residency, I must present a lecture and/or concert on what I have been doing and what I have accomplished. The massive scope of Roots Music makes it logistically very difficult to present: hiring a dozen musicians from four traditions (and raising money to do so) who all are comfortable with western musical notation and organizing rehearsals seems to me a major nightmare. So…what I decided to do is to create a separate piece that I could perform at Flushing Town Hall that is greatly related to Roots Music, but is much easier to produce on a concert.

Now…in January 2012, I (on clarinet) along with pianist Jed Distler and violist Alexandra Honigsberg, will be performing Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio for that same instrumentation at the lovely Cornelia Street Cafe (we’ll be calling ourselves ‘Wolf’s Gang’…I like it). Since my Flushing Town Hall concert will be in the late winter, I decided to write the other work for the same instrumentation; I also decided to call it Autumn Yearning since I will be basing it on the traditional melody mentioned above.

Now…going into it, I was thinking that I would just take and rescore the traditional melody for these instruments pretty much from A to Z. Perhaps add some moving contrapuntal lines, but mostly keep it unison (or heterophonic) with maybe some harmonic accompaniment…

…that didn’t happen…

Instead, I sat at the lovely Steinway baby grand in my workspace and started to play around. I started taking ideas and motives from the melody and developing them. I created a ground bass with a repetitive harmonic accompaniment and varied the melodic material over this…basically a chaconne. Staying in a more modal and pentatonic realm, I wrote over three minutes of music on Friday. I had to leave early to get to Manhattan to record for William Susman’s OCTET (which is always fun), but that was OK since I probably had drained my creative energies for the day and was more than happy to focus on someone else’s music.

Now…on the next day the music evolved towards a different direction. What began as modal/pentatonic starting moving (via transition, mind you…I’m so characteristically Neoclassical at times…Mozart would be so proud…as would Stravinsky, actually) to a tonal (real tonal: major/minor) center. This became my ‘B’ section: a different take on the melody with very different harmonic material (I’ve played with going back and forth between modality and tonality a lot, most recently in my choir piece Smile, for your Lover comes–I like it).

On Saturday, I wrote over two minutes, which puts this piece now just under six minutes. I foresee two more sections, so this work has not only taken on a life of its own, but is evolving into a large work…cool…

Let’s see where she goes.

The other event that happened at Flushing Town Hall this weekend was that I was introduced to one Dr. Hsing-Lih Chou, a local and highly respected traditional Chinese musician and educator. He is very interested in my project. We are meeting this coming weekend to discus about traditional music and local musicians with whom I can work with, as well as to talk about the possibilities of the two of us creating a project together–something for my Flushing Town Hall concert and beyond, perhaps.

Shoot for the moon, Baby. Let’s see where this takes me.

Until next time,

Demetrius

Dear All,

It is with great pleasure that I announce that I am a recipient of the ASCAPlus Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).

This award recognizes composers whose performances are primarily in venues not surveyed by ASCAP; and/or writer members whose catalogs have prestige value for which they would not otherwise be compensated.

This award is a wonderful opportunity for those of us who work in contemporary music genres that have many of our performances in alternative spaces, and countries that are not surveyed by ASCAP or may not follow international copyright law.

I am most grateful because this is the third consecutive year that I have received this honor. I wish to thank ASCAP and the Concert Division Board for recognizing my work.

And thank you all again for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Demetrius

Hi All,

Welcome to part 2 of my Residency Blog.

On the last blogs relating to my Fall 2011 Composition Residency, I had been using the term ‘source material’ rather frequently. Mainly, what I would like to do today is explain what I mean by this and also to describe what I plan to do with my source material for this project.

In the last year or so, I’ve been exploring the idea of taking pre-existing musical material and using it for a basis of composing. Now, this should not be confused with an arrangement or other such literal adaptation. The source material in some of my recent works may be recognizable within the overall texture and structure, but it’s *never* fully stated. Mainly I use fragments to evoke a very specific psycho-emotional response. If I may be as so bold to say, I’m approaching this material in a very Ivesian sort of way.

I think it may be prudent to restate here that Charles Ives is the reason that I became interested in contemporary music. My freshman year at the New England Conservatory held many unique surprises, but none like that of encountering Ives for the first time; it was his Putnam’s Camp, Redding, Connecticut from Three Place in New England. A powerful combination of the music, New England spirit and Transcendentalist bent hit me hard, real hard…I haven’t recovered, thankfully.

[Note: here is a list of the pieces that Ives quotes in this movement: The British Grenadiers; Marching Through Georgia; The Girl I Left Behind; Arkansas Traveler; Massa’s in de Cold Ground; The Battle Cry of Freedom; Yankee Doodle, Columbia, Gem of the Ocean; Hail, Columbia;Tramp, Tramp, Tramp]

Actually, in many of my younger (we’ll call it my ‘early career’) works I experimented with this idea, but had left it mostly in the last decade and a half. I’m actually not sure why the idea has begun to interest me again. Granted, I’ve had many pieces that were ‘influenced’ by other works, naturally, but not where I took recognizable material.

My two most recent works that utilize source material are Giuffre Sketches (2010, to be premiered in December at the Composers Collaborative, inc. Serial Underground Series at Cornelia Street Cafe) and Around Monk-night (2011, to premiered in November at the Best Buddies Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall). Giuffre Sketches–dedicated to the memory of my former teacher Jimmy Giuffre–takes a number of Giuffre’s compositions, as well as Jimmy Van Husen’s Darn That Dream, and interweaves them within and throughout the structure, both homophonically and polyphonically (Jimmy may have gotten a kick out of fragments from his jazz compositions used as fugue statements). The tunes will be momentarily recognizable before evolving into something new. Around Monk-night is, obviously, based on Thelonius Monk’s ‘Round Midnight. The source material here becomes the basis–at times very loosely–for a ‘written improvisation’ that constantly evolves far away from the source melodically and harmonically.

Over this weekend, I started exploring what I could do with the piece 妝臺秋思 that I found last week. What I mainly explored was different possible harmonic settings, basically adding–and do forgive me for this–’Spaneasian’ harmonies. What I mean is, I can’t just state the melody, that would be not only derivative, but downright boring. I have to explore the motivic possibilities throughout the structure of the original, and then ‘set’ my source material (derived from these possibilities) to create a unique composition that sounds like, well, me.

I also must state that I am in fact really composing TWO pieces from this same source material: Roots Music, for Beijing in March 2012, and another (which I may entitle Autumn Yearning) for a much smaller ensemble for my Residency concert in (probably) February 2012 at Flushing Town Hall. The pieces, however, will be rather different from each other.

So, this weekend I explored settings. Considering the impetus behind Roots Music, what I must do is to come up with harmonic settings that fit not only the Chinese music, but also traditional Irish and American music. I ended up working out three very interesting settings on Friday, so I’m very pleased. I then chose on Saturday to explore possible ‘American’ music to pair this with. The commission from the TIMI Ensemble implied ‘jazz,’ but I am leaning more towards hymns and spirituals that I can add ‘jazzisms’ to. I spent Saturday going through Protestant hymns and Negro spirituals. I don’t want to use anything *so* popular for the fear of becoming kitsch, but it has to be instantly recognizable in the style.

This will be the challenge for the next week.

I am also still waiting to hear what the exact instrumentation of the traditional Irish musicians will be. This won’t–shouldn’t–effect things too much. But I’ll wait to explore that traditions music until I know where I’m going.

Thank you again for reading.

Until soon,

Demetrius