30.4.13

solo bang


Tomorrow evening, at 7:30 at the Recital Hall of the School of Music of the University of South Carolina (Columbia), my nephew, Gordon Hicken, will be giving the premiere performance of When Your Time is Orange, which I wrote for this occasion. The recital also includes music by JS Bach, Becker, Carter, Masson, Stevens, and Thomas.

If you're in the neighborhood, please drop in.

15.4.13

hear the bang


Phil Freeman has posted the recording of the first performance of my Percussion Concerto at Burning Ambulance. Thanks, also and again to Omar Carmenates (pictures), Leslie Hicken, and the Furman University Wind Ensemble for their fine performance.

8.4.13

southern expressive

Carlisle Floyd
Some thoughts on the Florida State Opera production of Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree (2000) I attended this weekend:

  • As is almost always the case, the production and performance were of as high a quality as one could hope for from a university opera company. These productions are mounted for academic credit and are given a fraction of the support given to many other activities that are, frankly speaking, not strictly related to a university's mission.
  • The renovated Ruby Diamond Concert Hall continues to amaze me with its sound, its appearance (more on that in a bit), and its comfort. Well done.
  • The warm colors of Lighting and Scenic Designer Peter Dean Beck's sets and lighting, along with Julia Bradley's costumes, fit so well with Diamond's wood trim and sky-painted walls it was as if the hall itself was an extension of the opera's setting.
  • The Opera Orchestra (conducted by Director of Opera Activities Douglas Fisher) sounded great, as did the singers, soloists and choristers alike.
  • Florida State Opera productions typically provide a visually dynamic theatrical experience. This is due, in large part, to Stage Director Matthew Lata's skill in handling movement on the stage, particularly the movements of groups of people--no "park and bark" here. Cold Sassy Tree did not provide opportunities for elaborate effects or stunning coups de theatre, but Lata's staging was compelling and eye-rewarding. Particularly expressive were a "declaration of love" scene at the end of Act Two and a robbery at the beginning of Act Three.
  • Floyd's music is melodic and sumptuous, though he (wisely, to my ear) eschews big song-like tunes in favor of expressively shaped lines that serve the dramatic shapes of the libretto. The score never resorts to Southern Eccentric cliche, and is beautifully and imaginatively orchestrated.
  • I was struck particularly, even awe-struck, if truth be told, by Floyd's storytelling mastery in this opera. I have not read Olive Ann Burns' 1984 novel, but I am given to understand that Floyd's scenario prunes away a good number of sub-plots and characters. What remains is a shapely story, which Floyd, setting his own libretto, paces with a sure hand. I recommend the study of this opera and libretto to anyone foolish enough who wishes to write an opera.
  • Finally, it was very moving to see the composer come on stage to the rapturous applause that greeted the end of the performance. It was a fine cap to a great evening in the theater.

3.4.13

his life on the plains

Lee Hyla
My review of Lee Hyla's new disc of music for small ensemble, My Life on the Plains, is up at Burning Ambulance.

An interview I did with Mr. Hyla a few years ago can be found here.

More later.

27.2.13

facing a blank

A terrifying sight!
Phil Freeman has graciously posted an article, "Facing a Blank", that originally appeared in Burning Ambulance #3. The article chronicles the composition of my Percussion Concerto, which premiered last week. I'll be revisiting this article in light of the changes made in the piece in the run-up to the performance, and I imagine that I'll be giving myself a thorough fisking in the days ahead.

Thanks again to Phil Freeman for his attention and support. Please give the entire site a good look.

25.2.13

after bang

Omar Carmenates playing the first movement of my Percussion Concerto, 22 Feb 2013.
Some thoughts on the premiere:

  • It was freakin' amazing!
  • Omar Carmenates is a beast. He took a very difficult solo part and made it look and sound easy. 
  • My brother, Furman Director of Bands Leslie Hicken, is a fine conductor and an even better teacher. He took a score that is way outside the Furman Wind Ensemble's normal stylistic milieu, and with a few simple words and by working over just the right passages, he got them to play with expression and power. I'm very proud of him.
  • And now the work starts again: making some adjustments in the score and parts and arranging further  performances.

20.2.13

bang 3: on-site

"Grids and Motors", mm 25-37

It's funny how things work out sometimes. (Original observation, I know.)

After arriving in Greenville, I was discussing the progress of rehearsals with my brother Les, who is conducting the premiere of the Percussion Concerto on Friday evening. He said that they had to cut the second movement, "Time's Arrow" for several logistical reasons. This development made me realize something I think I had known but had not articulated, even to myself: that "Time's Arrow", which was originally the last section of the finale ("Grids and Motors") needed to be excised from the Concerto altogether and given a different place, which place I'll be working on later.

So the Concerto is back to a two-movement work, which was the original conception. I'm looking forward to hearing it for the first time this afternoon.

18.2.13

recording: intertwining geometries

Intertwining Geometries, m 115

Phil Freeman has posted (over at Burning Ambulance) a recording of the premiere performance of Intertwining Geometries (alto flute and bass clarinet, 2012), played last summer in London by Carla Rees (a fl) and Sarah Watts (b cl). My thanks to Phil for posting it and renewed thanks to Carla and Sarah for their committed and expressive performance of the piece.

14.2.13

bang 2

"Time's Arrow", mm. 158-163 (upper winds)
My Percussion Concerto started out with three movements in the first draft. (Before the first draft, there were as many as 11 short, episodic sections.) When I finished the first draft, there were two movements. The current version, being premiered next Friday, 22 February in Greenville, South Carolina, by Omar Carmenates with the Furman University Wind Ensemble, Leslie Hicken, conducting, is in three movements:

I. Fields and Waves
II. Time's Arrow
III. Grids and Motors

I'm often struck, when working on a big piece (especially), how the piece changes during the composition process, and just as often, how the original conception remains in the work's DNA. The Percussion Concerto is about time, or rather about some of the various ways time (and its eternal companion, space) has been viewed from Einstein ("Time exists to keep everything from happening at once.") on: fields, waves, arrows  grids, and motors.

When I say a piece is "about" something, the scare quotes are honest. It's hard to say sometimes whether the metaphors or the music come first, or whether they generate each other.

12.2.13

bang

from "Fields and Waves",  m. 124-126
My Percussion Concerto is being premiered next Friday, 22 February by Omar Carmenates, with the Furman University Wind Ensemble, conducted by my brother, Leslie Hicken. The program also includes music by Michael Gandalfi, Roger Nixon, and H. Owen Reed.

I'll be blogging about this between now and then, including posts from Greenville next week. If there are any readers in the area I would love to see you there.

29.12.12

finished

There's a shaker in the piece, but not this kind.

I completed a piece for solo percussion today. It's called When Your Time Is Orange, and I wrote it for my nephew, Gordon Hicken, who will premiere it in the spring.

My works list at the top of the page has been updated.

3.12.12

anton webern

Webern in repose
A recent article in the Guardian features brief statements from a variety of musicians about their favorite piece of 20th century concert music. Characteristically, Alex Ross, whose The Rest is Noise inspired the festival that prompted the article, names Anton Webern's Six Pieces for Large Orchestra, Op.6 (1909). Ross cites "the first great sonic maelstrom in musical history" at the end of the fourth piece. Read the whole thing.

And while you're thinking of Webern, read Phil Freeman's post on Webern in commemoration of the composer's birthday. One of Burning Ambulance's central concerns is with jazz, and Phil relates some comments a jazz musician made to him about Webern's influence. Again, please read the whole thing.

7.11.12

elliott carter, 1908-2012

Leonard Bernstein (l) and Elliott Carter at a rehearsal for the premiere of Carter's Concerto for Orchestra (1970)
As I'm sure most of you know, composer Elliott Carter passed away this past Monday at a very young 103. I've written more about Carter over the years than about any other subject, I can't begin to express what his music and his example have meant to me over the years, but I'm going to continue to try.

In the meantime, Phil Freeman has posted a lengthy excerpt from an article of mine that appeared in Burning Ambulance. Please give it and the rest of the site a read.

19.9.12

more on tso i

Ruby Diamond Concert Hall at Florida State University; home of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra
Observations:

  • The transition to a new Music Director takes up the musical energy of an Orchestra the size of the TSO for three seasons: the last season of the old MD; the search season; and the first season of the new MD. I'm not saying that it's necessarily bad, just that it is.
  • I heard something in the Glass Concerto I had never heard before--the timpani being doubled by the orchestra on a clear melodic line. Very cool, with fancy footwork on the part of the timpanists.
  • I've heard the Copland Fanfare dozens of times, as player, conductor, and as audience member. It really is a great, stirring little piece.
  • I was too close (fifth row) to see the whole orchestra, but with Ruby Diamond's remodel, I felt like I could hear everything.
  • I know I focus on repertoire more than many listeners do, but I imagine some others are as curious as I am about the programming philosophies of the MD candidates. My understanding is that each of the five candidates submitted three programs for their audition, and the Orchestra administration or search committee selected one for performance. (By the way, the names of the members of the Committee were printed in the program. Accountability.) I wonder if the Orchestra might me convinced to release the submitted programs so we can get a larger picture of what these guys (all guys this time, unfortunately) want to play.
  • I don't like titled programs. Sorry.
  • But I do like programs where the pieces played together seem to be there for a reason. Just don't beat me over the head with a title, which usually doesn't really get at the connections in the music anyway.
  • I'm not sure what I think of things like numbers projected on the back wall to point you to a program note about the passage being played at the moment the number is being projected. If it was apparently random numbers or words pulled from nowhere, like "233" or "pie", I might be more enthusiastic.
  • I'm also not sure how I feel about live video projections of the conductor conducting. But they were easier to ignore than I thought they would be.



17.9.12

tallahassee symphony orchestra i

Igor Stravinsky in 1910
The Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra began its new season this past Saturday evening. Your humble blogger was there.

More comments on the concert and the Symphony's music director search as the week progresses.

The Orchestra is soliciting comments from audience members here

12.8.12

what stays with me: john cage


John Cage entered into silence twenty years ago today. Allan Kozinn of The New York Times has a fine appreciation here. My own take on 4'33" is here.

The picture above is from this excellent Cage resource.

2.8.12

from the desk . . .

The works list (linked above) is a little heavier today. I've added two new pieces: Intertwining Geometries, the premiere of which went off brilliantly, with Carla Rees and Sarah Watts making as good a case for a piece as a composer could want, and Anaphoric Geometries, a very short fanfare for 12-part brass choir.

I hope to be posting the recording of IG soon.

17.7.12

across the pond

My new piece for alto flute and bass clarinet, Intertwining Geometries, is getting its first performance this Friday evening, 20 July 2012. I wrote it for Carla Rees and Sarah Watts, who will be playing it on Friday, in London. Details here.