Not really making any progress on writing anything new, but I did manage to convert the second movement of The Desert to use the GPO sampler:
worked a bit on the quartet for the first time since last fall... hopefully i'll be able to finish it eventually... anyway, the current draft of the finale is here (i have a bit of web hosting space now, so i'll be updating that, instead of the mp3s posted on vox).
When it came to Beethoven's ninth, I have always been more impressed with the first movement than with the last. I would feel like turning it off right after the O Freunde... line, just before the main melody of the finale kicks in. Originally, I thought that it was just my prejudice for instrumental over vocal music. But then the instrumental variations on that theme in the finale to Brahms' first symphony don't move me that much, and Mahler's second symphony (with brilliant choral parts) does. So what gives? I figured that maybe there's something I'm missing in a casual listening that I could get with a bit more effort.
Which is where this book comes in. It isn't in-depth analysis (and it is a bit dated, seeing that Grove lived closer to Beethoven's time than to our own), but it is just at the level where you can sit down with a chapter, listen to a symphony (finger on the pause button), and get a better understanding of it by the time you're done.
So, having just finished the book, I think that I do have a better understanding of the finale of the ninth than before. I like more parts of it. I still don't like all of it: I think that the main theme by itself is pretty simplistic (doesn't stand on its own for my taste), and you're hit over the head with it for a while before the other themes kick in. But some of those later parts are really good, and I do understand more of what is going on in this movement having listened to it more deeply.
with an upgrade to the most recent version of firefox, i can now add audio to my post:
collections, too (although i don't really see the benefit over a simple link):
i had been using firefox 1.0.7, which was supposedly supported but not really. one problem that remains is that audio files are only playable from within the post if they are set to a large format:
not that easy to work with when you compose the post, and there's really no reason for it. does anyone really care about the speaker icon? and, if i ever went through the trouble of replacing it in the mp3 tags, does anyone really want to see a big picture of me instead? all you need is a play button and a stop button.
trust me, with some of these sketches, you need that stop button. ;-)
bottom line: the earlier problem was solved, with the friendly help of the vox folks who replied to my bug report.
vox won't let me add audio to a post, and the mp3 links in the previous
post will not be good once i update these files with newer stuff.
vox also won't let me add a collection to this post, but it does give
you a nice clean link for a collection. so, down with standalone
audio "assets", up with collections. and the one for the string
quartet is right here.
the overall structure of the string quartet is beginning to shape up. there are four movements:
the first movement will probably be derived from a piano sketch that i've had around for a while. the harmonic material there is pretty simple (mostly triads), which possibly works by itself but not in conjunction with the rest of the quartet. no audio yet, because the sketch is still for piano and not for string quartet.
the second movement (largo) is a plaintive sort of thing. i'm trying to get some romantic harmony going,which i've never done or even learned how to do before, so it's progressing pretty slowly. there's an audio file with some very incomplete sketches for the movement. i wouldn't recommend listening to it for enjoyment; i'm basically posting it in case anyone is curious about what this movement might sound like.
the third movement (scherzo) is by far the most complete of the quartet movements. not in final form but pretty close to it on the broad strokes. it is a lighthearted little thing, and people seem to like it. either that or they're just being polite... anyway, here it is.
today i started working on the fourth movement. probably more recognizably my style than any of the other movements. anyway, here is what i have thus far.
yes, in a limited way. mostly posting my music (work in progress,
sketches, whatever people want to listen to) and maybe discussing it a
bit. i'm guessing the audio sidebar should see as much action as
the main posting window. but, then again, you never know about
these things...
