Symphony No 1 - Motorik
If I had the ability to compose, which I don't have in any shape or form, my first symphony would be titled "Motorik". Shortly after the opening bars which would be of conventional orchestration, there would initially be a soft underpinning of ongoing orchestration with a motorik beat via electronic tape. I am envisaging the standard orchestration throughout to be reasonably lush in an early 20th Century style but with significant elements of jazz like dissonance in places to create colour along with moments of stark percussion. The symphony would stand or fall in its ability to provide a coherent and complimentary contrast between that orchestration and the electronics. Essentially the two levels would weave in and out of each other so that variously the orchestration or the motorik tape would be to the fore in terms of volume.
But importantly the tape itself would not simply provide a pulse but it would in the first and third movements have a somewhat minimalist if layered and complex use of tuneful sounds. I'm thinking here of something like Neu!'s "Isi" or "Hallogallo" perhaps eliding into something like "Glassworks" though subtle and less strident than the latter work. My ace card in the pack is to have the orchestra and the tape essentially swapping roles in the second movement so that the conventional orchestration provides the motorik aspect while the tape provides hints or fragments of the conventional orchestration. Then in the fourth movement there are shifts back and forth in the two roles so that there is extensive weaving. I feel that the work does not naturally conclude in crescendo but rather a fading with a partial coming together in its resolution.
Symphony No 2 - "Seaside Postcard"
This starts with a music hall joke with the question and the answer sung by a large choir to the tune of something that sounds like a hymn. I haven't got any further with this concept yet. However, I will be taking it further as I am not convinced that concepts for composition and the detail of composition should as in the past always be in the hands of one person.
Do you agree with the latter statement and what would be your concepts?
If I had the ability to compose, which I don't have in any shape or form, my first symphony would be titled "Motorik". Shortly after the opening bars which would be of conventional orchestration, there would initially be a soft underpinning of ongoing orchestration with a motorik beat via electronic tape. I am envisaging the standard orchestration throughout to be reasonably lush in an early 20th Century style but with significant elements of jazz like dissonance in places to create colour along with moments of stark percussion. The symphony would stand or fall in its ability to provide a coherent and complimentary contrast between that orchestration and the electronics. Essentially the two levels would weave in and out of each other so that variously the orchestration or the motorik tape would be to the fore in terms of volume.
But importantly the tape itself would not simply provide a pulse but it would in the first and third movements have a somewhat minimalist if layered and complex use of tuneful sounds. I'm thinking here of something like Neu!'s "Isi" or "Hallogallo" perhaps eliding into something like "Glassworks" though subtle and less strident than the latter work. My ace card in the pack is to have the orchestra and the tape essentially swapping roles in the second movement so that the conventional orchestration provides the motorik aspect while the tape provides hints or fragments of the conventional orchestration. Then in the fourth movement there are shifts back and forth in the two roles so that there is extensive weaving. I feel that the work does not naturally conclude in crescendo but rather a fading with a partial coming together in its resolution.
Symphony No 2 - "Seaside Postcard"
This starts with a music hall joke with the question and the answer sung by a large choir to the tune of something that sounds like a hymn. I haven't got any further with this concept yet. However, I will be taking it further as I am not convinced that concepts for composition and the detail of composition should as in the past always be in the hands of one person.
Do you agree with the latter statement and what would be your concepts?