Ofc hours
Mon 10-11
Th 3-4

Listen to tracks 1-14 of the study CD. Read Michael Torke's Composer Note for The Yellow Pages (1985).
Write a one- to two-page essay about your aspirations as a composer, your initial vision for your composer-organized ensemble composition, and how this vision relates to your background, previous compositions, and aspirations.

Continue marking up the score of The Yellow Pages (1985):
• identify any unfamiliar notations using sources such as the Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary, Gardner Read's Music Notation: a Manual of Modern Practice (RESERVE MT35.R253 M9 1969), Kurt Stone's Music Notation in the Twentieth Century (REFMT35 .S87), or The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (REF ML100 .N48 2001).
• mark major points of change and indicate what elements change and stay the same at those points
• identify in detail the way the harmony, rhythm, motives, and texture develop from m. 39 to m. 90.
• How does the harmony develop from m. 5 to 38?
• How does the violin part develop between mm. 4 and 38?
• How do the flute and clarinet parts develop between mm. 7 and 38?

Composition lessons:8 Nick Liebman 8:20 Richard West 8:40 Ari Hart 9 Ben Hanes 9:20 Pete Pennington 9:40 Jackie Puretz 11 Nick Malinowski

7

Five- to ten-minute composer presentations (verbal program notes) on eighth blackbird compositions: Ben Hanes, Ari Hart, Nick Liebman, Nick Malinowski. Listen to the spoken intro to Fast Track given by Jon Chenette at a concert in 2000 for an example of what you might cover; or go to the Fast Track Web page to see the artwork while listening to the spoken intro.

23 (Sun.)
2 PM
S-L Hall

Composer-organized ensemble composition due. Target duration 5-10 minutes. Compose for a soloist or ensemble of up to three musicians whom you have contacted in advance and who agree to work with you and perform your piece on the April 30 concert. The performers must be either Grinnell College Applied Music Associates from the approved list handed out in class or other musicians (advanced students or professionals) approved by the instructor before you contact them. Provided you submit a proposal that receives at least 80 points on the 120 point Iowa Arts Council Artist Project Grant scale, you will have available $150 for hiring AMA/professional musicians, with the money to be divided equally among the members of your ensemble; student performers will not be paid. You should use your performer(s) as a resource during the composition process:

• invite them early on to inform you about the technical strengths and limitations of their instruments
• have them suggest contemporary compositions for their instruments to serve as models for you to study
• contact them when you have questions about notation or technique that can't be answered with the orchestration text on reserve or other resources
• have them play through sketches and give you feedback, if they are willing

You will be responsible for setting up a rehearsal schedule for your ensemble for the month of April and being present to give feedback at rehearsals when the performers desire.

Write me a letter covering these points and telling me anything else you would like to cover as part of a self-appraisal of your work and results on the most recent composition:

• In working on the previous composition, how important were each of the following activities to your compositional process?:
  • coming up with the idea and a large-scale vision of the music
  • collaborating with your performers (discussing the capabilities of their instruments or voices, talking about model compositions for their instruments or voices, having them play through sketches and give feedback)
  • listening to and studying recordings and scores of model compositions
  • reading about notational practices and capabilities of your instruments in orchestration books, Music Engraving Today, etc.
  • composing o revising and editing
  • proofreading and improving notation
  • singing or playing through parts of your music to see how they sounded and felt
  • reading, reflecting, meditating, absorbing inspiration and influences
  • other composition-related activities (and what were they?)
• Which of the above activities do you think warranted more or less attention than you devoted to them on the most recent composition, and why?
• What were you happiest with about the most recent composition?
• What would you most like to have improved about the most recent composition?
• What would you like to focus on improving in the next composition?

Submit a proposal for a composition for soloist, small ensemble, or choir, minimum duration 6 minutes, based on the "Roots of Renewal" theme (see below) OR created for an ensemble whose director confirms to you his or her willingness to consider the music for performance OR conceived for a composer opportunity identified from among those published at sites such as the American Composers Forum's opportunities list or posted on the walls of the music seminar room. Any such opportunity should have a deadline after the composition due date of May 9. Your proposal should address the following:

• The ensemble or opportunity for which you are composing the piece
• What drew you to this particular project
• Your initial vision of the piece, including its instrumentation, approximate duration, number of movements, general style, and inspiration
• How you imagine this composition resembling or differing from other music you have composed thus far.
• A bibliography of musical scores and recordings that you intend to study as you work on your music, with at least five different works that are related to your piece in some way (similar ensemble, similar vision, etc.) Explain how each is related, and give library call numbers or information on how you will obtain the material.
• An approximate timeline for completion of phases of your work on this project between now and May 9.

To locate items for your bibliography, try a keyword search in the Burling catalog, entering the names of the instruments you are interested in separated by AND and setting the year to after 1950, etc. Read the instructions for word searching at the bottom of the page if you've never done so before. You'll discover, for instance, that you get different results by typing in "violin clarinet piano" than you do by typing "violin AND clarinet AND piano." Another source for scores to study is the SheetMusicPlus.com Web site, although these you will have to order and pay for yourself. CD's can often be located at the Amazon.com Web site.

Roots of Renewal theme: "New Immigrants, new industries, new farming practices, and new attitudes towards the original tall grass prairie are all changing the perception of the Upper Midwest in the early 21st Century. While still agriculturally grounded, virtually every aspect of the culture and land is being re-examined. Roots of Renewal.will use contemporary art as a catalyst for an exploration of the issues facing those who live in the region, as they rethink their land, their livelihoods, and their sense of self."

30

Write a paragraph beginning to develop a topic that you would like to focus on in your final exam project: a 4- to 6-page essay pertaining to Takemitsu's Asterism. Your essay will become part of a class Web site devoted to an analytical study of this work. Sample topics include:

• The solo piano parts: how they develop, their timing, characteristic motives, visual elements, use of the asterism shape, and structural significance (Nick Malinowski)
• The structure overall and how it prepares and recovers from the crescendo, with its possible depiction of a mental breakdown (Ari Hart)
• The orchestra's call and response relationship with the solo piano (Ben Hanes)
• Characteristic harmonic materials and pc-sets and their relationship to musical structure (Richard West)
• Uses of the asterism shape on various levels of the musical structure
• Measure 1's piano idea and its recurrences and importance as a source for other materials
• The [0,2,5,7] pc-set, its manifestations as consecutive descending 4ths and as a melodic or harmonic element, its relationship to other harmonic and melodic materials, and its role in the musical structure
• Other prominent pitch sets and their role in the music: WT, WT+1, octatonic
• "Senza tempo" and "aleatoric counterpoint" sections as articulating elements in the musical structure
• Chord voicings and voice leading practices and how they contribute to coherence in the music
• Orchestration and its relationship to musical form
• Focal pitches, how they are established, how they provide coherence between sections and contrasting materials, and what they reveal about the musical structure