After releasing Péchés d’âge moyen, my short collection of twelve original piano miniatures, I took a short break from composing to take care of some other items. Now that my insane two-or-three weeks of work have subsided into what is (hopefully) a quieter week—the eye of the storm—I’ve jumped back into composing by hand.
At the time of writing, I’ve composed six more short miniatures 11-14 March 2022. In order of composition they are as follows: “Diminished Minuet,” “Another L’il Divertimento in G major,” Three Rhapsodies in G major and Bb minor (consisting of “Largo in G minor,” “Poco allegretto in Bb major,” and “Adagio for a Rainy Day”), and “Pi Day.” To match Péchés d’âge moyen, I’ll compose at least six more pieces, with a goal of releasing more lo-fi recordings by the next Bandcamp Friday (1 April 2022—a fitting date, indeed!).
As with Péchés d’âge moyen, I’ve been scribbling down these little pieces in my music journal, sometimes while sitting at a piano, sometimes not. I’ve been using a beautiful Sharpie S-Gel pen (0.7 thickness) that I found on the ground somewhere, and it’s glorious. It’s even more satisfying than the thinner-tipped pens I had been using, which were also remarkable writing utensils. The Sharpie pen is a bit thicker, which can make composing in tiny scraps of staff paper more difficult, but I love the bolder notation:
There’s the manuscript for Three Rhapsodies in G minor and Bb major. The description on the left-hand page reads thusly:
3/11/2022 – Péchés d’âge moyen, Vol. II
While I have not sold any copies of Péchés d’âge moyen, I am going to compose and release a second volume. I will probably shoot for another twelve pieces, thought they will probably be slightly longer in general (but still quite short).
So far, I’ve composed five [now six] short pieces today: “Diminished Minuet,” “Another L’il Divertimento in G major,” and Three Rhapsodies in G minor and Bb major. Those three pieces are on the opposite page.
Those Three Rhapsodies include “Largo in G minor,” “Poco allegretto in Bb major,” and “Adagio for a Rainy Day” (also in G minor).
We’ll see what else I can whip up by the next Bandcamp Friday—on April Fool’s Day! Appropriate!
Here is the most recent (as of the time of this writing) piece: “Pi Day”:
It’s a little rough around the edges, but I’ll clean it up after some more practice. For those who are curious, here is the manuscript:
Give it a try yourself! Just as the the mathematical pi spins out numbers infinitely, I played around with repetition of the “A-B-C” notes, with slight variations between the first five measures.
Here’s to more composing!
—TPP
P.S.—Thanks to Son of Sonnet, I’ve sold my first (and only, so far!) copy of Péchés d’âge moyen. Thanks, Son!
The Portly Politico 
Cheers Port. 🙂
I’ve just googled Peches d’age moyen to find the literal translation and it comes up as middle aged sins.
You’ve got a few years to go before you hit middle age, mate. Unless that’s the time you’ll be releasing this collection? 🙂
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Haha, well, thanks, old bean. The title is derived from Rossini’s _Péchés de vieillesse_, the “Sins of Old Age.” I liked the title, and at 37, I can’t exactly claim to be youthful (though in some ways I still feel that way), and I’m teetering closer to middle age. So, the title stuck!
Péchés d’âge moyen is out now: https://tjcookmusic.bandcamp.com/album/p-ch-s-d-ge-moyen
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I think old age/middle age is relative. Do I, at the tender age of 43, think I’ll make it to 86? I doubt it, considering my love of tobacco and booze! I’m surprised I made it to 43, to be fair, so I was probably middle aged at 28! 🙂
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You’re young at heart, AaKfT. I imagine you’ll be well-preserved with all that booze and tobacco.
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Pi Day is great by the way. A lovely set of notes and not too many, as Jeffrey Jones once lamented in Amadeus.
Skipping back to yesterday’s conversation about robots, Tina and I rewatched Westworld last night. Not the series, the Yul Brynner original. Not aged at all, it’s still a great film. We also watched Heston’s Planet of the Apes, Event Horizon and Saw 7. An eclectic mix of films but all great fun.
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Thanks, man! I was playing around with the idea of repetition with subtle variations in the notes, just as pi strings out endlessly.
Whoa! Y’all got in a lot of great flicks yesterday. I would like to watch the Yul Brynner original. I think I watched the sequel to _Westworld_ a couple of years ago, and enjoyed the concept overall.
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There’s formaldehyde in tobacco products so I may look like a walking corpse when I’m 60! 🙂
I don’t think Pi Day needs cleaning up, by the way. It sounds right as it is.
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Thanks, dude! Yeah, I like that one. I just wrote “The Ides of March,” and it’s a good tune, too, but the quick video recording I did needs some work. It’s going to be hard to play it accurately, but it still sounds cool.
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“Pi Day” is haunting and evocative. Thank you for sharing this.
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Thank you, Stacey! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind comment.
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