I’m continuing to plug away at some compositions for a planned release, Koi Dance. This week I’m featuring a solemn but hopeful duet.
Tag: composing
New Music Tuesday VI: Rosy Reds
Yours portly is continuing to work on his collection of pond-based tunes, Koi Dance. I introduced some rosy red minnows to our koi pond about a month ago, which inspired today’s piece.
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Dear readers,
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Happy Belated Valentine’s Day!
—TPP
New Music Tuesday V: Pond Ball
I neglected to feature this week’s piece sooner, although it did show up in an addition of Phone it in Friday. Well, better late than never!
The structure of this piece is slightly unusual. It’s a string trio, but the violin doesn’t kick in until the second half of the piece, when it adds harmonies and a countermelody of sorts to the work.
New Music Tuesday IV: “Moonlight Shimmer”
I’m continuing to work on my pond-based pieces, and have a fourth piece completed. This duet incorporates whole tone scales, which possess a mystical, mysterious quality. The piece is broadly in Bb major, but the second and third sections feature some secondary dominants that, at times, push the key closer to D major. The whole tone scales also give a sense of atonality to sections of the piece, representing the mystery of moonlight.
Phone it in Friday CXX: YouTube Roundup CLXXX: Koi Pond Triptych
Yours portly has been uploading some more of his original compositions to YouTube. This week, I’m featuring three pieces that are part of (so far) a koi pond triptych of compositions. I’ll be adding to this trio of pieces, so it won’t remain a triptych for long, but that’s a good way of conceptualizing it for now.
I’ve really enjoyed these three pieces, which are all for small, unorthodox chamber groups.
New Music Tuesday III: “Snail Drop”
The koi pond at our new house has served as a source of immense inspiration for yours portly. I’ve spent many late nights researching various species of aquatic life that can thrive in our little pond ecosystem. I’m most excited about getting some Japanese Trapdoor Snails for our pond.
In the meantime, however, I’ve added some ramshorn snails to the pond already. They arrived in a bag from an eBay seller in Oklahoma, clinging to the walls of their watery shipping compartment. I drove them up one frosty night and gently plopped them into the pond, which inspired today’s new piece.
Lazy Sunday CCCXLXIV: Fire and Water
It’s a quick Lazy Sunday this week as Dr. Wife and I hunker down in the cold. I’m casting my gaze back to two posts from earlier this week, one based in the coolness of the watery depths, the other in the fiery crucible of the modern restaurant industry:
- “New Music Tuesday II: ‘Koi Dance’” – I am really, really proud of this piece. Please give it a listen.
- “Chilly on Chili’s” – My scathing critique of my local Chili’s.
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
New Music Tuesday II: “Koi Dance”
I’ve been working hard on this week’s piece, “Koi Dance,” for about two weeks now. It’s a chamber piece featuring two flutes, bassoon, and piano, and draws inspiration from Bedřich Smetana’s “The Moldau”; that piece also features a flowing theme that depicts the movement of water.
I plugged the finished piece into Audacity and applied some additional reverb and a master effect, both of which I think have allowed the sound to “pop.”
TBT^16: The Joy of Romantic Music II: Bedřich Smetana’s “The Moldau”
Other than a quick piece I dashed off earlier this week, I haven’t had much time for composing. However, my koi pond adventures have inspired me—just in time to reblog this post about one of my favorite pieces of Romantic music.
That the piece is about a river is appropriate—while my koi are swirling about in a murky pond, the watery imagery is a source of inspiration for the piece that is slowly taking shape in mind.
I actually have an idea for the cover art for the album that will feature this imagined piece. I took a picture of these cool little koi tea cups that Dr. Wife got me for my birthday on one of the pianos at school:
Regardless, I’ve always loved this piece, ever since I read about it in Roger Kamien’s Music: An Appreciation, Brief 8th Edition (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through that link, at no additional cost to you) and listened to it with my students.
With that, here is 9 January 2025’s “TBT^4: The Joy of Romantic Music II: Bedřich Smetana’s ‘The Moldau’“: