Sándor Balassa

In my reading of the book 3 questions for 65 composers by Bálint András Varga I´ve encountered few nuggets of gold in my oppinion and I intend to write them here to make them easier for me to remember. If you dont know me, then believe me when I say that I do have a bad memory. If I want to remember stuff I have to work at it, like by writing it down or reciting it a few times in my head. I drift easily, which is a pro in some situations I like to think.

Last I read the chapter where the Hungarian composer Sándor Balassa answers the 3 questions presented by Bálint (The questions in question are not important in understanding the quotes I write here). I find some of things he says very interesting in the context of discovering one-self as a composer.

The composer renews himself all the time and remains the same nevertheless. He struggles to re-create himself day by day, but strives also to link the changes to the values he has already created in the past.

The forum created by art is a place where man can meet himself and the cosmos.

The fact that modernist music has lost the sympathy of listeners is due in part to its renunciation of the principle of repetition.  Look, I am no linguist. I have no intention of inventing new languages. I would like to communicate something in the language we have, so that my message should reach it´s addressees.

If I do not concentrate on the principal voice, I will end up being the main obstacle of rendering my music effective.

The GuitarViol

I saw an online show today called "On the score".  

"In this edition of "On the Score", Jonathan Wilson (creator of the TogaMan GuitarViol) visits the studio of film/TV composer Kevin Kiner (CSI Miami, Clone Wars, and AMC's new series "Hell on Wheels"".

A quite interesting show which I will most likely watch more of in the future (see last video).

Mostly they discuss instruments like the GuitarViol, a new instrument, roughly a mix of a guitar and a cello/viola. Here is the official website: http://www.togamanguitars.com

A very beautiful instrument. And the most beautiful part is that it´s tuned as a guitar [EADGBE] so guitarists all over the world must craving one of these. For me, a non-guitar-playing composer, it´s a very interesting folk-y sound and the pedal / electronic possibilities make it just the thing I´ve been looking for. I´ve wanted to write the electric guitar into my ensemble for awhile but never really found the right sound in my head until now. Maybe double the guitarviol with a standard electronic guitar with a small string orchestra, some winds and percussion. An idea in the making...

Jonathan obviously knows more about this than I do so I´ll pass the ball over to him:

Free download: "Arrange"

For a limited time only you can download my song "Arrange" 

as performed by Flugdrekafélagið (The KiteCompany) live @ Norðurpóllinn leikhús here: 

http://soundcloud.com/helgirafn/arrange

Jón Leifs presentation

Only a week till me and Sara go home to Iceland for our Christmas holiday. We are very excited but try to remain calm. Then we will, like hopefully everyone else, have some time to relax and I am planing to read the book I just bought "Three questions for sixty-five composers" by Balint Andras Varga.

Yesterday I finished my last big assignment at Guildhall. So I´ve somewhat got one foot in the holiday door, except for a couple of competition deadlines. 

Each of us, the 4 1st year Mmus Composers, must do a 45 min presentation on something to do with our studies. I decided to do mine yesterday on the Icelandic Composer Jón Leifs, focusing on the first part of his live, his studies on the Icelandic folk song and his piece Hekla op.52 (1961) - Listen below.

 

I wont outline my whole presentation here but I found some interesting sounds/music/texts you might enjoy.

Like this statement of Sigurður Nordal, 20th century scholar, of the Icelandic rímur or chanting.

• “Icelandic rímur are probably the most absurd example of literary conservatism that has ever been noted. It can be said that they remain unchanged for five whole centuries although everything around them changes. And although they frequently have little poetic value and sometimes even border on complete tastelessness, they have demonstrated with their tenacity that they satisfy the needs of the nation peculiarly well.” –Sigurður Nordal (reference)

 Strange but true. Next is a loosely translated text (by me) from Jón Leifs:

 •“The Icelandic folk song is, naturally, strongly influenced by the nature of Iceland and the woe's the nation has been struck with through the centuries. Deep seriousness and toughness surrounds each performance. Merrymaking is known to rear it's head but is then presented in a quite rugged manner and with a cold laughter…” – Jón Leifs

Icelandic:

          Eðlilega hefir andi íslenzkra þjóðlaga mótast af náttúru landsins og hörmungum þeim, sem á þjóðinni dundu. Djúpa alvöru flytja lögin og hrikaleik og harðneskju meiri en nokkur önnur þjóðlög. Þar er oft sem bitið sje á jaxl og tönnum gníst gegn örlögunum. Gleðskapar verður einnig vart, en þá lendir oft í harðgerðum (groteskum) gáska og köldum hlátri. Ríkir þar ramíslenzkur andi og sá norrænasti. Trúarauðmýkt og þokuþunglyndi má einnig finna, en oftast býr þar undir hulin harðneskja. Fagurt tákn þess að örlögin fá ekki bugað Íslendinga. (reference)

That is true. Most of the time the old folk songs sound beautiful, but if you look closer it´s mostly about ravens starving and having no corpse to feed on, or mothers killing their babies. 

Ravens:

  

Mothers (lyrics found on youtube site: english and icelandic):

Most of the time you forget that though and just enjoy the music.

Here is a special treat. A folk song named Sjö sinnum það sagt er mér, ("I´m told seven times"). It´s somewhat of a singing-hurdel or challenge. You have to try to sing the song 7 times. Each time begining on the note the last "cycle" ended on. So it´s transposed up a perfect 4th each time as you can see (new cycle starts in line 3).

Last but not least, Jón´s piece Hekla op.52, a crasy piece, somewhat based on our folk song tradition. Those influences can be heard most clearly in the 1st section. This piece features 2 percussion ensambles, one on-stage and the other off-stage. E.g. chains, rocks & canons mixed with more traditional percussion make this soundscape different that most. The 2 piccolos, strong brass and a church organ also do their parts. 

Hekla is a volcano in Iceland, you can see it on this map: 

Day of Icelandic Music

I just have to take a small brake from my school projects to celebrate the day of Icelandic music with you all by sharing some music. I hope you enjoy.

Here are samples from 3 categories.

1. Pop/Rock
2.Folk
3.Classical

1. Agent Fresco - A long time listening (I must recommend 480p resolution)



2. [Unknown] - Ólafur Liljurós (Olaf the Lilyrose)



3. Páll Ísólfsson - Brennið þið vitar (Loosely translated: Light my way lighthouses)




But what is new with me you ask? Yesterday I finished 2 major projects. My piece for 2 pianos, "Burned Alive", was presented in an open workshop at Guildhall and the deadline for my commission for Elektra Ensemble ran out. It´s a piece for flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello and got the title "Hálfgerðir Hringir" or "So-Called Cycles" since I based it on a series of cycles I made, some were cycles of harmony, others of techniques, yet others of rythms and so on. These cycles interact differently with each other depending on how their "cogs" meet.

When I found myself braking my own "rule of cycles" again and again I changed the title from "Hringir" ("Cycles") to "Hálfgerðir Hringir" ("So-Called Cycles"). There are 2 reasons for these rule violations: Aesthetics and lack of time. Maður verður að haga seglum sínum eftir vindi.

My dear performers of "Burned Alive", Siwan Ryhs and Ricardo Gosalbo, have offered to record the piece with me soon. That I am looking very much forward to.

Kærar kveðjur / Best wishes
-Helgi

Crazy times

I´ll be very busy untill the 7th of december. So many deadlines lining up! No time to write more...

Burned Alive : 1st real rehearsal

Great rehearsal today with Siwan Mair Rhys and Ricardo Gosalbo of my new piece for 2 pianos: "Burned Alive" I´m very optimisic for the premiere the 30th of this month.


The piece for Elektra Ensemble is also coming along nicely. I´ve been researching extended techniques for cello and violin. Very litle time to go though, 10 days, so it´s a race. But I´m sure it will be ok (Þetta reddast einhvernvegin, eins og alltaf). Here is a page from my sketches: (Yes , I like taking picture)

Darbuka !

For a few days now I´ve been seeking inspiration to arabic rythms and then in perticular from the Darbuka drum. I´m seeking ways to transform the groove into notation for other non-percussion instruments.

Here are some videos I think are great:

The Photo Shoot

I wanted to share with you 5 of the pic´s from the session with:

http://www.raphaellephotography.com/

A big "thank you" to her for a job well done

Wich one is your favorite? (comment below)

Housewarming post / New blog address

Welcome to my housewarming post!

I took the radical decision just now about changing my blogspot address to helgiingvarsson.blogspot.com from helgirafn.blogspot.com

My Icelandic friends might think that´s strange but the reason is quite reasonable. After I moved to London I´ve found that "Rafn" is quite the "tongue twister" for the avarage non-Icelandic person.

And since I intend to go on a publication spree sooner than later, this change is in the nick of time.

Some people might not find my page at first but if they are true believers I´m sure this news will reach them in time.

Also , I´ve added SoundCloud player here on the left, feel free to listen to a sample of my work.

New looks! #2

Finally. The blog has new looks. I hope you all like it. Again, it´s not final since I´m in the process of making a new site, due sometime next year. More on that later.

The concert yesterday was good. Rod Yu performed "Syndadansinn" for a good crowd so I´m happy. Next up, "Burned Alive" for 2 pianos. Premiere: 30th of this month.

Elektra ensemble

I have 2 composers society projects going on right now.

"Society of new music" has a consert on this wednesday with works after composers studying in Guildhall school. Rod Yu will perform to 1 new and 1 old piece for piano written by me.

The pieces are : "Syndadansinn"[2008] and "One week"[2011].

Everyone is welcome and entrance is free.


Then The new composers society (Nýtt Tónskáldafélag) in Iceland is working on pieces for Elektra Ensemble

The instrumentation is a quintet for Flute/piccolo, Bb/Eb Clar., piano, violin & cello. My idea is to use influences from Arvo Pärt and Jón Leifs.



The consert will take place as a part of "Dark music days" (Myrkir Músíkdagar) , a classical music festival in Iceland at Reykjavik´s Art Museum in 26th - 29th january, 2012.

Here is a short text about the project written by Elektra (in Icelandic):

Elektra á Myrkum músíkdögum – Dagana 26. - 29. janúar 2012
Í dimmasta skammdeginu verður boðið upp á frumflutning á sjö verkum sem meðlimir Nýja tónskáldafélagsins hafa samið fyrir Elektra Ensemble. Nýja tónskáldafélagið er öflugur hópur ungra tónskálda á Íslandi sem eru að koma sér á framfæri. Elektra Ensemble er sannur heiður af því að styðja við bakið á þessu efnilega tónlistarfólki.

http://www.listasafnreykjavikur.is/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-2185/3362_read-28802/

Amma Lo-Fi / Grandma Lo-Fi [2]

Soon after I posted last post the great video: "Amma Lo-Fi" got deleted from Vimeo. Very sad if you didnt have a chance to see it.

I´m sure the creators had some good reason for it and that it will re-appear one of these days. Keep a lookout for it when it will.

Here is a further description at elbow music: http://elbo.ws/video/17079500/

-All the best
Helgi

Amma Lo-Fi / Grandma Lo-Fi

Wonderful music by a 70 year old first-time musician, you just have to watch this.

600 original songs in 7 years and 59 CD´s, not bad.

Unlikely influences (electro/house/techno)

My newest piece for 2 pianos is coming along nicely. Deadline for score and parts is tomorrow, monday 31st, but I have a chance to polish it until the end of november (wich I'll need to do, no doubt).

This weekend I cancelled all my social plans, wich I had been looking forward to to say the least, in order to meet the deadline.

This blog post would probably not exist if it werent for my dear 1-floor-down neighbours. Like clockwork, they started playing their club/house/electro wich I normally dont mind, except when Im trying to sleep or, like in this instance, compose.

"Well its saturday night and they want to have some fun" I thought, so I decided to suck it up, put on headphones and listened to Rachmaninov, who kindly helped me through this ordeal.



I struggled with a section in my piece that just would not obey my wishes or orders. After about 2 hours of trying to squeeze a certain motif in, I realised that my neighbours bass drum had somehow sneaked its way through Rach's fingers, mixing into the music and into my ears and had probably been there for awhile. Rather than getting annoyed by that I decided to use it.

You know how those bass drum beats go right? Steady tempo crothcets (quarter notes) on 120 beats per min. approx. ... Very "never-changing".

That gave me the idea for a bass note pedal of C2 (2 octave below middle C) in 3/4 and I threw away the chord progression motif I was trying to work into the music.

And now it works so much better. Absolutely not a very advanced bass line composition but it gave the harmony the boost it needed to drive the section onwards to the ending (the diamond notehead represents a tambourine beat).

So, sometimes ... less is more ...

Thank you noisy neighbour.

Steve Reich in person

This october the 14th I went to Steve Reich´s seminar at St Luke´s (pic.). This seminar was specially for students at Guildhall but sadly only 25 seats were available. There are about 30 composition students at Guildhall if I´m not mistaken. Luckily I got one of the last seats, maybe because I was alitle pushy about it with the co-ordinator. Anyhow, I would not had want to miss this experience.

Here we have a man with a profound and almost mythological reputation, at least for a young composer from a small country like me. A man who´s reference reads:

"Reich has been described, in The Guardian by music critic Andrew Clements, as one of "a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history" and the critic Kyle Gann has said Reich "may...be considered, by general acclamation, America's greatest living composer."
(wikipedia)

I will cut right to the point. He was not the way I thought he would be, wich is a good thing. In my experience (as far as that goes) minimalists are often quite "dry" or "arid" if I may be so bold. What do I mean by that? They approach music in the most mathematical or "square" way. I, being more of a poetical/lyrical/romantical composer (whatever you wich to call it) do not find that very interesting. I do though find it helpful now and then to integrate some of the minimalistic ideology/techniques into my music making process as an effect without it becoming the main idea.

Therefor I thought naturally that Reich, being the "king" of minimalism (along with Phillip Glass), would be no different. Still, I saw it as a great oppertunity to maybe learn a thing or 2 about the "bizz" and maybe something in general about the science of music from the eyes (ears) of a world-known composer.

Then we meet this easygoing, humorous and warm man who is all but "dry" and "arid". My favorite moment was when he said early on:

"How many composers are there in the room?"
[everyone raises hand]
[Steve looks surprised, then puts his hand on his chest and says]
"my condolences"
[everyone laughs]
[Short pause][Then he says firmly]
"Do excatly what you love to do, and nothing else!"
[He looks over the room, intence 2-3 sec. silence]

That was very powerful and has given me more confidence to write "my kind" of music. Being a young composer is very hard these days. Having the pressure of being "original" (whatever that is these days) and the masters of old looking over your sholders ... it can be very inflictive.

So, that small comment of his came as a fresh breeze in this composition-sauna wich we are all trying to survive within.


WTC 9/11

Mainly he talked about his newest piece; WTC 9/11, written for String Quartet and Tape. That piece is very minimalistic but still so rich. Mostly due to it´s connection to the 9/11 attacks. He uses his techniques of "Speech melodies", taking the speech´s texture and transforming it into melody.

The first movement, 9/11/01, begins and ends with a violin imitating the sound a phone makes when left off the hook. Voice recordings in this section begin with NORAD air traffic controllers concerned with the off-track American Airlines Flight 11, and move to FDNY recordings related to activities on the ground. Voice recordings in the second movement consist of parts of interviews conducted in 2010 by Reich.[Wikipedia]

Here is the 1st mov.


Here is a nice and short article about Reich in the Guardian to mark his 75th birthday this august, if you want to know more.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2011/aug/09/steve-reich-75-classical-music

GSMD consert #1

1st consert was a good success (30/09/11). All pieces were performed without any notable hitch and the small, but good, audience seemed happy at the end.

It took about 30 min to perform all the 6 new pieces along with the 6 "easy pieces" by Stravinsky.

The musicians were (from left on pic.)
-Mischa Momen (pianist)
-Helgi Ingvarsson (composer)
-Theodoros Chatzidis (composer)
-Hao Shen (pianist)
-Mark Simpson (composer)
-Justin Snyder (pianist)
-Elizabeth Winters (composer)
-Chiwan Rhys (pianist)
-Agata Gladysiak (pianist)
-Goncalo Gato (composer)
-Jeong Heum Yeon (aka´d "J") (pianist)
-Louis Chiappetta (composer)

The new pieces were:

-Untitled
by Mark Simpson (perf. Jeong Heum Yeon)
-One week
by Helgi Ingvarsson (perf. Mishka Momen)
-Definitely not a galop
by Elizabeth Winters (perf. Chiwan Rhys)
-Igor
by Theodorus Chatzidis (perf. Hao Shen)
-(kind of) A Waltz
by Goncalo Gato (perf. Agata Gladysiak)
-Retrospective Experimental
by Louis Chiappetta (perf. Justin Snyder)

Great fun to work with such talented people and an honor to be amongst them.

This week and the next we´ll record the pieces in the schools recording studio. I intended to record the consert on my Zoom H4 but it ran out of memory before the 1st piece was even over. Very sad and "noobish" on my behalf, but we´ll make it right.

The second picture shows Mishka performing my piece: "one week".

New looks!

There are some big things gona happen soon to this blog.

I´m very bored with the way things are looking now and I´ll be adding some new, original looks, hopefully not later than in a month, with the help of http://www.raphaellephotography.com/ . This will also apply to my main site: www.helgirafn.com

In other news, the heat wave in London is over! Good news for Sara and me since our appartment was almost not livable during the hottest days.

I´ve started preporations for my next Guildhall project wich is a piece for 2 pianos. My dear professor, Matthew King, pointed out a few works I should study and Debussys En blanc et noir ("In white and black") is one of them. And from now on it will be a personal favorite of mine! A very intriguing piece.

A duet is born: One week

After a hardly successful day of composing yesterday I was not so confident about my piano duet anymore.

Yesterday we had a masterclass with Julian Phillips where we went through the pieces/drafts everyone had made so far. And what a brilliant session this turned out to be. Both Julian and my fellow students shared some good supportive comments wich helped me in finishing the structure of the piece wich was it´s main problem.

I had too many melodies and ideas going on for such a small piece to work. I would had needed much more time to work out, evolve and integrate them all.

So in a 3 hour session this morning at Guildhall´s library I took away about a 1/3 of the piece and stretched the other 2/3 out into it´s final length. Regarding the title, only one thing came to mind really when I thought about it. The very fitting: "One week".

So, I managed to hand it in before the deadline today and I´m sure it will sound good in the hands of Mishka (my pianist).

The premiere will be at Guildhall, School of Music and Drama this Friday (September 30th) at 17:00. Entrance is free and all are welcome.

Here is a map

p.s.
the consert this friday will be recorded and I will publish the results for you my friend

All the best
Helgi

Piano piece in one week

Hello hello

My 1st assignment at Guildhall is going well. Like always, it has had it´s ups and downs. Today was an OK "up" day. Only 2 days to go untill final deadline. The poor pianists must have some time to rehearse before the performance at the Barbican Centre the 30th.

Initially I was gona present my piece "Syndadansinn" (The dance of sins) for this but everyone had to write a completely new piece in this 1st week, wich makes more sense and is more fun. It had crossed my mind, but I needed to re-write "syndadansinn" anyway so it seemed like a good excuse.

To get us started Julian Phillips (head of composition) and Pamela Lidiard (deputy head of keyboard studies) set us up with some short Stravinsky piano pieces for 2 players where one part is very easy and the other one more challenging, and these pieces were divided amongst pairs of pianists and composers and performed on the spot. I cant say that I delivered perfectly despite the very easy part I got in a Polka Tune, since sight-reading for piano has never been my strongest of virtues. But we got through it and had a bit of fun. I must say that the PG pianists are very talented and I consider myself very lucky to get to work with them.

We were to take atleast one aspect/motif from the piece we were assigned and use it in the final verion of ours. I took a G clef 16th note ornament and turned it into a slow tempo F clef bass line.

Earlier I talked about ups and downs. Here are some pictures from days I would most definitely call "up" days. 1st one is taken in Clissold Park about 2 days ago were I went to get some clear air and come up with a rythm matter:

Second picture taken in room 127, if I recall correctly, today.

Tomorrow I´ll wake up at 5:30am and be at GSMD at 7:00am , work till 12pm approx, rehearse with Mishka (my pianist) at 1pm and after that is a session with all 1st year PG (postgraduate) composers and Julian Phillips till 6pm.

Life is good !

Teacher glossary: finale

It has been decided. Matthew King will be my professor at Guildhall. He has contacted me and we will meet for a preliminary lesson early next week.

Teacher glossary #2

My piano piece is going well. I´ve so to speak finished polishing it, but now I feel as it could be longer. As for the middle minimalistic chapter... it could re-appear later in a new modulation. Here you can hear the 2008 version, performed by John Venkiah.

Syndadansinn by HelgiRafn

Works in progress: the sequel

Seems I have forgotten a very important work in progress in the last entry. Last year I started assembling all my vocal vorks into one book. I was about half way through when I got bored with it and other projects knocked on my door.

Back then I called it : "Sönglög 2006-2010" (Songs: 2006-2010). When I get the time to work on it again it will surely be updated to "Songs: 2006-2011".

As of today the following songs can be found in the book:

-Drottning í húmi (f. Mezzo-Soprano)
-Fortíðarsýn (f. Bass)
-Vesalings Tinna (female trio)
-Skuggablóm (f. Tenor and Mezzo Soprano)
-Von í dimmu (f. Tenor and Mezzo Soprano)
-Síðueldar (f. mixed choir)

All of these are quite early pieces with a new piano accompaniment arrangement. The later added works will be for solo voice and choir mostly.

I had planed to use atleast a part of my first 3 weeks in London, before the start of term, to finish old projects. But without the proper facilities, like access to piano and working desk it´s hard to get anything done. Still, I´m very grateful to have a roof over my head and food on my plate. There will be enough time and facilites to compose in less than one week when we move into our appartment.

Verk í vinnslu / Works in progress

Now its time to recap, I have so many things and ideas going on that its hard to keep them in order. Lets set up lists:

WORKS IN PROGRESS
-Symphony / Oratorio #1 "Skuggablóm". 1st chapter of 3-4 ready.
-"Völuspá" for 4 voices, piano and brass (as it looks today).
-"Tango misterioso" for chamber orchestra. A re-arrangement for Elektra Ensamble of my 2009 piece.

IDEAS
-A piece for Skólahljómsveit Kópavogs (brassband). Due next spring at the latest. Most likely a upbeat bigband swing/funk.
-A new, agressive opera. Agressive in instrumentation and staging, not musical material. It will be based on a true heartbreaking story. More on that later.

PROJECTS TO COME
-Finishing songs for The KiteCompany. We have alot of half mixed sessions wich need attention. In addition to that I want to try to make epic electronic versions of the songs, at least the emotional single "Trees" (See last post).
-GSMD projects, and they will be challenging I hear.
-Last bu not least I´m planing to re-write my solo piano piece "Syndadansinn" (the dance of sins)(http://youtu.be/O17ftW9lJ-s). During the 1st week of Guildhall there is a collaboration project between the postgraduate composers and pianists to perform new works for the music induction consert at Barbican Hall 30th of september. I´m very excited about that. Talking about diving right into it.

So, I have alot on my plate. Ideal would be to finish "Völuspá" and "Tango Misterioso" for the composers society before the start of term the 19th of sept. Even though that is quite a handfull, Im currently just taking it easy on a train on my way from Stockholm to Malmö to party with old friends. I just finished my last day at my summerjob yesterday and its time to celebrate the coming of loads of compositioning. As soon as we get settled in London the ball will hopefully start to roll.

For now its time to have some te and muffins.
Adios!


(written 27/08/11, published 30/08/11)

Electronic contemplations

After a long stay in Stockholm, and living out of a suitcase for the most part, I´ve started longing for my/a workstation.

Since my LHÍ days (iceland academy of the arts) Ive wanted to make more of serious electronic music but never really had the time nor the equipment for it (and been too lazy to really look into what I needed). Over the last year Ive been aquaering what I need litle by litle (both information and equipment):

My MacBook Pro

-Behringer mixer

-Mics

-Novation midi controler

-Launchpad (Soon to be bought)


-Yamaha CP keyboard

...
and all these combined would make one kozy workstation, if I can fit it in my London appartment, wich I havnt even found yet.

The launchpad looks expecially appealing right now.

What am I listening to today? #1

Yes its the man with the '13 whole note hands'. His 1st piano trio was what turned me on, but next in my que are his famous piano consertos.

Wapedia: Sergej Rachmaninov

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Symphonic contemplations

Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856), taken in 1850. Quite melancholic don´t you think?

Thoughts on my 1st symphony:
Maybe I dont have to cut the symphony down as much as I thought. I took out the introduction for the main melody, and then all of a sudden everything flows a lot smoother. That´s only 1/2 minute, and in the end the length does not matter, rather the quality of the material obviously. Now the progression in the first part makes more sense, at least to me.

It came to me that this is only the 1st chapter, in a series of 3, of my symphony: "Skuggablóm" (Shadowflowers). I´ve been worried that people wont be able to fully comprehend the piece in the time it takes to perform it, regarding the amount of material found there, and therefor did I add this introduction I´ve now cut out. But in the making of the other 2 chapters I´ll be able to reprise material from the 1st one in a more prudent manner. Also, if everyone could "comprehend" EVERYTHING the first time they hear the piece, it wouldnt be much of an artwork, would it ?

I´m trying to outgrow my "fear" of repeting material in a piece. I always feel that I have to bring forth something new at every corner. Though that might make pieces very interesting it also can make them hard to "get". Schumann´s 4th symphony is a big influence when it comes to that. He is not afraid to repeat ... and gets away with it. I found a very interesting video clip on youtube where Herbert von Karajan is rehearsing Schumann's 4th with the Wiener Symphoniker



A very interesting video. Taken in 1953 if I´m not mistaken. Karajan is truly a remarkable conductor, a good study for us of a younger generation, or as one viewer put it: "I love that the rehearsal's momento never slowed. He kept them going constantly, never wasting a second. Brilliant!" Notice that there are no women in the orchestra, and the cellos sit in the middle, instead of the usual left nowdays (stage left that is).

Another piece is Beethoven´s 7th, second movement: Not only beautiful music, but an interesting video. Visual midi. Each line/color represents an instrument.



I want to cry everytime I listen to this. May I recommend large speakers or headphones? I have been listening to these symphonies now for almost a year with regular intervals and am still not bored with them.

All constructive comments and/or thoughts are welcome in the comment section below.

-All the best / Kær kveðja
Helgi Rafn

10 min > 8 min symphony

I´ve got a butcher knife and intend to use it on my 1st symphony without pity. This 10 min piece will soon be 8 min. ... and more fun.

Like I talked about in this post: http://helgirafn.blogspot.com/2011/05/goodbye-boring-intro.html

So, it´s been on my agenda for a long time and now it´s time. Ungfónía (Young symphony orchestra of Iceland, "youngphony" ... if you will. Not really the same in english :o) ) intend to look it over and see if they can perform it next winter, so it better be ready soon.

I´ll post the results as soon as it´s done.

All the best
Helgi, aka: the butcher

Excitement / Dufay

My place at Guildhall school has been confirmed. Is it finally time to be overwhelmed with excitement? Imagine, 2 whole years of nothing but composing music and related activities. Heaven...

... Now the only thing left is to arrange acomodation. Work in progress...

Talking about works in progress. I´ve finished structuring my next piece, for the consert 16th of november. 4 voices, flugelhorn/trumpet, euphonium and piano. The text I chose is from Völuspá, wich talks about the creation of the world and it´s destruction, but wont be revealed just yet. Now I need an inspiration for the musical content. I´ve been listening quite to the medival composer Dufay (Pic: on the left) (August 5, 1397?[1] – November 27, 1474) - wikipedia



I´ve been thinking about using Contrapunktal vs. Dot-ism as my main theory. Dot-ism: A melody is devided between players/singers so it appears in parts, or dots, around the orkestra.

All the best
-Helgi Rafn

Sænskt 60's

Þessa dagana keyri ég um götur Täby og Danderyd á þessu tryllitæki (vinnubíllinn) og kynnist sænskri 60's tónlist með hjálp útvarpstöðvar sem ég hef ekki hugmynd um hvað heitir. Þess á milli sinni ég heldri borgurunum. Skemmtó...

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Nýtt tónskáldafélag, verk #1

Kæri lesandi.

Það er komið að því að tónskáldafélagið haldi sína fyrstu tónleika. Reyndar eru tveir tónleikar á stefnuskránni, 16.nóv. og í jan./feb. 2012, en við skulum taka eitt fyrir í einu.

Tónleikar #1 munu vera, eins og staðan er í dag, 16.nóv. á degi íslenskrar tungu. Flytjendur verða félagar úr Sönglistafélagi Íslands. Við í tónskáldafélaginu skrifum fyrir 1-4 raddir og með möguleikanum á pianó undirleik. Skilafrestur á verkum er 1.okt. næstkomandi og ég er mjög spenntur að sjá hvað kemur útúr þessu hjá okkur. Þessi hópur er nokkuð fjölbreyttur útkoman verður án efa áhugaverð. Staðsetning er held ég óákveðin, en það er hann Hafsteinn Þórólfsson sem er okkur fulltrúi og tengiliður í samskiptum við Sönglistahópinn.

Þó er ekkert öruggt í þessum heimi eins og við vitum öll og þessir tónleikar velta að sjálfsögðu á því hvort við náum að virkja nægilega mörg tónskáld. Kveikja neistan í þeim... við erum allavega 5 sem erum nokkuð örugg, en ættum að geta orðið 8 í það minnsta.

3-4 mín á tónskáld sinnum 8 = uþb. 30 mín af tónlist er það sem við leggjum upp með.

Þemað er íslensk fornrit og ég er sjálfur að detta niðrá Völuspá, og þá sérstaklega nýju upprisu heimsins.

-Myndirnar í færslunni eru báðar af Völuspá, tveimur ólíkum útgáfum þó.

Það verður gaman að vinna að þessu verkefni hérna í Stockholmi. Taka nettan Jón Leifs á þetta; láta sig dreyma um heimalandið á tungumáli tónlistarinnar. Hann var reyndar í Þýskalandi lengst af en þó einnig í Svíþjóð seinna meir, þar samdi hann t.d. Requiem um dóttur sína sem lést af slysförum. Það tengist reyndar ekki Íslandi en er allavega íslensk tónsmíð. Requiem finnst ekki á youtube sem er alger synd. Ætli maður verði ekki að bæta úr því.

Í staðinn set ég hér inn op.66 , hans síðasta verk:

Ávarp

I´ve uploaded my newest piece to soundcloud, and here it is:

Ávarp by HelgiRafn

I talked about it in my previous blog: HERE

I hope you enjoy.

Hérna gefur að líta ljóðin í verkinu:

Ávarp til fósturjarðarinnar

Í átthagana andinn leitar,
þó ei sé loðið þar til beitar,
og forsælu þar finnur hjartað,
þó fátækt sé um skógarhögg.
Sá er bestur sálargróður,
sem að vex í skauti móður,
en rótarslitinn visnar vísir,
þó vökvist hlýrri morgundögg.

Hvert sem mín á leið að liggja
um láð eða meðal ölduhryggja,
og þó ég eigi bein að bera
á blómum skrýddri suðurströnd,
skal ég ávallt meyna muna,
mjöllu klædda og jökulbruna,
í sorgarbúning svartan, bjartan
sveipaða þétt af drottins hönd.

-Grímur Thomsen

Vorsól

Þú vorsól ennþá vekur mig af dvala
og vermir lund.
Ég heyri lind og læki saman hjala
á ljúfri stund.

Á lækjarbakka [Árbakka] brosa blómin smáu
svo blíð og hrein.
Og ljóðar fugl í lofti fagurbláu,
á laufgri grein.

Hve gott að finna heiða hreina blæinn
[og hjartans yl.]
Að gleðjast enn við geislabjartan daginn
[að geta fundið til.]

-Margrét Jónsdóttir

Teacher glossary #4 / New choir piece

I think I´ve made up my mind regarding the professors at Guildhall. At least have I contacted mr. Phillips, head of the composition department wich I talked about in teacher glossary #1, and informed him about my thoughts. Being a very pleasant man, I´m sure he´ll be able to help me make a final decission.

On a more decisive note:
My newest work, Ávarp ("Address"), for choir and piano was performed by me and a few friends the other day and broadcasted by the Icelandic National television (Rúv) 1st of June. It was written for my dad who just turned 60. A direct link to it is here:

http://dagskra.ruv.is/sjonvarpid/4545113/2011/06/01/2/

It´s the last segment in the clip: "Sextugsafmælisgjöf sem hljómar vel"

Currently I´m introducing it to conductors in hope that it will be performed more. Based on the acceptanse it got after this airing I do not have a doubt in my mind that it will become a good addition to the Icelandic choir repertoir.

Attached to this post is the Title page of the piece.

p.s. Á forsíðu verksins má finna tilvísun í Húnavatnssýsluna, en faðir minn er einmitt fæddur og uppalinn þar. Þúsund stig fyrir þá sem fatta.

Teacher glossary #3: Paul Newland

Next in line is Paul Newland, a highly awarded composer. Studied at Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, Royal Academy of Music, Elisabeth University of Music Japan and Royal Holloway University of London. The Japan aspect sounds especially interesting, ofcourse.

Here he talks about his soundscape piece "situation 2". Performed by [rout].



Theatrical? ... yes. Not in the literal sense, but yes. The way he presents the material, let´s the performers have a hand in the composition, gives it that feel.

Again did I have a hard time finding material to sample. It´s like getting to see the food you are about to eat, but not smell or taste it.

This is happening almost in realtime. Now, whilst writing this blog, I found a CD with a piece of his on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Decoding-Skin-Philip-Howard/dp/B00012OX0K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1307444963&sr=1-2

Available for download and sample listening. A big questionmark from me to Amazon regarding the "download only available in the US" remark. Quite unexpected and I can´t see why it shouldnt be available everywhere. I´m sure it´s not for technical reasons atleast.

Teacher glossary #2: Matthew King

My hunt for the perfect professor for next fall continues. Today I´ve been looking abit into Matthew King. He seems to share my interest (or tendency) to write theatrical-ish music. Here are some bits of reviews:

"Music of distinctive beauty with disarming theatre sense”
Independent on Sunday

"clever, sharp and fresh, bursting with memorable melody…it signals the emergence of a composer who writes not only credibly and well but with immediate, engaging charm”
Independent

“King’s music is eminently approachable…some of the clashing rhythms and textural layerings are mind-boggling..a considerable achievement.”
Stephen Pettit (Evening Standard)

SOURCE

He has written atleast 3 operas, "The Snow Queen" (1994), "Jonah" (1995) and "On London Fields" (2004), 1 oratorio, "Gethsemane" (1998), along with instrumental music for string quartets and orchestras. How these pieces sound on the other hand is a mistery to me. Many composers today dont have their music very accessible on the internet. I have tried to google him with 2-3 variations and came up empty. All youtube searches have also ended in failure.

Though I do respect the efforts to minimise income loss to internet piracy, it is a great downside for me. I need to hear if we suit eachother as student/professor, it´s not enough to read that he is successful, without doubting those remarks. Hopefully I will stumble across some samples soon.

I did find one artice about a piece of his in the Independent, though it´s mostly about the programme notes. Still, an interesting read. Usually, I tend to write to many programme notes, or want to.

"A GERMAN music college has a course for composers on stage deportment - thanking conductors and principal performers, acknowledging applause without hogging it, getting off the stage before the clapping stops. All useful stuff; but a course on how, or how not to write programme notes might be even more useful".

The whole article is here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical-too-many-notes-mr-king-too-many-notes-1167791.html

Goodbye boring intro

My symphony #1, Skuggablóm, has re-entered my life after being under the rug for some time (since last january to be exact).

When I last left it I belived it to be finished, but still had some doubts about the intro part, the first 2 min. approx. When I listen to it today these doubts are even stronger. Today it´s just plain boring.

So, my next order of business is to edit this to the max. Cut out, at least 1 1/2 minute from the beginning and make this transition from plain motive to fullblown melody move faster. When I was writing this at first I thought that faster transformation would make the piece too hard to receive, but "boredom" is definitely higher on the delete-priority list.

Other idea I had is to "reprise" one of the later chapters earlier. Now the whole feels kinda "rondo-ish". That is, no chapter repeats itself, even though they do.

Maybe that isn´t a bad thing. I´ll have to think about this some more.

Here is the midi file of the whole piece
Skuggablóm Symphony by HelgiRafn

Nýtt tónskáldafélag

Nýtt tónskáldafélag er í smíðum.

Eins og er er öllum tónsmiðum frjálst að vera með til að móta stefnuskrá félagsins. Næsti fundur er 29.maí og þá verða fyrstu tónleikarnir nelgdir. Meira um þetta síðar.

Teacher glossary #1: Julian Phillips

Ive been looking into the faculty at Guildhall for next fall, and mostly mr. Julian Phillips who is the head of the composition department. I found a video where he discusses opera writing in general and his piece Knight Crew(see video downbelow). I can very much relate to what he says about the feeling where you dont feel as you are writing the music, rather being told what to do by the characters and the story. Thats when the magic starts to happen.

May I also recommend the following video Knight Crew - Making of. All very interesting I think, since I am very occupied with the idea of my next opera these days (my nr.2).

I´ve found an interesting story to look into, planning to buy the book as soon as possible and read it whilst working in Sweden this summer. Been looking into loads of different types of stories and myths but it needs to be the right mixture of parables, realism and adventure. Like Phillips says rightfully: "starting work on an opera, right from the very beginning, is a funny mixture of real excitement and terror, because its just a huge amount of work."

It would be fun to access more information about new operas. I guess that wont be a problem once I gain access to the library at the Barbican centre next door to Guildhall. I peeked inside when I had my interview in december 2010 at GSMD and the amount they had of scores and other documents was thrilling. Maybe normal amount for UK scales, I dont know, but huge in Icelandic scale.

Knight Crew - Meet the Composer from glyndebourne education on Vimeo.

The Making of Knight Crew from glyndebourne education on Vimeo.

Ný síða

Það er löngum kominn tími á nýja fagmannlegri síðu. Ég er að kynna mér hvernig ég get gert slíka á ódýran hátt. WYSIWYG forrit virðast sniðug og handhæg ef maður nennir að gefa sér góðan tíma.

Fyrstu tónleikar Flugdrekafélagsins

Kæru vinir. Næsta fimmtudagskvöld, 5.maí, mun Flugdrekafélagið troða upp í fyrsta sinn. Tilefnið er "Rafmagnslaust" á Norðurpólnum , Sefgörðum 3 Seltjarnarnesi, og við byrjum að spila stundvíslega kl.21, svo kemur Svavar knútur og Hljómsveitin ÉG slúttar kvöldinu. 1500 kr. inn, allir velkomnir.

Kær kveðja
Helgi Rafn

p.s. finnið okkur á Facebook

Brot úr 3 lögum.

Hérna getið þið hlustað á brot úr 3 lögum með Flugdrekafélaginu, tekið upp á æfingum í apríl ´11.

3 log af æfingum by HelgiRafn

Frumraun flugdrekafélagsins

Við ákváðum að fresta frumraun Flugdrekafélagsins. Ástæðan var einfaldlega sú að við höfðum ekki náð að æfa nóg og vildum að allt væri öruggt áður en haldið yrði út í hinn harða heim. Til upprifjunar, þá ætluðum við upprunalega að hafa tónleika 8 apríl, en núna er dagsetningin 29.apríl. Einnig eru tónleikar ráðgerðir 5.maí.

Aðgangur verður ókeypis þann 29.apríl og staðsetning tilkynnt síðar. Næsta æfing verður fimmtudaginn 14.apríl kl.20 og þá ætla ég að taka upp smá live demó og setja hingað. Bandið er orðið 8 manna og bara eftir að fínpússa lögin.

kv.
Helgi Rafn

Seinasti séns

Það er seinasti séns til að sjá Alla leið heim á laugardaginn næsta, 2.apríl. Miðasala í s.865-6731 eða midar@nfsu.is.

"Sýningin var hröð, atriðaskipti örugg og stundum var atriði varla byrjað þegar það var búið og maður varð að grípa andann á lofti til að hlæja áður en næsta atriði var komið á fullan skrið." - Silja, Tímarit Máls og ...Menningar. 20.mars.

"Ríkisstjórinn var bestur, en svolítill senuþjófur." "Þið notuðuð rýmið vel, flóðið var æðislegt! Maður fann alveg tilfinninguna að vera að undir vatni!" "Stóri gaurinn söng flottan bassa." (Aðstandendur Bjargar Einarsdóttur)

"Mér fannst allur söngurinn svo æðislegur." "KKK senan var uppáhald, og lokalagið :D" (Aðstandendur Ármanns Ingunnarsonar)

Frábær umfjöllun fyrir ´Alla leið heim´

Við Árni og Leikfélag FSU fáum asskoti góða umfjöllun í Tímariti Máls og menningar fyrir leikritið ´Alla leið heim´.

Hér er útdráttur:

Sviðið er raunar geysistórt miðrými og leiksvið í rúmgóðum samkomusal, og veitir ekki af, en hugkvæmni leikstjórans Árna Kristjánssonar á sér heldur ekki mikil takmörk. Sýningin var hröð, atriðaskipti örugg og stundum var atriði varla byrjað þegar það var búið og maður varð að grípa andann á lofti til að hlæja áður en næsta atriði var komið á fullan skrið. Ég er þá til dæmis að hugsa um beljuna (Sara Sif Kristinsdóttir) sem var skotin!
Sérstaka athygli vekur tónlistin í sýningunni sem Helgi Rafn Ingvarsson stýrir. Það sem vantaði upp á í framsögn bættu ungmennin upp í söng. Auk titillagsins verður söngur sírenanna, Írenu Víglundsdóttur, Kristrúnar Steingrímsdóttur og Þórdísar Imsland, sérstaklega minnisstæður. Það hefði verið auðvelt að láta þær leiða sig hvert sem vera skyldi.
Leikgerðina upp úr bíómyndinni vann leikstjórinn með Snorra bróður sínum en það var leikráð FSU sem fékk hugmyndina. Hún hefði nú getað dregið kjarkinn úr minni körlum en þeim Árna, Snorra og Helga Rafni en árangurinn er svo góður að mikið má vera ef leikgerðin verður ekki notuð víðar á næstu árum.

Greinin í heild sinni er svo hér:
http://tmm.forlagid.is/?p=2313#more-2313

Miðasala í síma 865-6731

Frumsýning í gær - Alla leið heim

Leikfélag FSU var með frumsýningu í gærkvöldi á verkinu sínu ´Alla leið heim´, fluttningurinn gekk vel og góð stemming myndaðist jafnt meðal áhorfenda og flytjenda. Við Árni vorum mjög ánægðir með útkomuna og allir sem komu að sýningunni í miklu spennufalli eftir á. Troðfullur salur og mikil gleði.

Það er búið að vera mjög gefandi að vinna með þessum krökkum.

Stefnt er á nokkrar sýningar. Ef þið hafið gaman af gleði leikhúsi, kíkið þá á þessa sýningu. Meiri upplýsinar á meðfylgjandi plakati.