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

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