This piece was written in response to Naviarhaiku343 – Persistently I stare
Persistently I stare
At the moon
Still I cannot hear
This haiku is by Sugiyama Sanpu (1647-1732), who suffered from severe hearing problems for his whole life. Sanpu was a patron of Basho, helping him establish his school of haiku.
Persistently I Stare was written for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Cello and String Bass.
Seemless Transmissions was written in response to Disquiet Junto Project 0448: Seamless Bridge
Step 1: Select any two tracks from the 20×20 Bandcamp page, either by ear or at random. Each track should be by a different artist in the 20×20 series. One track selected will open the piece and one will close the piece. This is where to find the tracks. They’re downloadable for free.
https://20x20project.bandcamp.com/
Step 2: Consider which of the two tracks you’ve selected in Step 1 should be used at the start (the opening 20 seconds) and which at the end (the final 20 seconds).
Step 3: Create a piece of music that is 60 seconds long. It should have one track at the start (the first 20 seconds) and one at the end (the last 20 seconds).
Create a third original piece of music for the middle section of 20 seconds that acts as a seamless bridge between the two pieces.
This was a quick, fun project. I selected the first two pieces from Simon McCorry’s 20 Transmissions From The 20th Century and used the ideas from each in my bridge.
Seemless Transmissions was written for two Violas.
This piece was written in response to Naviarhaiku341 – A fragrant breeze
A fragrant breeze
Is blowing from China
Over these seven strings
This haiku is by Tagami Kikusha (1753-1826), a Japanese multi-disciplinary artist and Buddhist nun, mostly known as a poet, painter, calligrapher and tea practitioner. The haiku was written when she visited the temple Hooryuuji in Nara, in 1812, and was allowed to play an ancient Chinese guqin.
A Fragrant Breeze was written for seven groups of strings – three Violins, two Violas, and two Cellos.
A Fragrant Breeze – Score https://bit.ly/3jlwJ0q
This piece was written in response to Naviarhaiku339 – The Heavy Leaf
See the heavy leaf
on the silent windless day
falls of its own will.
This haiku is by Nozawa Bonchō, a haikai poet and disciple of Basho who worked as a doctor in Kyoto. Later in life Bonchō distanced himself from Basho’s school and was imprisoned for a crime. He died in 1714.
The Heavy Leaf was written for Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Trombone, Violin, Viola, and Cello.
Broken Is The Golden Bowl was written in response to Disquiet Junto Project 0442: One Sentence
Step 1: Choose a favorite single sentence. The sentence should be from prose or poetry, but not a song lyric.
Step 2: Say the sentence out loud, slowly, several times in a row. Consider its shape, its tone, its cadence, and its content, and how these connect with each other.
Step 3: In some way that you can understand, map the exploration of the sentence from Step 2.
Step 4: Compose a piece of music that follows the map from Step 3. Note that the finished piece shouldn’t (or better yet: needn’t) include the spoken sentence (that is, it’s best if it’s purely instrumental), and it might last much longer than the sentence would take to say out loud.
Broken Is The Golden Bowl used the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe in his poem, Lenore.
Ah, broken is the golden bowl!
The spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll! — A saintly soul
Glides down the Stygian river!
Broken Is The Golden Bowl was written for Clarinet, Trombone, Violin, Viola, Cello and String Bass.
This piece was written in response to Naviarhaiku334 – Bright the full moon shines
Bright the full moon shines:
on the matting of the floor,
shadows of the pines.
This haiku is by Takarai Kikaku, one of the most accomplished disciples of Matsuo Bashō. He was famous also for writing a manuscript describing his master’s final days, and the immediate aftermath of his death.
The haiku suggested to me a choral piece. Of course, I need a chorus, but that’s life.
Bright The Full Moon Shines was written for Chorus, Violin, Viola, Cello and String Bass.
This piece was written in response to Naviarhaiku333 – A wild sea-
A wild sea-
In the distance over Sado
The Milky Way.
This haiku is by Matsuo Bashō. During the journey that would result in his masterpiece, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Basho stopped at Izumo Point on the Japan Sea and gazed out to Sado Island which, at that time, was infamous as a place of exile.
A Wild Sea was written for Alto Flute, Bass Clarinet, trombone, Bass Trombone, Gong, Cymbals, Violin, Viola, Cello and String Bass.
Individual 1 (Living Under Occupation) was written in response to Disquiet Junto Project 0438: Deep Plan
Step 1: There is just one step this month: Compose a piece of music in which something special is situated at the very center.
Background: You might simply interpret that instruction as you choose to. For additional context, you might consider this centerpiece a surprise, or you might hint at it at the opening. It might be a gap, or a presence, or something in between.
At the moment there are over one and a half million confirmed cases of Americans contracting COVID-19, and within a few days the death count will reach 100,000.
However, at the center of everything is a leader with a serious psychological condition that demands him to be at the center of everything.
Accordingly, a Trombone with limited vocabulary is challenged by a Clarinet attempting to inject logic, only to be ignored by a chorus of sycophants.
America is living under occupation.
Individual 1 (Living Under Occupation) was written for Clarinet, Trombone, Harpsichord, Accordion, and Chorus of Sycophants.
This piece was written in response to Naviarhaiku332 – from evening mist
from evening mist
the bell
of life passing
This haiku is by Issa: during his lifetime he wrote over 20,000 haiku, hundreds of tanka, and several haibun.
This piece is dedicated to Lucky, a rescue greyhound adopted by my daughter and her family – the best dog anyone could ever hope for.
The Bell of Life Passing – For a Lucky Dawg was written for Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Trombone, Tuba, and Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass Voices.
