Specters

Ever since working on my Master's thesis, I have kept a Word file of every composition idea, whether in-progress or just a concept to maybe come back to someday. It's a long list.

Specters is one such piece that I've been hankering to put at the top of the list. Basically, it's my take on George Crumb's Makrokosmos, a piece I have always loved. Airtight theoretical analysis doesn't give me a hard-on, however; I just plain like the sound of the music. I couldn't care less about the psychotic level of obsessive-compulsive set theory behind it. I've sat through more than one seminar on that piece alone, how every single sound is tied in to everything else, and it's all very fascinating but not important. And graphic notation is a means, not the end, no matter what Dr. Beerman says. The ear doesn't care about what the score looks like! I simply like the sound. That's all. That's all you need.

Why I like it, I can't really explain. I don't have to. I just think piano extended technique makes for great ambient music (granted, most people would take that as an insult). And Herr Vogler's score to Endgame is money. Is the theory behind it anywhere near as intricate as the piece it's modeled after? Dunno, you'd have to ask Herr Vogler, wouldn't you. I don't care. I like it.

That's what Specters was going to be. The length I proposed in my Word file was fourteen minutes minimum. "Moment form" is a possibility, but then again that technique has still never been adequately described for me (see: the past four years of spiteful ranting). I tend to go for organic form, letting the music intuitively shape itself into something that satisfies the ear and the inner theorist.

I sort of accomplished this with Music for Poetry Readings, written for my sister's project at the time (spring '06). The cues were too brief to really do much, though. But with fourteen minutes, I can do some serious formal stuff.

Unfortunately, I haven't had access to a baby grand since I worked on the poetry music. More unfortunately, it may be much longer still. (Can't do the same extended technique on an upright, after all.) Man, I have a hankering to mess with this piece, but I can't! Alas, the grass is always greener when you're working on a project...