Get it Finished

I am almost done, having cast off more notation, more ideas than is contained in the present final. Editing with a chain saw. Heartless. All the time and thought and creative ideas that were churning, dismissed with a cold eye towards brevity and ease of playing. No one wants to hear 12 pages of rehashing a melody, unless it rises to something beyond the original enterprise.

This shows me working with the Ipad to remember ideas I come up with. I talk through it, to help recall what I am doing. These ideas were all edited: Out. And I liked them.

Major breakthrough during BF chat yesterday; DHC said she could take the 4 descending notes of the variation section and improvise (improve!) on them for a year, finding new things and interest enough. Four simple notes to work with. I took this idea away, and thought how to use it for H+J. And here I am finding yes, this is so, and might provide a quick solution. Just improvise a little on the a c e and d, the notes for the letters for H(enry) and J(ani) and E(ttinger) and K(lebanow). Can I keep the bow of this boat from plowing into a major wave? Meaning stay focused. Not lose control, not waste time, not get what needs to be finished. No more dither.

More transition ideas that did not survive. And I liked them.

The introduction, transitions and the end. At this point I am unsure of what I am doing. I had a melody I really liked; I was inspired and excited to play with all the rhythms and all the note permutations I could think of, or that just seemed to fall in my lap. The “first statement” and first variation worked. I loved the interlude, and I heard them playing in my head all day and before I fell asleep and when I woke too. All that remained was to pull together a 2nd variation, and introduction, some transitions to bridge sections, and an ending. I had to cull pages of ideas to get to the 2nd variation. This came down to choosing which ideas sounded strongest to me and contrasted to the other statements. The intro and ending. For the intro I took the beginning letters of the first name and surname, and simply arpeggiated them up: A, C, E, D. A little bland, but then I thought the main body of excited rhythm might need this contrast. I used the same idea for the ending. The ending composed of the surnames blended together and repeated once. Then I ended with the A, C, E, D arpeggiating down with a final resolution to A and C, simply played together; symbolizing the bride and groom and the wedding.

The first ending for Henry and Jani

I am not sure whether this intro and ending really work. I don’t have the time right now to tell, and I don’t want to fuss with it. And right now I am a little sick of working on it. To the point where I don’t hear it as clearly any more, and my decision-making is scrambled with so many changes and considerations that have been executed. I think the contrast between intro, ending and body is good, but not sure it is interesting, winning. It is just contrast. The piece has an Israeli feel; and the key/mode was very easy for me to work in. And the rhythm fell into place for me too. It was catchy. But I had an idea for my transitions; of A scales (or patterns/motifs) following C scales. “A” was the note for the first letter of the groom’s name, and “C” for the bride’s. When they met, the groom followed the bride around, trying to stay with her. So, I thought to have these A scales and C scales, maybe getting closer to each other; maybe the C scale keeping its distance; the C scale gradually/eventually seeking the A scale. I did add this element, but not enough time to feel how well it works for the music. Are my stylistic ideas running the show? It’s a clever idea, but does this scale idea actually serve the larger musical ideas?