If this blog has fallen quiet over the last week or so, it's because we've been in intensive rehearsal for tonight's opening. However, if you head on over to my twitter page, you can get the blow-by-blow.
Steadily-stop! in Traders
Four of us playing a number from the show in the pub. Unfortunately, the camera misses the moment where I crawled around on the floor while playing my solo. (Which isn't in the show!)
Ringtones
Yes, now you can download ringtones from the show! Enjoy;
complicated01 - complicated02 - complicated03
Reh 9 pt 1
First bit of the ninth rehearsal; this chunk includes a full run through of 'Steadily-Stop!'.
'In the back of my mind' - performance
Here's the final performance of 'In the back of my mind'. Not perhaps exactly the kind of thing we're going to be doing in [workspace], but this is the territory I'm exploring.
'In the back of my mind' rehearsal
In the back of my mind is a kind of study for, or tangent to, [workspace]; a work for the Scottish Flute Trio plus a choir of fourteen clarinets, to be performed 8 Nov @ 1930 in the ACH. Here's video of a run-through, from the first rehearsal;
Video from the second rehearsal
More to come, having some trouble getting the video off the camera edited this week. Also, update, I've pulled that us-only video of part three because the soundtrack is out of whack with the images - grr I hate video editing!
Overview
[workspace] is the working title of a piece to be performed at the Plug festival of new music in May 08. There will be two performances, in the Guiness Room, lasting in the region of 60-90 minutes. A cast of six musicians will draw upon a battery of instruments, voice, movement, recorded and live sound/video, and costume to present a devised piece crossing the boundaries between contemporary music, theatre and performance art.
[workspace] may also be characterised as a framework within which musicians and a composer can work together to create a performance. Over a period of several months, starting in Oct 08, the composer will facilitate a devising process, drawing on a wide variety of musical and creative strategies; games, improvisation, fragmentary notation and conventional scores may all be used. The final piece will be drawn together in a culminative period of rehearsal (Sun 27 April - Wed 30 April) leading up to two performances on Thursday 1 and Friday 2 May.
An experienced professional with a significant artistic reputation will be recruited to the project in a dual role; as a second supervisor for the PhD, and as an artistic advisor to the composer in the development of the piece.
Although there is scope for input from all participants, the eventual piece will still bear the strong artistic stamp of the composer. The starting point will always be music, and the final decision as to whether a particular scene 'works' or not will be largely a musical one. All the music will be written by the composer, although non-original music may play a part in the devising process.
A videographer will document the devising process, also incidentally collecting material which might find a place in the final performance, which will also be recorded on video. All of this material will be edited into a form suitable for presentation within the PhD portfolio.
The People
The following people will be involved throughout the project;
- Composer
- Six musicians
- Second supervisor
- Kay Stephen - violin (viola)
- Paddy Johnson - cello
- Fraser Langton - clarinet
- George Kastanos - sax
- Tim Cooper - euphonium
- Richard Waghorn - piano
The following additional people will be needed in the final phase of the project;
- Stage management team
- Lighting designer
- (Possibly) extra videographer/s to document performance
Resources
Development period
- Rehearsal room; a series of Thursday evening rehearsals in the Guinness room have been planned
- Ideally; PA with long trailing mic, ghettoblaster, video camera, laptop, wireless internet access, spare hard drive, video projector, two long tables, eight chairs, one music stand
- Costume requirements are minimal, each player to have three costumes for the show
- Performer's own casual clothes
- SHAM costumes; charity-shop suits sprayed with copper plasticote paint, strange hats made from hanging-basket liners (as above)
- Concet blacks
- Props;
- Possibly scrap/junk/homemade instruments in addition to performer's own
Final rehearsal and performance
- Guiness for one week, all day every day; this has been agreed, Sun 27 April - Friday 2 May
- Set to be determined; either no set, a nothing-is-hidden space, or, an idea exists for using black drapes to substantially reconfigure space. Maybe something to project video on; tables, chairs, ghettoblaster, music stands etc as used in rehearsal period. Maybe a clothes rail or two. Maybe television monitors instead of video projection.
Costs
Still to be determined in detail. It is assumed that the production will be officially supported by the RSAMD, as;
- a centrepiece of the Plug 08 festival
- a major plank in the composer's PhD research
- an opportunity for eight music students
- an opportunity for a drama student
- an opportunity for TPA
- an interdisciplinary work
- Second supervisor
- Extra work in support of project by second supervisor
- Videography during development period and final performance
- Other misc costs eg composer's travel, petty cash, contingency
Five Inanities for Brass 5tet
Here's a recording of one of the Five Inanities, 'Teufelwalzer';
teufelwalzer-sch.mp3
This is the version for four bassoons from the song cycle 'Schaduwee'; it has also appeared in several other recent works of mine, in various arrangements, usually performed simultaneously with other material.
The idea of all of these pieces is that they all appear completely innocent, until they suddenly get stuck on a particularly dodgy cadence. It seems the harmony was wrong all along! Oh dear.
Here's another example, from The Society for Classical and Authentic Music, comprising on this occasion five oboes and five bassoons, who perform three of the Inanities, Jagdmazurka, Teufelwalzer and Stupid Tune, with overlaps between the bassoon and oboe versions, before being requested by the conductor to efface themselves;
scam_inanities.mp3
The World is So Large
This is a sketch for a gag to use in the show, borrowing heavily from 'Bloody Mess' by Forced Entertainment. The idea is that the piano music will be scored into a really lovely piece of music, which is then punctured by somebody saying something along the lines of what I have here...
The Society for Classical and Authentic Music
Closely allied with the Society for High Art Music, of course, but the lineup here is six oboes and six bassons. In this extract ensemble are enjoying 'dubbeltrubble', a merry Dixieland tune, but are directed by the conductor to defer to the first bassoonist, who wishes to essay a cadenza. Regrettably, perhaps, this coincides with ritual actions involving an out-of-tune low Eb and some other sounds…
scam_extract1.mp3
