Against my better judgement, as fairy tales seem to have become an increasingly regular part of my output, I decided to try and draw your attention here to my just completed (well, the first draft) Cinderella setting. Normally it's too much to expect those not already familiar with my style to not only sit through nearly half an hour of music but also to have a copy of the story at hand as the music follows the original story (the Grimm original, not any sanitised modern remake) quite closely. There's relatively little actual dialogue here so much of the work is instrumental. An additional problem is that there is no so much of a hint of a fugue in it so I expect to be met with stony silence.
At least I've made the score available so it's possible to follow the text in the event anyone does dip their toes in the water. Those who've heard my Concerto for Piano and Ancient Instruments will be familiar with the eccentric instrumentation from VSL used here (the strings are different using a specialised Orchestral Tools library which is light on articulations so excuse the rather synthetic-sounding trills)
The work can be found on my Reelcrafter page here https://play.reelcrafter.com/dko22/vocalmusic
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Hi David -- much appreciated that you've given this a bash -- and even listened twice. One reason for choosing this eclectic selection of instruments was, as you say, that the story itself is quite old and in some ways it's perhaps easier to evoke the sort of atmosphere of those days in this way, though there's certainly quite a bit of tongue in cheek there as well. It looks like you've understood what I'm about here and this work is certainly rather different from recent chamber and orchestral works which have tended to be a bit on the heavy and gloomy side, I can't deny (though of course there are some who like that sort of thing and would find Cinderella just a bit daft)! Interested in what you find terrifying -- I don't think there's anything in this story that can quite match the witch being roasted in Hansel and Gretel but it certainly has its morbid moments.
And welcome to the forum, by the way!
David, a while ago, I mentioned wanting to revisit this and follow along with the original text as you intended. I never forgot, and finally, with a few beers, I did.
I believe this experience is at least three times better when reading the text along with the music. Your music syncs up well with the scenes described between the dialogue, leading me to my first question: How did you craft the music to estimate the allotted time for the reader between dialogue? It's no coincidence; it aligns with the length of the words between dialogue. This must have involved extensive preplanning. I like the idea of a challenge, so here it goes. If it were me, I'd calculate the average human's reading time per syllable, count the number of syllables between dialogue, sum that up to get a seconds value. From there, I'd consider BPM and then determine how many bars I'd need to write at that BPM to align with the average reader's speed.
Is this your idea for a form like this where you craft music to bend around a given text? It's a clever idea, whether it's yours or not.
Now, for more music-specific questions:
At 5:30, what text exactly prompted this neat little flutter of melodies? I like to think it's the father riding home. It suddenly goes somber, though. Is it the planting of the branch on the grave?
I certainly detect the festival and the fanfare that arrives with it. Clever. This syncs up well. The brief woeful passage at 7:45 about aligns perfectly with Cinderella weeping about not getting to go to the dance.
The quirky and, in my eyes, rather funny (in a musically comedic way, effectively) passage is awesome. I want to know which text specifically that was meant to align with. I marked it; it might be when the pigeons nodded and "pick, pick, pick, picked." It's hard to know for sure, but I suspect this because I notice this motif comes back at 10:58, about. I love this section; it makes me smile.
I did have trouble following along completely after, and I believe I had a different version of the text at hand somewhere after the 15:00 mark. Perhaps attaching the full text you scored it to would be helpful. Inherently, this is super hard to follow. The formatting of your overall score is very unconventional compared to what a conductor or one might expect to read.
Nonetheless, I really enjoy this. It supports and aids the story very effectively. I'm glad I came back. I attached a few brief markups with my notes on time stamps.
Hi David - it was a pleasant surprise that you wanted to revisit my Cinderella and I get the impression you've pretty well understood what I'm about. At 5'30" it is indeed exactly the father riding home and the following sombre section is exactly the planting of the tree. The pigeons indeed pick, pick in various places including 9'14". As for the version used, it is Lori Campbell's translation (available here https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Brothers-Grimm-ebook/dp/B01N36ZRKS ) which follows the German original quite closely as far as I can determine. Looks much the same as what you have quoted. If there are other specific places in the score you're not quite sure what's going on, I'm happy to try and answer.
I had no conscious plan of organising the timing of the instrumental interludes to exact reading time and the amount of music written is purely instinctive. The idea that I could so carefully plan such a thing did bring a chuckle! As regards the score formatting, I've done nothing more than simply using Dorico's "hide unused staves" feature. This was supposed to make it easier to read -- I myself prefer a full score with all the empty space which of course for actual composing is essential anyway. Perhaps you find this easier -- in which case I could reattach the score?
incidentally if i try to click on the lower of your two text panels, all that happens is the bottom one with music comes up. So I easily can't see those comments (unless I try to magnify the whole page or something) but I think you've largely referred to these in the main text anyway.
Hello David -
I decided to dive in and listened to the entire piece. I loved your use of rare instrumentation - you certainly have access to lots of unique sounds! Likewise, I detect the influence of the spare neoclassical style of Stravinsky here, but only as a muse, the style is distinctly yours, very interesting and engaging. I did not find listening to be at all tedious, but wanted more.
This is obviously designed for an ensemble of soloists. Everyone involved must be very sure of themselves and solid to make the spare scoring work. Not a work for the faint of heart, but quite interesting.
I was not familiar with the original version of the Cinderella story. It is certainly much darker than the sanitized Disney version, and your setting of it to music reflects very well the tone of the original story. This is great work and quite creative. So, how about more fairy tales?
Ken
Hi Ken -- glad you enjoyed it and thanks for listening. The more exotic instruments all come from the VSL Special Edition "Historic Instruments" collection. Because they include the likes of a glass harmonica, this was never really envisioned to be played by real musicians but you're right - I tend in general to relatively thin textures and dislike doublings unless there is a specific point. I've already done several fairy tales -- in my opinion the best so far is Hansel and Gretel as this has more scope for extreme and varied emotions.
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