What have you composed for? Or what medium do you work around?
Other
"Alright, alright, you got me. I apologize for the knee-jerk reaction and the needless mathematical diversion.
(Though, come to think of it, it would be fun to estimate just how large the space of possibilties are for some given constraints, say a…"
(Though, come to think of it, it would be fun to estimate just how large the space of possibilties are for some given constraints, say a…"
"And if you'll excuse me for an addendum: the number of possibilities even in tonal music is huge. Even if you restrict yourself to 7 notes of the C major scale, the number of possibilities grow very fast as the number of notes increase: if you write…"
"I'm sorry, I have to call BS on the "tonality == finite possibilities" claim. The exact same argument can be applied to atonal music, or music of any kind, really, that can be represented as a sequence of notes. In atonal music you just have 12…"
"Very interesting! And quite a unique flavor compared to your usual output. :-)"
"Wow, beautiful! And indeed, very soothing. A bit "too" calm for Ludwig, but I certainly do hear elements of him throughout. One of these days I'd like to hear both the 1st and 2nd movements together, to see how they fit.
Thanks for sharing!"
Thanks for sharing!"
"Hmm, the loud parts are still clipping (with slight distortion). Maybe try turning the master volume down?"
"The version I posted is still accessible in that ancient thread in this comment of mine. It even still has the score too. I don't know what got into me when I wrote that comment, though. It was a lot more ascerbic than it by all rights ought to be.…"
"gregorio X said:
[...]HS... I think I have the score somewhere - (I ended up doing 2 variations) Should I send you the score, or just post a link for the audio?
Just the link would be fine. Just wanted to hear your version again, to compare with…"
[...]HS... I think I have the score somewhere - (I ended up doing 2 variations) Should I send you the score, or just post a link for the audio?
Just the link would be fine. Just wanted to hear your version again, to compare with…"
"Listened to Standing Rock again. I think I appreciate it a lot more now that I understand the reference in the title... It's extremely cleverly put together, to evoke helicopters and music at the same time. Amazingly well put together.
As far as the…"
As far as the…"
"I can't seem to find your new attachment?"
"Yes, indeed that was quite the trip down memory lane. :-) Those were stormier days, though there were definitely gems worth digging through.
I couldn't find your original rendition of the theme, though. The links were dead. Do you happen to still…"
I couldn't find your original rendition of the theme, though. The links were dead. Do you happen to still…"
"gregorio X said:
Thank for listening HS (and finding me in it:) I suppose you know a certain side of my writing, (maybe more than just a 'side') - but in the spirit of 'find the hidden picture', can you can you see me here?: (all in fun, of…"
Thank for listening HS (and finding me in it:) I suppose you know a certain side of my writing, (maybe more than just a 'side') - but in the spirit of 'find the hidden picture', can you can you see me here?: (all in fun, of…"
"I can hear in it your very distinctive writing / playing style that I hear in your fugues. Or, rather, should I say that I hear in this piece and in your fugues a very distinctive, characteristic style that I can immediately identify as yours. ;-)…"
"1) These days, almost none. :-( COVID-19 has thrown my schedule off-balance, plus I have too many other hobbies besides composing soaking up what scant free time I have, so these days very little progress has been made in music.
2) On an average…"
2) On an average…"
"The dynamic range of the audio is a bit wide for a piano; I'd recommend narrowing that a bit to avoid audio clipping on the loud end. The written dynamics are probably OK in the hands of a competent pianist, just don't expect it to come out with…"
"Nice and stately. The melodic and harmonic diversions make it quite unique; I don't think you've to worry about "stealing" somebody else's tune!"
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Hello H.S. and thank you for your very kind message. Actually, I'm just coming off a very serious eye condition triggered, I suppose by an equally serious upper and lower respiratory thing I picked up on a flight back from Berlin in May (I'm in Los Angeles). The eye required surgery to set things right and I'm just now getting my vision back in the one eye (the other was unaffected). Actually I've had problems with this eye in the past so I'm not surprised the respiratory condition reignited it. This is since May 3 when I got back and I'm just kicking the respiratory infection now. It's been a grueling---what--three months? I've never had anything like this before. Had to be some kind of exotic bug from the deepest parts of Asia or Africa or something because I usually bounce back from these things in 4-5-days. This took 3 different courses of antibiotics to finally get under control (coughing up blood and blowing blood out of my nostrils at one point, but no TB) and I was still coughing a month afterwards. Beware flying internationally. Nowadays you take your life into your hands getting exposed to all these potent diseases like Ebola floating around.
Greatly appreciate you letting me know you enjoy the concerto. You're right; I do get discouraged frequently because generally speaking most musicians aren't interested in doing an ultra-Romantic work these days, especially one that requires such large forces (expert pianist plus accomplished orchestra) to pull off properly. I did get word from someone who loves the concerto--psychologist and author Darrel Ray that he had a friend of his try to get it into the hands of David Stern, violinist Isaac Stern's son who is the conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra but I haven't heard anything since. This was about 6 weeks ago. Got my fingers crossed. Maybe someone can pull a miracle off. I hope so. Thanks so much for getting in touch. I will keep you apprised of any developments. Wishing you all the best and looking forward to any news you might want to share about your own career happenings. Take care,
J Joe Townley
Hi H. S. and thank you for your very kind comments re My Piano Concerto No 2. Not sure if you were able to get to my bio. Thunbnail; started studying piano seriously at 10; wanted to write a piano concerto desperately by 16 but didn't actually do it until 18 when I wrote a horrid 1st mov. to a Piano Concerto in C Minor in 2-piano/4-hand. Injured my RH forefinger severely at 19-20 (don't remember) but continued with BA and injured finger until giving piano up at 25.
I agree. I'd love to hear this live. The screen-capture mutilated the audio. The SoundCloud audio is much better, but still sounds like an electronic rendering. To put on a performance of this concerto would cost roughly 150K for a top-tier orchestra/pianist so that's not in the offing anytime soon. My advice: don't write piano concertos if you're thinking of getting them performed. Stick with smaller works for small ensembles. Much greater chance of getting them performed live. I will check out your music tomorrow. Just getting this message really late (nearing midnight--yawn) So glad you enjoyed the concerto and noticing that it is cyclic. You're the first out of roughly 5000 viewers to comment on that (including earlier versions on YouTube which I have since deleted). J Joe
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