Hey, it’s Monday night, and yes, I had Masterworks Chorale rehearsal, but guess what? I got some orchestration done this afternoon beforehand!
In fact, not only did I orchestrate 6. The King of Cats Orders an Early Breakfast, I orchestrated it twice, so now you get to compare and tell me which one is better. One has a piano, and the other doesn’t.
In both, I’ve used a clarinet to stand in for the vocalist, because he’s a capella for the first half, and the mp3 just was silly, with trumpet fanfares then seconds of silence. The clarinet sounds dumb, but at least you’ll know what the King of Cats is singing.
So here’s the piano score, the mp3 with piano, and the mp3 without piano.
The ones of you who have been paying attention have noticed that I’ve skipped No. 4 and No. 5 in our sequence. So sue me. 4. The Sun and Moon Circus Soothes the Wakeful Guests is almost done; I just want to even out some of the last part of it. 5. The Man in the Marmalade Hat Arrives involves a whole battery of percussion, up to and including a ratchet, and I hate dealing with percussion in the sequencer. Ick, ick, ick.
Not only do I like the one with piano better, I want to hear the piano during the opening either alternating fanfares with the horns or instead of the horns or for the first few and then adding the horns. The piano’s presence gives a distinct presence of character for me, childlike, catlike–walking over the keys or playing the keys…
I think I do, too. I think the piano helps fill in the sound; without it, the bassoon bleats too much, although that would be fixed by a real live player. The trumpets have to stay, though: they’re the King of Cats’ motif.