Whattaya know…  Another day of 2-3 on the LSCA!

I had thought I might just fart around with unplanned/unattached melodies and harmonies, but I went back to the idea of working on the rest of Daedalus’s entrance in Dream One.  And that’s what I did.

Those who are keeping track of my compositional style might be surprised at the simplicity of the harmonies of this section.  It seems a throwback, I know, but I’ve decided that the opening will be relatively uncomplicated as they introduce the idea of myth and its supreme value.  Trust me, when we segue into Icarus’s actual dream in another few measures, there will be enough interesting harmonies to do you.

The first bit of this section is quasi-recitative, blossoming forth with the previously heard aria, then (new part) retreating again before the chorus joins in.

The usual abrupt ending, which I’m pretty sure is going to get a new tonality before heading into the final bit of this section.  Simplicity is one thing; cheesiness is altogether something else.

Dream One: Daedalus | score (pdf) | mp3

Here’s today’s abortive attempt.

I took the notes of our 12-tone row and splattered them in a descending cascade from the top of the orchestra to the bottom. I thought it might be a good stab at an opening to the show.

It’s not a sure thing: mp3

At the very least, it sounds sparse; that could be fixed with judicious tinkering.  This was after all just a splatter, not meant to be a finished product.

However, and this will probably seem odd, the last three notes—the ones that outline a V⁷ chord—simply sound too pat. I’m all about the tonality, but that cadence just made me wrinkle my lip.

Oh well, that’s the purpose of abortive attempts, ne-c’est pas?

Back to Tibbetts’ song.

A third thing I’m playing with for the opening of Seven Dreams of Falling is motifs, and the first motif is one that I used in Six Preludes (no fugues) for “Prelude (no fugue) No. 6.”

I got this from Sid Lonegren’s Labyrinths: ancient myths and modern uses (p. 139). He takes an eleven-circuit labyrinth:

…and labels the circuits with the notes of the chromatic scale, starting with A on the outside circuit and ending with G# at the center.  When you walk the path, you encounter the notes in the order C# – A# – B – C – A – D – G – E – F – F# – D# – G#, which I have transposed down a half-step for the above motif.

It is of course a 12-tone row of serial music infamy, but when you play it there’s a definite tonal, if chromatic, pattern to it.  I mean, look at the penultimate measure: it outlines a V⁷ chord, of all things, leading straight back to our tonic note.  You may hear it in the “Prelude (no fugue) No. 6” here.

So I’m thinking it would be a valid thing to use this motif as a major element in an opera that centers in part on a labyrinth (technically a maze^[1]).  The question will be how to do so.  (I’m already thinking about stealing incorporating some of the prelude.)

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^[1] A labyrinth is unicursal: it has only one path to the center.  You cannot get lost in a labyrinth.  A maze is a puzzle; you would need Ariadne’s thread to get back out.

I’ve decided to be a badass composer and post my failures here as well as my successes.  (Wait, he thinks he’s had successes?)

Today I thought I would whack out a grand baroque chorus to open the show with, and I did but it doesn’t really work. However, the best way to get good work is to crank out the bad work, at least for me.  I can hear what doesn’t work and move on from there.  (For those who are new to my whinging composer posts, I start a file called “abortive attempts” and futz around in that before committing to a real score.)

So what doesn’t work about this?  It’s too rushed, not spacious enough. The text needs more breathing room.  It needs to sound more like the opening to this opera, and that means more tension, even in the pure tonalities of unexamined myth.

When finished, the text and the music will move on to a B-section, with the piccolo trumpet diddling little triplet figures, before returning to the big theme.  That will segue into the Zadok figures from yesterday, and Daedalus will have a quasi-recitative section before breaking into yesterday’s bit.

There are also some harmonic things that I thought might throw us off balance in a good way but don’t quite hit the mark.

In any case, it gives the flavor of what I’m going for.

score (pdf) | mp3

In other news, I avoided working on John Tibbetts’ song another day.

update: already improved it; will start completely over tomorrow nonetheless

As most people who have to listen to me face-to-face know, I have recently accepted a “handshake commission,” i.e., no one is handing money over to anyone else, to write the score to Carey Scott Wilkerson’s Seven Dreams of Falling.  We were introduced by a mutual friend who hoped we would find such a collaboration fruitful and enjoyable, and indeed we hit it off right away.

Scott and I have been communicating for about a month now discussing how to turn his quirky little post-modern play into an opera, and we’ve made some good progress.  However, I haven’t really thought about actually writing any music yet.

Until today.  Or rather, last night, when my body and my brain conspired to keep me from sleeping, and one thing that kept running through my head was music for part of the opening scene, “Dream One.”  So this afternoon I thought, well, why not see if it actually comes out of my head?

On the LSCA, this tiny bit was between 2 and 3, so yea me!

Quick synopsis: Icarus’ flight and fall has become an annual event, webcast, pay-per-view.  His father Daedalus manages all the technical aspects.  Theseus has become their publicist while still managing his own annual myth, that of killing the Minotaur.  Ariadne has settled into embittered sniping; she runs a feminist blog and podcast.  The Minotaur—well, let’s talk about him later.  As the show progresses, Icarus decides he wants out of the myth, wanting to find life for himself.  Etc.

In Dream One, we open with a grand baroque chorus as the populace watches the Event on their iPads and phones.  We shift from the Chorus to Daedalus, and he sings of his son and the pride he feels in their continuing their myth for the benefit of the world.  That’s the part I wrote today, when the music shifts from piccolo trumpet and chorus to a Zadok-the-Priest-like figure in the strings and Daedalus steps into the spotlight.

So here are the very first notes written of the fabulous new opera, Seven Dreams of Falling, by Dale Lyles and C. Scott Wilkerson.  I should note that I decided to start with a piano score, which I will have to have anyway for rehearsals.  Those who remember the sometimes astonishing changes the William Blake’s Inn score underwent during orchestration may already hear timpani and chimes in the future.

score (pdf) | mp3