Thread: What are you currently working on?

This is a thread in which you tell us about what compositions you are currently working on, and if you want, why you're writing them and what they are about.

As for me I am composing my Violin concerto no. 5, skethces for my Symphony no. 6 and a six minute wind quintet that I have been composing since last year.

Now your turn.

Four character pieces for Violin and 'Cello.

nothing, I'm dry right now.

Finishing my set of preludes (http://soundcloud.com/stevenobrien/s...preludes-op-2/) and writing some orchestral sketches in between so I don't COMPLETELY forget how to write for orchestra.

String quartet which will hopefully prove to be more mature than my previous Chorale for Piano in F minor (Somewhere on this site)

serenades and symphonies for japanese instruments

Originally Posted by chee_zee

serenades and symphonies for japanese instruments

mmm, japanese, I like that.

Just finished the sketch of the first movement of my sixth symphony. Now onto the second movement. I'll write something very very fast for some contrast. The first movement is quite slow and very static in some sections.

I'm so lazy!, since yesterday I'm with the score of the Toccata... I have written only 2 pages... from a nearly 6 minutes piece! . It's only that my attention changes suddenly to other things, maybe I need vacations!

^I'm worse. I spent hours labouring over my sixth symphony sketches. I only managed to get 26 bars done.

I've figured out exactly how many bars I'm using in each mvt. But I'm not going to work on that darn symphony until tomorrow. Or maybe in a few hours when this stupidly hot weather cools down a bit.

At least one of these is "on hiatus" and has been for some time. These are not really listed in any order, although the first entry is the one I worked on most recently.

A Life in the Fields.
A sort of demented pastoral for 11 instruments detailing the adventures of a farmer who is constantly whacked out on his own homebrew hallucinogens. Will include a piece called "The Corn Thief" based on the Don Van Vliet painting of the same name.

The Adventures of Mr. Pachuco
Everyone's favourite immortal pseudo-Mexican who sells stolen credit cards, children and beef and occasionally snow. In his first feature length outing he tackles the forces of Soviet Russian dance clubs, Angus Beef Man, towels and some other stuff that I'm sure will be incredibly wacky. Music for electric big band and narrator.

Night Music.
Semi-programmatic piece for piano, flute, piccolo and glockenspiel in four movements. Each movement is strictly centred on a scale of some kind, except for the fourth movement in which each instrument is assigned a unique key and mode.

Planetary.
Episodic sound drama series in which events are all suggested through sound, there is no spoken dialogue. Almost haven't touched it in about two years, but I do think about it quite often. The Prologue episode is probably my most popular piece in general.

Johnny.
A large scale stage work in three sections, 1) ballet 2) opera 3) symphony, that is going to be very long and probably unlistenable to most people. Since I have to go about things on my own and can only sing bass-baritone (and poorly at that), the original release will consist of the vocal parts replaced by range-appropriate solo instruments. So for all intents and purposes it will initially be released to the public as a large scale work for orchestra and "digital tape." There will also be short "link" pieces written for ensembles of various sizes and the tape.

Atlas Shrugged.
A stage comedy (with musical accompaniment for harpsichord and accordion) about the consequences of Atlas shrugging. Atlas is asked a question he cannot answer, so for the first time in his life he shrugs, thereby sending the pre-Titanomachy Earth tumbling in to a fathomless abyss, and sending the Olympians with it. What ensues is the trial of Atlas led by Cronus while Gaia, Hyperion and others occasionally involve themselves in the discussion. The majority of the "action" takes place on the back of Bahamut, the great fish of Arabian mythology.

Rig Veda.
This will probably never happen, but I want to set every hymn in the Rig Veda to original music using lots of different instruments and configurations.

Mass of Music: A Celebration of the Great Forces of the Universe
Taking its name from the Catholic Mass, it is a work intended to be performed in some sort of temple complex in devotion to no deity that must have a fully functioning pipe organ, space for multiple choirs, a large orchestra and auxilliary instrumental ensembles. Instead of praising God, who is denounced in the opening poem, the subjects (and four major sections) of praise are the four great forces of the universe; music, love, nature and humanity. It is being designed to affirm that the people of this world are their own beings, born from the chaotic forces of nature, capable of transcending mere existence and mastering their intellectual and spiritual ideals rather than existing merely in servitude of archaic and irrelevant deities. It is something of a large scale irreligious hymn or paean to the power of humanity, and how we can express that power through creativity and love.

The 12 Labours of Hercules
What is shaping up to be a large scale series of works centred around sound manipulation, and expanding on some of the techniques I've developed for manipulating recorded instruments in particular.

There's a bunch of other stuff that hasn't taken form yet, but it's on its way.

^Whoa Crudblud! How on earth did you come up with those!?!? You must be one hell of a composer! I must listen to some of your works. The Adventures of Mr. Pachuco sounds like a lot of fun!

Don't get too excited, I usually get positive reactions until people actually hear the music.

But seriously, thank you for the enthusiastic response! I'll be sure to get a sort of catalogue of my music posted here. I like your idea of having it in a blog, I think I'll do it that way too.

Originally Posted by Crudblud

Don't get too excited, I usually get positive reactions until people actually hear the music.

But seriously, thank you for the enthusiastic response! I'll be sure to get a sort of catalogue of my music posted here. I like your idea of having it in a blog, I think I'll do it that way too.

Just to give me an idea, how would you describe your music?