Today, we were fortunate to have Ensemble Offspring come into the Conservatorium to record Bree van Reyk's Light for the First Time. Listen to this beautiful piece below!
This is the piece that we will also be creating a 'Baby Steps' model for composing in the classroom. The session began by us, collectively working together to set up the room. We had to figure out which way we wanted our cameras to face to get the best possible background but also to have all the instruments fit comfortable and seen.
We were able to record once before asking the composer and the players some questions to guide us in creating the model.
These were some of the questions we asked the composer (Bree van Reyk):
What was the inspiration or influence for this piece?
When you compose, how do you start? Do you start at the start, or like was there a certain starting process? How do you approach it in terms of structure?
How did you choose your instrumentation?
After the initial draft, what corrections/improvements/changes came up when workshopping the composition with real players?
Which instruments were most difficult to write for and why
Intention with aleatoric segments?
Why did you choose to use aleatoricism in certain segments especially page 16 E1 b.59
What was the attraction with all the extended techniques – was there a certain aesthetic in mind?
In general, how did you choose the pitch sets
How often do you change the piece after you’ve decided it’s finished? What are your thoughts regarding drafts and versions – do you keep improving the one?
Do you have experience with working with these particular instruments before writing the piece?
Did you talk to the musicians before/as you were writing this piece?
What did you listen to, to compose this piece? Who are your composing influences?
Intended audience – (commission)
What were the biggest challenges or surprises you encountered on this project? What’s the thing you like best about this piece?
What advice would you give to aspiring composers?
Did you intend this work to be performed by Ensemble Offspring?
These were some of the questions we asked the performers:
What are some main differences in performing new music and music written by dead people?
What happens when certain parts are not written idiomatically for your instrument?
The intonation was great and spot-on – how did you rehearse?
How was rehearsing the aleatoric parts, and how did you choose the particular cells you would play? How do you deal with the unknown in performing such aleatoric moments?
There are some very interesting rhythms and specific tempos in this piece, how did you rehearse that? And who normally takes the lead in rehearsals and how do you communicate about it?
The plus/minus sign – were there specific decisions or factors in interpreting that symbol?
We also wanted to get some demonstration videos of the performers to use in creating our composition model. These included:
Could get them to repeat certain aleatoric part to compare the differences
Demonstrate special techniques/notation (Section B): different ways they interpret the Z symbol.
We recorded the responses from the composer and the performers. We were also given a score of her composition.
Check out some photos of the setup and the session!
I took a time lapse of the recording portion of the session, check it out below!