"A Trio of Myopic & Near-Sighted Rodents"

"A Trio of Myopic & Near-Sighted Rodents."

OK ... so I still suck at titles, but ... you have to admit - this one's fun!

Of course, I'm talking about using the theme of the children's rhyme "Three Blind Mice" as the basis for this piece.

Like a previous posting, "Noodle, Poodle, Doodle," (which used the military tune "Yankee Doodle" as it's basis) I'm using an old established tune to jump off from in a highly technical manner. (Technical to us piano thumpers means lots of notes!)

As a pianist certain techniques always came easy to me; cascading chords, odd scalar patterns, poly-rhythmic organizations - they all just happen in my hands. Long established techniques (read - more boring!) always required a lot more work than my colleagues to master.

This could, of course, be why I gravitated to modern literature as a young pianist.

One of the other things I love about music is it's ability to be humorous. Music can be fun and acerbic - just like a poem, novel, short story, etc. Why do we composers spend so much of our time being so serious all the time. (Underscore, bold and put "all" in as many different colors as you can!)

Really, it seems to be so inherent in a composers life to be so serious.

"You think Tchaikovsky made jokes!"

(Wow! Who said that?) "Well, ... he must have made some ..."

"Idiot! He was a real composer; serious, angst ridden ... filled with pathos the likes of you will never understand! He was Russian! You need to be more like him!"

"Really? To be really like him I'd have to be a much better drinker than I am and ... dead now. Besides, I'm American ... we have a sense of humor!"

Well, OK - that wasn't a real conversation, just talking to myself - and you know what they say about people who talk to themselves?

(Really? What do they say? Who said that?)

Actually, about a decade ago I lectured at the famed Tchaikovsky Conservatory. It was during one of the first recording sessions that I was doing with the Kiev Philharmonic and they graciously invited me to speak and play for them.

One of the composition students stood to ask me a question during the Q & A part of my lecture.

"Why you have so much humor - so much funny in speech?"

"I'm glad you found the humor in it. I ask you - Why not?"

" ... well ...?" He was clearly not liking this. "Well, composer is serious person. You should be serious person."

"I am serious person." Launching right into his syntactical rhythm. "I'm just not sad all the time. I enjoy life, art ... music. We don't have to be sad to be serious." Why was I the only one laughing in the room? Where was my vodka?

"Sadness is part of artistic process ..."

"No, sadness is part of depression. I don't have to be bi-polar to write sad or happy music."

"Happy music? Happy music is only happy because you heard sad music before. Is answer to angst."

"This," he continued looking at me through his blood-shot eyes - no doubt earned after a night of quelling his sadness with vodka - "This, is our lot as composers in life."

Well, just how do you answer that? Our lot in life as composers, as artists is to be ... sad? Well, that's just ... sad.

I guess I'm just a pretty happy person. (A bit of irony is that one of the most played pieces on classical radio in Kiev is the third movement to my "Taliban Dances" - which features a slide whistle and thirty-seven balloons popping!)

So, in that vein - here's a happy piece that is based on "Three Blind Mice." It is very tactile, technical and ... well, pretty much a lot of fun to play.

I hope that it is fun to listen to. I'll be sad if it isn't!

(If I were into those annoying little emoticons, I would insert a smiley face here!)

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 14, 2010): 7994 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 14, 2010): 7332

Get the FREE sheet music to this and most others in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

Many thanks to Randy from Scranton, PA for the great "Three Blind Mice" image!

"With You There Is No End"

The fourteenth (Valentine's Day) installment of Robert Ian Winstin's "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog.

"With You There Is No End"

It's Valentine's Day!

This piece, "With You There Is No End," is, of course, for my wife Susan.

I met Susan when I was performing a concert in Virginia Beach and she was moonlighting as a theater tech at the hall. I was struck by her beauty and charm right from the very start.

Thunderbolt.

Yep, love at first sight.

She, however, was not so enthralled.

"Would you have dinner with me?" I asked expecting her to answer yes.

"No," she answered continuing to push the piano onto the stage - using a lot of concentration to position the piano just so.

"No?" I was really disappointed.

"No." She continued to work the piano into place.

"Drink after the concert?"

"No."

"Can I wave to you from the stage?"

"No."

"Wow, ... that's a bit ... negative. Married?"

"No."

"Engaged?"

"No."

"Spoken for?"

"No."

"Thinking about being in a relationship?"

"No."

"I'm too tall?"

"No."

"Too short?"

"No."

"You don't like classical music?"

"Love it."

" ... then ... why?"

She thought for a moment and then looked at me.

"My Momma warned me about men like you."

It took almost eighteen months to get her to agree to even go out on a date with me.

I proposed that very first night.

Of course, she said "No."

Eventually I just wore her down.

If you have but a small percentage of the happiness I have found with my partner then you would be a very happy person.

Happy Valentine's Day.


Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 13, 2010): 7693 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 13, 2010): 7126

Get the FREE sheet music to this and most others in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

Opera "Dedo" - 'Form-My Life'

This is the thirteenth installment in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog series by Robert Ian Winstin.

Opera "Dedo" - 'Form-My Life"

Last week I posted an excerpt from my opera "Dedo" about the life (mostly death!) of the painter Modigliani. ("Dedo" was the nickname bestowed upon him by Pablo Picasso.)

Today's installment is another excerpt from that opera.

Again - Emergency Room. Sirens. Heart Monitors ... and a baritone singing. It can only be opera!

The scene: a modern hospital. (Taking a little liberty here!) In fact, in this scene, we hear the arrival of Modigliani to what will be his final residence - a hospital room.

A lone trumpet starts a plaintive call with a theme that is used later in the opera by his lover Jeanne. We hear the siren of the ambulance in the background bringing him to the Emergency Room.

Once again; "Dr White, paging Dr. White" becomes an ex-officio character in the opera. This is his first appearance. (You'll remember that in last week's posting, "Museum in His Mind," we basically had the end of the opera with Modigliani's death.)

A large rhythmic (basically un-'formed') orchestral introduction sets up the song "Form" - a flashback by Modigliani to his student days in Paris where his instructors would criticize his work for having no "Form." (Ironically, in later years he would become well known for his extended neck 'forms.') The song is sung to him by his art teacher, Picasso & the model (who later became his lover) Jeanne:

"Form is what you need, and,
Form is what you get, and,
Form is just the thing, to,
Make it look just like, a,
Painted-Perfect-Picture Art.
Give up what you need for, the,
Form!"

The flashback of his student days of "Form" gradually leads us to Modigliani's sung expressed regrets on his life in the song/aria "My Life."

"My life isn't all it's meant to be.
I sing it from the heart.
I know I'm not saying anything new ..."

He is joined in the chorus where he laments his wasted life while those around him - the teacher, Picasso & Jeanne - use basically the same words to express the very impact he has had on their lives.

Sometimes we just don't see that, do we?

The scene ends with Modigliani going in and out of consciousness and hallucinating back to his student days in a re-cap of "Form."

A little history of the opera: In going through census books from the early 20th century in Paris, I discovered that Picasso, Brancusi, Rivera & Modigliani all lived for a few years in the same building in Paris.

In imagining their conversations - as they were all completely different stylistically and politically - I came to write this small opera which took place in an imaginary bistro on the ground floor of their building.

Recently I have been re-structuring the whole setting of the opera - re-recording the set-pieces, arias and chorus numbers and then adding external sound to convey extra-musical ideas.

I have literally spent hundreds of hours culling and recording the additional external sounds that can make up the audio scene for the recording. The additional sounds quite literally became a composition in their own right.

In the original opera, the focus is the dying Modigliani, and takes place in a bistro - a perfect excuse for a small musical ensemble which would make the operatic setting feel more natural. (At least it does for me - nothing quite like stepping off a trolley car and launching into a love duet with full orchestra to really ask the listener/viewer to suspend belief!)

The setting is the last few days of Modigliani's life as told through his friends, peers and lovers. (The title character frequently goes back and forth between past, present & future as he moves through the opera towards his death.)

All this is the same in the new setting - except it now takes place in a hospital. Characters in the opera visit him in his ward room, coming and going. (Is there nothing more frightening than hearing hospital sounds? It is that deathly quiet surrounding medical machine noise that makes it so ethereal and real at the same time.)

In re-structuring the opera I have tried to use not only music, text and setting to create an aural portrait, but I am using external sounds to help set the scene.

My many thanks to baritone Brad Mitchell, soprano Mary Ringstad & tenor Mark Waters.


Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 12, 2010): 7123 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 12, 2010): 7066

Tomorrow? Valentine's Day music, of course!

Get the FREE sheet music for all the pieces in this blog (except the opera excerpts) at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"TC - the Theater Cat"

This is installment twelve in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" new music blog series by Robert Ian Winstin.

"TC - the Theater Cat"

Today's piece is about ... a cat.

(Yes, I've lost all reason - but I love that rat-faced, beady-eyed cat!)

TC is the theater cat who came to the theater by way of our next door neighbor - The Bier Garden. (A fabulous restaurant - real German food - and, more importantly - real German Beer!) A litter was born next door and, being cat lovers, we claimed the girl of the litter. (Boys do bad things to carpeting!)

Took a week to get the cat out of detox. (Just kidding about detox, but it did take us weeks to get him to stop craving ham!)

TC - Theater Cat - took a month or so to come out from the hole he poked through one of the office walls. He is infamous in the area. In fact, the first night we had him he managed to escape through the small tiny slit in the office window where he then hung out in the tree that is in front of the theater - meowing like crazy.

The staff at the Bier Garden got concerned and ... called the Fire Department! Yes, they actually called the Fire Department to come get a cat out of a tree.

And ... they came!

Except, as the nice Fireman was climbing up the tree to rescue TC, TC merely scampered back through the window and meowed at the Fireman from the safety of the office.

I heard all about TC's exploits the next day in a city events committee meeting. And at lunch. At supper. On the street. While parking my car and while throwing out the garbage.

TC and I bonded in November during a ferocious Nor'easter. I was afraid to leave the theater in a bad storm. (Of course, the theater had been there for 150 years and had done very well without my protective services!) So TC and I spent a few days getting used to each other. With no electricity, running water and a powerless flashlight.

In fact, we had great fun.

Since then - it's been a bizarre relationship between us. I seem to have added a cat personality to my people persona. (In fact, TC is slung across my arm as I type this!)

During recording sessions, TC has been known to scamper into the session, and, wanting to be part of any musical process, he will pounce across the piano keys, dash through the legs of strings players, or, suddenly appear with his head peeking out through the ceiling leaving us wondering how he got up there.

Oh, yes - that's right - TC is a 'he.'

My wife Susan took 'her' to the vet to get fixed - complete with pink faux rhinestone collar.

"What's the cat's name?" our vet asked Susan.

"TC - the Theater Cat" she answered.

"Hm mm..." he said looking at the appropriate organ. "Well," he continued, "the good news is that there will be no charge for the sex change operation."

"What?"

"TC is a he."

"Him?"

"He."

So, the very cat we didn't want pounced into my life, chewing holes in walls, getting stuck in ceilings, under the stage, activating emergency services and sending un-intelligent emails while he lays across my arm at my desk - he's piece number 12 in the series.

I couldn't be happier!

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 11, 2010): 6662 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 11, 2010): 6823

Get the FREE sheet music for this blog at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Like Water Flowing Through My Ceiling"

The eleventh installment in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" music blog by Robert Ian Winstin.

"Like Water Flowing Through My Ceiling"

Yep ... I'm starting to write music about actual events that happened the day before!

Somehow, I wish my title was actually ... "How I Won the Trillion Dollar Lottery," or "I Couldn't Take the Call the Day the President Called."

Instead ... "Like Water Flowing Through My Ceiling."

And, it was.

First - a little history: Last April I purchased an old Vaudeville theater in the historic Olde Towne section of Portsmouth, Virginia. It is a terrific old building that was a theater, a cinema, an army hospital for returning wounded from World War I, a dance club, restaurant, night club, gentleman's club (that explains the poles) and a skate-board park.

My wife and I saw this grand old building and decided that this was where we wanted to be. When we got the building it had been vacant for about twenty years.

Now, you can imagine what kind of work needed to be done for a building to come back to being a theater when it hadn't been one since the 1960's!

Gradually, and with great love, we have attempted to restore this grand old theater for the past nine months.

The theater serves as my office, the home of ERM Media, the home of the Millennium Symphony, the Virginia Youth Symphony Orchestra ... and is a state of the art recording studio.

This is where I have been recording the excerpts for this blog.

So, ... just when I think I have life under control ... splash. And not just a little drip, but pretty much cascading water coming through the center of the theater's ceiling thirty feet above the floor.

Patty is a new person in the office. She's very delicate with us 'art-sy types' and handles things in the office with great patience. We were returning from a meeting and had entered the theater from the rear fire doors and immediately heard the flow of water.

"Uh-Oh" I understated having been through this before.

"Uh-Oh?" She asked.

"Water" I replied. Nothing like reducing the information pipeline to a single word in a time of crisis.

"Water?" Apparently she could play the same game.

"Water." "Ceiling" I said pointing up. I was practically garrulous.

"Where?"

"Ceiling ... There."

"#$%^" With that we rushed around gathering buckets - funny how I knew just exactly where they were - and attempted to staunch the flow of water with buckets, leaky garbage cans, lasagna pans and flimsy red table covers.

Can I handle a crisis or what?

"Um mm ... Robert? Is that ... brown water?"

A gave a test-sniff to the gathering water.

"Why, yes, I believe that it is."

"Brown water? As in ..."

"Um mm ... yeah."

And with that, just as mysteriously as it had started ... it stopped. Not with a bang, not dramatically, and not with any sense of reason. What had been a torrent of pouring water just ... trickled to an end.

So, that's what I wrote this morning. "Like Water Flowing Through My Ceiling."

I've got to get out the wet-vac and carpet shampoo machine. See you tomorrow!

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 10, 2010): 6331 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 10, 2010): 6597

You can download the FREE sheet music of this piece at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Like Grass Peeking Through the Melting Snow"

The tenth installment of Robert Ian Winstin's new music blog "28 in Tweny-Eight."

"Like Grass Peeking Through the Melting Snow"

"Like Grass Peeking Through the Melting Snow." Now, that's a title!

And ... I can't claim credit for it.

A friend of mine, let's call him ... Don, because ... well, ... his name is ... Don. Anyway, Don recently sent me a very witty review of my "Blues Etude #1" that read;

"Sounds like something Chopin wrote after spending an afternoon with Thelonious Monk - and a few Brooklyn Lagers!"

You know, it's comments like that that make me appreciate the guy! So I sent him a request: "Send me between 5 - 8 notes. Something you like to play." (Don plays a mean guitar.)

And he did; "Sure! How about A, E, B, D# and F#. To a guitar player, that's an Emaj9 / A bass. A nice, fresh sound, like grass peeking through today's melting snow."

Gotta love a good title!

When I set out to write Don's piece, I figured that it would end up sounding something like a guitar riff. (It doesn't.) I also figured it might be something a bit 'bluesy.' (It's not.) Then, I figured I would have to use something more than five notes - after all, five notes are just ... five notes. (I didn't. I used just ... five notes.)

So, once again ... I was batting a thousand!

What ended up coming off my pencil was a fun, rhythmic 'Debussy-esque' piece that is almost a cross between the Impressionistic sounding Debussy and the open, American feel of Copland.

Though I submit my obvious and heartfelt apologies to both, I must admit a fondness for this piece. It has a fun, infectious rhythmic feel to it and I love the 'cushioned' French harmonic sounds.

Thanks for the great set of notes Don!

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com


Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 9, 2010): 5991 | Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 9, 2010): 6237

You can get the FREE sheet music of this piece at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

Tomorrow's entry - a piece about cascading water falling in the theater!

"Museum in His Mind"

The ninth installment in Robert Ian Winstin's blog series "28 in Twenty-Eight." This one features an aria from his opera "Dedo."

"Museum in His Mind"

Emergency Room. Sirens. Heart Monitors ... and a baritone singing.

It can only be opera!

Recently I have been re-structuring and re-recording my third opera "Dedo."

"Dedo" is about the late artist Amadeo Modigliani. In fact, "Dedo" was the nickname bestowed upon him by Pablo Picasso.

In going through census books from the early 20th century in Paris, I discovered that Picasso, Brancusi, Rivera & Modigliani all lived for a few years in the same building in Paris.

In imagining their conversations - as they were all completely different stylistically and politically - I came to write this small opera which took place in an imaginary bistro on the ground floor of their building.

Recently I have been re-structuring the whole setting of the opera - re-recording the set-pieces, arias and chorus numbers and then adding external sound to convey extra-musical ideas.

I have literally spent hundreds of hours culling and recording the additional external sounds that can make up the audio scene for the recording. The additional sounds quite literally became a composition in their own right.

In the original opera, the focus is the dying Modigliani, and takes place in a bistro - a perfect excuse for a small musical ensemble which would make the operatic setting feel more natural. (At least it does for me - nothing quite like stepping off a trolley car and launching into a love duet with full orchestra to really ask the listener/viewer to suspend belief!)

The setting is last few days of Modigliani's life as told through his friends, peers and lovers. (The title character frequently goes back and forth between past, present & future as he moves through the opera towards his death.)

All this is the same in the new setting - except it now takes place in a hospital. Characters in the opera visit him in his ward room, coming and going. (Is there nothing more frightening than hearing hospital sounds? It is that deathly quiet surrounding medical machine noise that makes it so ethereal and real at the same time.)

In re-setting and re-structuring the opera a new character emerged - Dr. White. Of course, he is heard only through the hospital intercom and public address system, but he is talked about so much that his sonic aura became a character!

In this excerpt from "Dedo," we find his lover, Jeanne, his friend and accomplice, Apollinaire, and his art dealer and critic Lipschitz by his bedside. (The evil baritone art dealer and critic!) "A Museum in His Mind" is mainly Lipschitz's aria as he sings about how Modigliani was greater in his own mind than in life, while his lover and friend encourage him to use the same fantasy to be more comfortable in the road to death.

"A Museum in His Mind" is actually a penultimate number in the opera. Modigliani dies at the end of the aria - you'll hear it in the heart monitor sounds.

In re-structuring the opera I have tried to use not only music, text and setting to create an aural portrait, but I am using external sounds to help set the scene.

A note - I have been informed by email and a few calls that there are a handful of music theory and composition classes following and studying the music in this blog. Young musicians hold a special place in my heart. My wife Susan and I are eager supporters of young programs for musicians. I'm delighted that you are following and will attempt to answer all questions that I can.

I hope you enjoy "Museum in His Mind." (The audio file starts very softly with some external sounds. Just wait for it - it gets louder!)

My many thanks to baritone Brad Mitchell, soprano Mary Ringstad & tenor Mark Waters.

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 8, 2010): 5528 | Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 8, 2010): 6110

"Blues Etude #1"

"Blues Etude #1" - the eighth installment in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog series is a fun cross between a blues pattern and a Chopin 'Etude.'

"Blues Etude #1"

A new week ... and this is the second full week of "28 in Twenty-Eight!"

This has been a lot of fun and just what I needed to re-light my creative fires.

Years ago I had decided that I was basically a miniaturist as a composer. Small form pieces - pack a lot into one minute. Some of my earliest 'mature' sets of pieces were essentially a lot of miniatures strung together or separated into movements. "Piano Art" comes first to mind - a nice set of fifteen miniatures that try to musically depict great 20th century paintings in music. (To date that set of pieces and recordings of them have been used around the world from everything from background music in an Off-Broadway play to performances at museums around the world.)

Since then, long-form commissions, the yen to write operas (more on that this week!) and commissions for concerti ("Taliban Dances," "Spirituals for Violin &Orchestra," "'Cello Concerto" etc.) have forced me to become a long-form composer.

In getting ready to launch into "28 in Twenty-Eight" I knew that, basically, I would have to return to my roots as a miniaturist.

What I didn't know was how much I missed it!

Today's offering is a musically hybrid piece - and you'll have no need of electricity or gas to run it!

"Blues Etude #1" is a fun ditty that combines the wonderful open patternistic appeal of a blues pattern (essentially I - IV - V - I) and the technical demands and fireworks of Chopin "Etude."

This makes it really fun ... and hard to play. Right up my alley!

I hope that you enjoy the "Blues Etude #1." As the title implies, I'm rather hopeful that it will become the first piece in a set to come.

Again, many thanks to all who lurk by and listen. (Lurkeners?) I'm pretty humbled by the interest and most appreciative.

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

robert@robertianwinstin.com

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 7, 2010): 4951 | Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 7, 2010): 5906


Get the sheet music for this piece at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

Tomorrow? A bit of opera ...

"All Thumbs - Bach Redux"

"All Thumbs - Bach Redux" is the seventh installment in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog series by Robert Ian Winstin.

"All Thumbs - Bach Redux"

Those of you who have studied the fine art of piano (shudders, heart palpitations, nervous jitters) will remember the wonderful "Prelude & Fugue in c minor" by J.S. Bach.

When I was a young piano thumper, I loved playing and learning the Bach "Preludes & Fugues" - they are really a very special group of pieces.

I loved the complexity and simplicity that is so Bach. Two seemingly diametrically opposed conditions were magically apparent in his work.

Physically, I loved the tactile feelings of playing Bach in my hands - it just seemed to fit.

I remember learning the original and thinking - "This is really about a physical balance between the extremes in the hand - pinkie vs thumb." You had to hold your hand just right in order to achieve that balance and also to enable your hands to essentially fly through all those sixteenth notes evenly.

In "All Thumbs - Bach Redux" I have attempted to take the essential movement of the piece - rapid sixteenth notes - and pretty much make it all about the the inside thumbs in both hands. (Aside from the opening notes and general feeling, Mr. Bach and I have parted company in a big way!)

Both hands gradually move closer together and then further apart - but the thumbs collide! It is in this collision that we get the insistent 'pinging' of pitches that almost becomes a de-facto melodic line.

In the old days, when I was learning to keep rhythm and pulse steady at the piano, I would be constantly scolded by teachers for gradually picking up speed towards the end.

Not an uncommon problem for young pianists who just want to have fun!

Here, in "All Thumbs - Bach Redux," I have written that problem into the piece. You have to gradually pick up speed to be able to do it right! (Take that Mrs. Rogers!)

Just a simple technical exercise that uses 'mirror' harmonies, a thumping of thumbs and a faulty ticker.

Enjoy!

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 6, 2010): 4626 | Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 6, 2010): 5521

Get the Sheet Music at: http://www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

Tomorrow? "Blues Etude #1"

"Family in a Row"

The sixth installment in the blog series "28 in Twenty-Eight" by Robert Ian Winstin.

"Family in a Row"

Families interact in unusual and, sometimes, funny ways.

My family is no different than yours - well, maybe mine is a little better, but that's the only difference! (OK, so I'm a little biased!)

As a composer I am fascinated by the interactions between notes, rhythms, pitch colors, etc. As a family member I am fascinated by verbal interactions between people and the group dynamic that occurs - and changes - depending on which family member is in the room at any given time.

My sister-in-law Lizz recently commented on my admitted lack of talent in stringing together more than two interesting words to create a title - by sending me a list of very funny and pithy suggestions for titles to work off of.

So I was excited this morning to sit down and compose music to her witty title of "Daffodils Don't Have Thermometers," or "If I Wanted This Much Snow I'd Move Back to Chicago!"

And I still might get to those titles! (They are very cool and much appreciated.)

As anyone who has been around a creative artist knows - we're all a bit ADD and obsessive-compulsive.

So, I swear I sat down to write the "Daffodils ..." piece - and ... then I started thinking. (Always a sketchy thing for me.)

"What if Each Person in my 'IS' ('Immediate Southern') family was assigned a note?"

Hmmmm ...

"And ... What if those notes were 'pre-determined' to act and re-act together - as if in a 'serial tone-row'?"

... cool.

" ... and ... if all this were so - would there be one person/note that would control all of the other pitches?"

Way cool.

Another dilemma: There are a lot of people in my 'IS' family and if everyone were represented by a single note there would be far too many notes to string thematically to have any musical impact.

Hmmm...

"Who Controls Families?" I asked my slightly diseased brain. "Women" It answered.

Of course! So I picked the 'IS' women - Susan (wife), Lizz (sister-in-law), Leddie (mother-in-law), Carmen (niece), Casey (niece), Lisi (step-daughter) and Katie (granddaughter).

I then set about structuring a row (series) of notes and assigning a pitch to each person. Susan = "G", Lizz ("C"), Leddie ("C"), Carmen ("F#"), Casey ("F"), Lisi ("B") & Katie ("Bb"). (I play them in row at the beginning of the piece for you to hear - then I start the piece 'proper'.)

Those with a smidgen of music theory will assert: "Aha! The relationships between a lot of those pitches are tri-tones! The 'Devil's Interval'!"

Yes, the 'tri-tone' is historically called the "Devil's Interval" - but to my ears it is one of the most expressive - it can be poignant, sad, brutal, assertive ... anything the composer really wants it to be.

The problem always comes in the listening.

We are trained, as listeners, on a very limited musical language - almost strictly tonal (harmonies based upon established chords that have been built upon a series of major and minor thirds) and have very little experience in listening to and being influenced emotionally by any sounds that defy those tonal boundaries.

In tonal music, a seemingly psycho-acoustic phenomenon occurs melodically and harmonically. In non-tonal music, these relationships are harder to feel and experience due to the fact that we, as listeners, haven't had too much experience with these type of sounds.

I enjoy the inter-personal interactions between family members - it is almost always enjoyable and always fascinating to watch.

So, ... this is "Family in a Row." The "Row" refers to the series of notes, in this case, Susan ("G"), Lizz ("C#"), etc - and how they are related musically to each other.

Historically a "Row" can move forwards or backwards - but always keeping the order of the pitches. You can also move in retrograde and retrograde inversion as well.

"Family is a Row" is my fun, humorous musical description of an 'IS' family conversation. I enjoy my family a lot - I hope that you enjoy them too!

A final note (sorry for the pun!) - those of you with a good sense of pitch and pitch memory will notice the rather insistent "Bb" in the piece. "Bb" is the pitch of my granddaughter Katie.

As in all families, the baby is the controlling factor and the focus of all attention.

That is delightfully the case in my 'IS' family.

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

robert@robertianwinstin.com

You can grab the sheet music for this piece (and all others in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" series) at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html.

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 5, 2010): 4,179 | Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 5, 2010): 5,229

"The Thing Stuck in the Corner of My Window"

Yes, that's right - "The Things Stuck in the Corner of My Window!"

This is the fifth installoment in the blog series "28 in Twenty-Eight" by Robert Ian Winstin.

"The Thing in My Window"

Yes, ... you wanted titles? Have I got one for you!

"The Thing Stuck in the Corner of My Window" is about ... well, the 'thing' in my window. I saw it yesterday. Really.

In the last 9 months, we've been working on restoring an old 1854 theater for offices and recording studio and theater in the historic Olde Towne district in Portsmouth, Virginia.

It is a fabulous place - great old bones as they say in the real estate biz.

It has become quite a studio - in fact, the first recording done here was the Melies' film "Le Voyage Dans la Lune." We've recorded many new works here already - from works by David H. Cohen, Chris Sainsbury, James Guymon, Professor Louis & The Crowmatix to the selections on this blog.

I love recording here.

Yesterday as I was walking through the office I noticed a rather old looking bumble-bee hiding in the corner of the window. How he survived this long into winter is beyond me. He was obviously on his last ... wings and would buzz frantically while only turning left. (Apparently his right turn signal was broken.) He was also somewhat molting and was being tortured with glee by the theater cat TC.

In writing this morning I remembered him and set him to music. The bumble-bee, not TC.

So ... "The Thing Stuck in the Corner of My Window."

A couple of things to talk about - you'll hear the obvious buzzing. Can't miss it really. (Not too subtle, Robert!) The loud, booming lower bass notes in the left hand are my attempts at musically describing my clapping at TC to try and shoo him away from playing with this poor old bumble-bee. The middle slow section is a sad lament for the bumble-bee - I thought he'd finally given up and had taken his final rest.

Surprise!

He was up and buzzing left in a few moments. Apparently he was playing possum.

The big bang at the end of the piece? I'll let you draw your own conclusions!

Thanks again for all the wonderful comments and emails. It is very humbling.

See you tomorrow!

Robert Ian Winstin

www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

robert@robertianwinstin.com

Download the FREE sheet music at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Noodle, Poodle, Doodle"

"Noodle, Poodle, Doodle" is the fourth installment in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" series by Robert Ian Winstin.

"Noodle, Poodle, Doodle"

So ... here it is 4:26am and the cat won't leave me alone!

Really - TC ('Theater Cat') has definately gotten over his fear of strange sounds and keeps parking himself either over the keys or inside the piano at exactly the most critical moments in the recording process.

Aside from the problems with the cat - this piece is a killer!

Now that I am on the other side of 50, my fingers just don't flex like they used to! What was I thinking when I wrote this? What are my neighbors thinking when I start banging on the piano at 3:30 in the morning? Is the center of the universe really a giant Tootsie-Roll?

So ... here is "Noodle,Poodle,Doodle." (Yes, I know the title stinks. Again.)

Somewhere in my damaged brain I decided that "Yankee Doodle" and the 11th century church chant "Dies Irae" went together. (Death to the Yankee? Some of my Southern in-laws might agree!)

Actually, to tell you the truth - it feels great to be challenged like this. The piece is chock full of lots of technical problems for the pianist to solve - tricky and odd-placed grace-notes, flying scales and (my favorite) alternating cascading chords in fourths. (Somehow my hands just do those chords. As a pianist I always found those easy to do. I stumbled over scales for years, but flying chords and octaves I could do all day long - although I do have a tendency to rip off the fingernails of my pinkies. Must learn to judge distances on the keys better!)

I even managed to get "Shave and a Hair Cut" in at the end.

As hard as it was to play - I really loved doing this piece!

Again, many thanks to all who dropped by this blog to listen. It is much appreciated. If you are interested, the print versions of these pieces are available at http://www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html.

I hope that you enjoy it!

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

robert@robertianwinstin.com

"Sounds Like Fun"

Third installment in the series "28 in Twenty-Eight" by Robert Ian Winstin. This one for bassoon and piano.

Three for Three Today!

I am amazed and humbled at the number of emails and responses I am getting to "28 in Twenty-Eight." Thank you all so much.

So, here is number three in the series. Once again, I suck at titles. I'm calling it "Sounds Like Fun." Yeah. I know. But ... it does sound like fun. (My many thanks to Lesley Winslow who braved cold temperatures - both outside and inside the theater this morning to record this little ditty.)

Woke at 2:30 this morning and found I was excited to go to work. I've been a composer and conductor for a lot of years and I am just practically 'giggly' over getting in to work. I love the process of writing and I love getting it down on tape and getting it uploaded to you.

I know - there is definately something wrong with me!

When I started writing "Sounds Like Fun" I was going for a change in sound - adding a bassoon - but I was also going for a change in working relationships. I wanted to actually have a musical conversation with another human! I wanted to share the experience.

As a conductor I get to work with some great orchestras and engineers. There is always company. Most times that is great. In the last few days of this project it has been ... well, ... all me. (Yeah, I'm not that impressed either!) I write, record and post. And, I've been doing it really early in the morning so that I can get it out on this blog for a full day.

I just wanted some company this morning! (Thanks again Lesley - my apologies for the temp in the theater. It has been very cold here in Virginia - including recent snow storms. The theater is pretty cold in the morning!)

Aside from the above aspects of writing, I have found this entire process very liberating. The need to write quickly and produce it quickly has thrown me into a kind of creative over-drive. I love it!

I'm already thinking of tomorrow's piece - a real knuckle-buster of a piano piece based on "Yankee Doodle."

Yeah, who knows where that came from - but I'm getting back to work now, ... and calling the piano tuner!

I hope that you enjoy "Sounds Like Fun."

BTW - I've been getting a lot of requests for the print version / sheet music of the scores. I've posted them at the ERM Media web site at http://www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html. You can grab the print version there - learn it, play it, fold it or mutilate it!

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

robert@robertianwinstin.com

" ... balances"

" ... balances" is the second installment in the series "28 in Twenty-Eight" by Robert Ian Winstin.

February 2 - " ... balances"

The Second Day - and I'm already running out of titles!

I have tentatively labelled this piece " ... balances" due to the very delicate balance of melodic and harmonic forces between the hands at the piano in this piece. (You'll notice that the melody is switched from the right hand to the left hand quite a bit. That requires a literal shift in not only thinking on the part of the pianist, but also a mental shift as well.)

As in the previous piece, this seemingly tonal piece is chock-full of dissonance - most notably in the intervals of sevenths and seconds - my favorite intervals.

Die-hard tonalists - you may want to sit down for my next statement: Depending on the treatment, dissonance can be quite beautiful. OK - I tried to sugar-coat it. All dissonance is beautiful in music. Sorry, I'm just like that.

OK - tonalists go grab a cup of coffee and take my name in vain from the kitchen so I can't hear you. To the rest - we are taught from an early age that dissonance is bad. After all - it is about 'dis-cord.' "Dis-Chord?" How can we think it good with that kind of start.

But it is.

Sound is beautiful. Really. All sound is fantastically beautiful. It just depends on how we treat it, use it, insert it, etc.

When I was a music student in my conservatory days back in the early 17th century (OK, it only feels like I'm that old!) dissonance was considered bad. Historically the tri-tone (the "Devil's Interval") was outlawed in every music theory class, early 15th & 16th century composers would be banished (or worse!) for writing 'un-treated' tri-tones, and, even jazz was not allowed to be played in 'serious' settings. (I remember trying to get away with playing the Gershwin "Three Preludes" on a piano jury when I was a freshman. No go. Now they are rightly considered legitimate 20th century gems.)

I've always written with dissonance. Perhaps it is my personality. Perhaps it is gas. Who knows ...?

I hope that you will enjoy my 'balanced' dissonance. Tomorrow I'm thinking a piece for bassoon and piano. Something fun to change the palatte. Just have to find a bassoonist that likes to get up around five am!

Robert Ian Winstin
www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

February 1st Piece - "SnowSwirls"

OK - here we go!

I woke up early this morning - very early - and set pencil to paper to get my first piece out in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog series.

I was very excited about starting out - I love challenges, and writing 28 pieces in twenty-eight days is ... well, ... a challenge!

I'm somewhat "Old-School" in the mechanics of writing; pencil, paper - and BIG eraser. I also write at a table most of the time - not at the piano or an instrument. (One of my former mentors instilled that habit in me. He always said - "If you write at an instument you merely tend to re-create what you can physically do." Of course, he was always right!)

So, I write at a table and make, usually, many drafts before heading to the computer to start typesetting the score.

This morning I decided to skip a lot of the paper stuff and work out most of the score in my head before starting to set it down. (Basically, I just sat and thought it through for a few hours, then I started writing it out.)

Of course, this morning when I got to the theater I had to actually learn it to play it on the piano! (As I was woodshedding through the left-hand part - which is a bit challenging - all I kept thinking was; "Who wrote this #$%^ ?"

We had a snow storm here is Southern Virginia over the weekend. It was an unusual event for this area and I guess the experience stuck with me as the first piece is called "SnowSwirls."

I'm not sure that it entirely captures the feel and sound of swirling snow, but does feel like it to me. I'm a big fan of mixed tonalities and poly-rhythms - which you find in abundance here. I've also been experimenting with having tempi, dynamics and articulation help to shape the overall musical architecture.

We'll see ... we'll see.

I'm very excited about this process and really looking forward to tomorrow's experience!

I hope you enjoy the piece.