"That's All Folks!"

It is now March 2nd and I actually slept in this morning - I got up around 5am! (Late for me!)

Yesterday, as well as this morning, I actually found out that I missed writing this blog and that I missed that deadline looming feeling.

I just couldn't stop myself from posting one more time and saying goodbye properly.

This blog post has been a wonderful experience for me. When I started it, I figured that no more than six people would want to listen to some new music on a daily basis.

Boy was I wrong ... and never more delightedly so.

To date, more than 18,000 of you have logged on and listened. Over 12,000 of you grabbed the free sheet music that accompany each installment.

I am very humbled, flattered, delighted and amazed.

My thanks to all of you for stopping by so often. I have been privileged to know so many cool people throughout my life and have enjoyed making so many new friends.

I've tried to organize this blog for returning listeners and new listeners alike. A list appears below with titles, instrumentation and timings.

The blog pieces and postings are shown from most recent to last as they are on the blog pages. Each title (day) has two entries - original text to each day and a comments/audio page.

As an update for those interested: the theater ceiling no longer leaks icky brown stuff (though I am sure another will present itself soon), Patty still types loudly (but no one cares about it except TC), TC is still the cutest and smartest cat ever to grace my doorstep (and has taken to sleeping in his pink cat bed only after I drew a skull and crossbones on the side of it and labelled it "Killer's Bed"), my father-in-law had a terrific birthday and I have the prettiest wife in the world.

What can I say - I'm one lucky guy!

Thanks again for all of your comments, support and interest. It is much appreciated!

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/

http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (March 31, 2010): 27,113 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (March 31, 2010): 15,332

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

Titles and Timings for Blog Pieces by Robert Ian Winstin in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog:

(Reverse Order - Newest to oldest)

28. Happy Birthday, Oscar! (piano) 1:17

27. Did Mom Pop, Mom Did (piano) 0:49
26. Lazy Twilight on High Street (piano) 1:49

25. Saturday Night (soprano, clarinet & piano) 7:43

24. Elbows? ... Whatever! (guitar, 'cello & piano) 1:39

23. Blues Etude #3 (piano) 1:19

22. Really, Am I Typing Too Loudly? (piano) 1:10

21. As Darkness Falls (violin & sfx) 3:10

20. A Short Study for a Big Talent (clarinet & sfz) 1:25

19. What the #$%^ - I Tried to Come Up With a ... (piano) 1:13

18. Fantasy for Flute, Piano & Chamber Orchestra 3:47

17. Blues Etude #2 (piano) 1:43

16. Men Have Biological Clocks Too (piano) 1:54

15. A Trio of Myopic & Near-Sighted Rodents (piano) 1:22
14. With You There is No End (piano) 1:43

13. Form - My Life (voices & orchestra) 7:20
12. TC - the Theater Cat (piano) 1:12

11. Like Water Flowing Through My Ceiling (piano) 0:50

10. Like Grass Peeking Through The Melting Snow (piano) 1:33

9. Museum in His Mind (voices & orchestra) 4:09

8. Blues Etude #1 (piano) 1:41

7. All Thumbs - Bach Redux (piano) 1:32

6. Family in a Row (piano) 1:01

5. The Thing Stuck in the Corner of My Window (piano) 1:24

4. Noodle, Poodle, Doodle (piano) 0:38

3. Sounds Like Fun! (bassoon & piano) 1:01

2. ... Balances (piano) 1:03

1. SnowSwirls (piano) 0:58

"Happy Birthday, Oscar!"

The final, twenty-eighth, installment in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog series by Robert Ian Winstin.

"Happy Birthday, Oscar!"

Well, here it is - the 28th day in "28 in Twenty-Eight."

I am both sad and thrilled at the same time. (Those of you who have been faithfully following daily - shut off your computer! "Madge, pull the plug! He's finally done!")

For each day in the blog series I have created, recorded and blogged a new piece. Days before I began, in January, I found myself getting really excited about this whole process. Could I do it? (It is a lot of work!) Would I see it all the way through? (It is a lot of work!) Is there enough coffee in the entire world to make me cogent at 3am? (It is a lot of ...)

Very early in the series, a process developed and stayed with me to the very last day: Up and out of the house by 3:00am, and get to the theater and start writing. Paper, pencil and a big eraser. Grab any idea you can and see it through to completion. By necessity each piece would be a miniature, but I am a miniaturist at heart - so no problem there. The problem with small pieces is to create a satisfying listening experience in a minute or two.

This quick, almost 'al fresco' style of composing would force me to explore new compositional avenues and be a test to my creativity. Working like this, I think, forces one to really examine yourself. It's a test ... (And, frankly, it would be a good avenue to vent my strange sense of humor and inflict it upon you!)

What did I learn? Surprising, for an old dog, I learned a lot. I learned that I need more time in my life to practice the piano! More than half of the pieces in this series are for the piano. I had to learn and record them. (I was getting a bit lazy - Not too unexpected after 45 years of playing the piano.) Had I known that I was going to write pieces this hard, I would have practiced more! I learned that I still love being a composer and a musician. It's a great thing to do with one's life. I feel honored to be one.

I also learned that my neighbors are very, very, very patient people, and that I have some very good friends and colleagues - those who would come to the theater in the early morning hours to work and lend their talents to pieces of music that were so obviously hastily written.
I've made some new 'e-friends' and have had some wonderful conversations about art, music and life as a musician with people all over the world.

Maybe that is the real reason to do a blog like this - the ability to reach out and interact with people from all walks of life all over the world.

I'm really a very lucky guy.

My father-in-law's birthday is today, February 28th. Oscar is 89 years old today. I think it appropriate to end this blog with a variation of "Happy Birthday."

As an aside, what we know as "Happy Birthday" was really written by the Hill sisters, in Kentucky, as "Good Morning To You" - which was used in their one-room school house in days of yore before we had a 'Pledge of Allegiance.'

Unfortunately, through a comedic series of nascent copyright laws, their song was copyrighted as "Happy Birthday."

"Good Morning" to you Oscar, and, THANK YOU to all of you who listened, read and commented on the blog and sent me emails and letters.

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/

http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 27, 2010): 18,981 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 27, 2010): 11,650

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

Titles and Timings for Blog Pieces by Robert Ian Winstin in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog:

1. SnowSwirls (piano) 0:58

2. ... Balances (piano) 1:03

3. Sounds Like Fun! (bassoon & piano) 1:01

4. Noodle, Poodle, Doodle (piano) 0:38

5. The Thing Stuck in the Corner of My Window (piano) 1:24

6. Family in a Row (piano) 1:01

7. All Thumbs - Bach Redux (piano) 1:32

8. Blues Etude #1 (piano) 1:41

9. Museum in His Mind (voices & orchestra) 4:09

10. Like Grass Peeking Through The Melting Snow (piano) 1:33

11. Like Water Flowing Through My Ceiling (piano) 0:50

12. TC - the Theater Cat (piano) 1:12

13. Form - My Life (voices & orchestra) 7:20

14. With You There is No End (piano) 1:43

15. A Trio of Myopic & Near-Sighted Rodents (piano) 1:22

16. Men Have Biological Clocks Too (piano) 1:54

17. Blues Etude #2 (piano) 1:43

18. Fantasy for Flute, Piano & Chamber Orchestra 3:47

19. What the #$%^ - I Tried to Come Up With a ... (piano) 1:13

20. A Short Study for a Big Talent (clarinet & sfz) 1:25

21. As Darkness Falls (violin & sfx) 3:10

22. Really, Am I Typing Too Loudly? (piano) 1:10

23. Blues Etude #3 (piano) 1:19

24. Elbows? ... Whatever! (guitar, 'cello & piano) 1:39

25. Saturday Night (soprano, clarinet & piano) 7:43

26. Lazy Twilight on High Street (piano) 1:49

27. Did Mom Pop, Mom Did (piano) 0:49

28. Happy Birthday, Oscar! (piano) 1:17

Total: 56:22

"Did Mom Pop, Mom Did"

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

"Did Mom Pop, Mom Did"

"Did Mom Pop, Mom Did"

Yeah, I know what you are thinking, but this is not a piece about an urban nightmare and a soccer mom - it's a palindrome! And, it's a 'perfect' palindrome. Not just 'Otto,' or 'Bob' but a
complete sentence wherein each word is a palindrome and the entire sentence is a palindrome itself.

I am entranced with palindromes. I still think that there is a future for a palindromic opera. Imagine the the duet: "Otto: Go Hang a salami I'm a lasagna hog! Bob: Put Eliot's toilet up!"

Ah, romance is not dead.

Musically, I've been experimenting for years with palindromes in compositions. The trouble with palindromes in music, as opposed to prosal palindromes, is that they are less obvious musically than they are when you look at the word or phrase on a page.

It is really tough to hear a palindrome in a piece of music.

Also, the pitch and phrase construction is quite complicated in even the smallest piece of music.

In "Did Mom Pop, Mom Did" the musical phrase is five measures long. (To see it clearly, look for the brackets that I have placed in the music. You can get the sheet music at
www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html)

When looking at the sheet music you can do a mental "X" cross and follow the right-hand over the bar line where it becomes the left-hand backwards. The same for the left-hand as it goes over the bar line, becoming the right.

The same occurs at the end of measure 12 where, here, the palindrome not only occurs with the subsequent bars, but also serves as a mid-point (palindromically) as the piece now unfolds the same backwards as it is forwards.

These are fun pieces to write and calculate, and I believe that they are more successful for the listener if the piece is shorter and more immediate than if the palindrome is stretched over a longer period of time.

It is simply easier to hear in short batches than to follow and remember longer musical sections.

At one period in my life I wrote whole bunches of these pieces; palindromes for violin, piano, voice, etc. I even wrote an entire orchestral work for double orchestra that was completely palindromic. (It was just too much! Two much?)

Oh - one more thing. You will no doubt hear "My Country Tis Of Thee" at the end of the piece. It seems to wrap it up nicely for me, compositionally. Why is it there? Well, the entire piece before it is really a new harmonization of the famous tune stretched out and done in a poly-metrical organization. (You'll hear it poke through at various other times in the piece as well.)

We're down to the second last day of this blog series and I have had a fabulous time of it! I have met some terrific people through this forum and I have learned a great deal about me as a composer.

Tomorrow, February 28, 2010, is the last day of the blog. In some ways I am thrilled that February only has twenty-eight days, but, in many other ways I am definitely going to miss the time deadlines, the three-am recording sessions and the listener feedback.

One more day to go!

Tomorrow? What I hope is a special way to end this series.

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/

http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 26, 2010): 17,422 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 26, 2010): 11,011

"Lazy Twilight on High Street"

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

"Lazy Twilight on High Street"

The new (old!) theater is situated on a remarkable street in Olde Towne, Portsmouth. High Street is a wonderful combination of old, historic buildings, quaint eateries, antique shops, a harbor and two theaters.

You can walk the five or six blocks from the beautiful waterfront, up High Street, through history. It is a remarkable walk which will take you past the Coffee Shoppe, the Children's Museum, Sports Hall of Fame, & Roger Brown's Restaurant - all just in the first block. The next block starts off with a church built in 1761, the Old Courthouse (picture) from the same era and our theater - which was built in 1851. (We seem to be the new kids on the block!)

On any given day, as evening starts to emerge, the street takes on a very different character. Twilight emerges, strollers come out to walk and gaze in windows, coming attractions at the theater - maybe even to stand under the marquee of the Commodore Theater across the street from us, or to sample one of three-hundred beers at the Bier Garden next door.

If the weather is fine, it is a slow, meandering stroll that makes one feel part of a previous time and place.

It is only fitting (and not surprising!) that I wrote "Lazy Twilight on High Street." Susan and I have done this walk countless times and it is one of the highlights of any visit to Portsmouth.

The piano, with a little drums back-beat, meanders lazily through half-step related harmonies - strolling through phrases without really stopping as if window shopping along High Street.

My thanks to Jeff for coming in this morning to help with the drums. There was not enough coffee in the world to make us not be lazy this morning.

Perfect!

Tomorrow? "Did Mom Pop, Mom Did." You figure it out. (It is probably not what you think!)

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/

http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 25, 2010): 16,931 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 25, 2010): 10,202

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Saturday Night"

The twenty-fifth installment in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" new music blog series by Robert Ian Winstin.

"Saturday Night"

"Broken Calla Lilies. Cathedral Altars. Magnolia Petals. Ermine Coats. Debris."

So starts "Saturday Night," the fateful journal entry by a teenage schizophrenic.

What appear as seemingly dis-jointed and un-related words all overlap and interconnect in the mind of a schizophrenic - as per the second line of the journal entry: "Weddings. Dances. Drinks. Bottle perfume."

The 1960's and 1970's were barbaric decades in the treatment of schizophrenia. Typical 'cutting-edge' treatment might include, and could be limited to, psycho-tropic and hallucinogenic drug therapy which would be 'monitored' through the patients journal entries. The decision to increase or decrease a particular dosage might depend on the lucidity of one's prose. Un-related textual elements might suggest a need for a heavier medicinal ingestion. The penning of clearer thought structures would decrease a particular dosage.

Besides the obvious, pity the poor creative soul who, perhaps prior to the onset of schizophrenia, crafted prosal images that could be deemed odd or cloudy. I am fairly sure that no 'baseline' of creativity was taken prior to institutionalization. How could it be?

Striking in it's brevity of singular thoughts separated by punctuated periods is the conceptual inter-connectivity of the words and ideas themselves. Taken at face value they are random images of everyday life. Taken together, they form a mental image of a world of sadness unified by a singular concept - 'Saturday Night.'

The text is dark, heavily punctuated and imagistic. "Disgust. Clear eyes. Uniform madness. Sorrow. Bedlam. Starry-dark snow."

The text is also finely crafted and motivic. This is not something we normally associate with the ramblings of a schizophrenic, but "Saturday Night" clearly has a motivic and thematic architecture to it. When the author comes back to the images from the first lines "Broken Calla Lilies ..." he now tempers and changes the line to read: "Broken Calla Lilies. We are like that. We who drown in white. Moss after the light. Saturday Night."

I was immediately drawn to this text. Aside from it's obvious power and imagery, there is an underlying romanticism and lyricism to the text. To me, the entire text is a call for help. There is the obvious please to a higher power: "God. Wherever you are. Cool. Lighted. By the other dreams." But there is an immediate, almost rational plea for help as well. "Disgust. Clear eyes. Uniform madness. Sorrow. Bedlam. Starry-dark snow." Could those words be references to the onset of an episode ("Disgust") and the need for clarity ("Clear eyes"). "Uniform madness" I think speaks for itself - uniformed medical professionals lead to "Sorrow," "Bedlam" and zoning out on medication "Starry-dark snow."

When I was writing the music for this wonderful text I wanted to have the music change moods and feel suddenly as if to suggest the same rapid changes that the schizophrenic text goes through. I also wanted to try and capture the romantic feel of the text, but I didn't want the listener to get swept away in the lyricism of a particular moment and forget the underlying problem - so I have a constant (and out of sync) clock ticking in the background. As the music swells around it - we lose the sound and almost forget this insistent reminder. As the music fades, we are reminded. (Perhaps this is, at least metaphorically, what all diseases feel like; you know it is always there but sometimes a moment or two of happiness blots it out and lets you forget about it - but only for a moment.)

I set the text in the tradition of "art song" and accompany the soprano - who is the journal writer - with clarinet and piano.

This fateful journal entry, "Saturday Night," is by Ross David Burke, a teenage schizophrenic who died shortly after this journal entry in the mid-1960's in an Australian mental ward.

As always, my heart-felt thanks to good friends Mary Ringstad (soprano) and Ralph Delmonico (clarinet). It is far more meaningful to write works for friends and colleagues whom you know and respect - highlighting their particular talents and strengths. Thanks to artist Eszter Gyory for the "Schizophrenia" painting.

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/

http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 24, 2010): 16,245 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 24, 2010): 10,022

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Elbows? ... Whatever!"

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

"Elbows? ... Whatever!"

"Elbows? ... Whatever!"

Actually, contrary to the title ... "Elbows? ... Whatever!" is a lullaby.

Yes. Really.

Whatever!

My step-daughter's daughter - my step-grand-daughter? - is as cute as can be. She is a doll. And brilliant. (I may be a bit biased.)

Soon after she started talking, her mother started teaching her the names of body parts. One day I was quizzing her (in devoted step-grand-dad fashion):

"Eye-balls?"

"Yesssss." She said drawing out the "s."

"Nose-boogers?"

"Yesssss." (Didn't I tell you she was smart?)

"Ear-wax?"

"Yesssss."

Not wanting to get into the really cool stuff, I scanned my brain for a safe body part and blurted out "Elbows?"

Shocked, and a bit delighted, she blurted back - "Noooo!"

Really? Hm mm. She's witty as well.

"Elbows?" I asked again encouragingly.

"Noooo!" She answered making the "o" really big.

So, like a good devoted "Pop-Pop" I went through it again:

"Eye-balls?" "Yesssss."

"Nose-boogers?" "Yesssss."

"Ear-wax?" "Yesssss."

"Elbows?" "Noooo!"

Hm mm. No "Elbows."

This, of course, became a ritual for us every time we saw each other - even on the telephone.

"Elbows?" I would say into the receiver.

"Noooo!" She would answer over the static.

This went on for about a year, until ...

"Elbows?" I asked gleefully into the phone.

Silence. Pause. Then a soft - "No."

Really? Was something wrong?

"Elbows?" I tried again with a little more "Pop-Pop" emphasis.

Silence. Pause. Big sigh. "... Whatever."

"Whatever?" I got "Whatever-ed" by a three year old?

Wow. I was crushed!

I had to teach her four new things the next time I saw her - including throwing out your arms as wide as they will go and imitating a loud opera singer "Laaaaaa!"

"Laaaaaa!" She would pipe in her small soprano voice, arms outstretched.

"Laaaaaa!" I would intone as loudly as I could.

"Laaaaaa!"

"Laaaaaa!"

This is now a particular favorite of ours in a packed grocery store in the middle of the produce aisle. Nothing clears out those lines at the register like a little opera.

This little lullaby is for Katie.

My thanks to Mike Durig on guitar and Spencer Swan on 'cello. Thanks to Terry for coming by on such short notice and tuning the piano.

Tomorrow? Some opera stuff. Really. Whatever!

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/

http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 23, 2010): 15,325 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 23, 2010): 9928

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Blues Etude #3"

The twenty-third installment in the "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog by Robert Ian Winstin.

"Blues Etude #3"

"Blues Etude #3"

Yessiree, it's time for another of these little ditties.

Imagine Chopin's "Winterwind" Etude combined with a Tom Waits left-hand. ("The piano's been drinking, not me!"???)

The Chopin has that signature right-hand part that every developing pianist has to try and do - much to everyone's chagrin. I was no exception. I faked my way through that thing for years, finally playing it well post-college years. Now, twenty-five years later, I'm back to murdering the evenness of the right-hand part. My apologies! (Really, it's no defense, but I haven't done the piece in decades!)

I love the "Blues." (What long-suffering artist doesn't?) I love the immediacy of the pattern, the flexibility of the rhythm and the utter fun it is to play. (Rather ironic that the "Blues" is fun to play!)

A few summers ago I was up in upstate New York - to the hippie mecca Woodstock. (My homeland ...) I had a small orchestra that was touring with Professor Louie & The Chrowmatix - a fabulous R & B Old Time Rock-n-Roll band. (Gave me an excuse to wear my tie-dye.) Somewhere towards the last gig I found I could leave the podium, stash the baton and wander over to an open keyboard and sit-in and jam.

!

Great fun and since almost every song was a blues pattern - I knew every piece of music!

My thanks to all who have followed daily - for twenty-three days so far.

Twenty-three days.

Twenty-three.

Days.

A new piece every day.

Write it. Record it. Blog about it.

Thank God February only has twenty-eight days!

In all seriousness - Thank You!

This one is for my friend Sam Bell.

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/

http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 22, 2010): 14,155 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 22, 2010): 9611

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Really, Am I Typing Too Loudly?"

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

"Really, Am I Typing Too Loudly?"

We have a new person in my office. Her name is Patty. (I don't really know what her last name is - she changes it every day. Really.)

Now, people who work in my office are ... brave. Or, they are foolhardy. Or, ... completely insane. (There really is no structure working for a composer - the office is different almost every day.)

We're not sure which one Patty is yet, but, I'm leaning towards the insane.
Her desk is just right outside my office. We are separated by fifteen feet, a pretty thick wall and 900 pounds of insulation.

She types loudly. Actually ... she types LOUDLY. Very LOUDLY.

I don't particularly care how loudly she types, but, it is something for me to comment on and kid her about.

Ever since I have started kidding her about her typing she has made a decided effort to type softer. The fun part comes when she suddenly thinks I am listening to her typing - but she isn't quite sure? So she will get louder, softer, louder, softer ... stop ... type softly, loudly ... stop. I'll then get a text on the office IM (which she so ably set-up): "Really, Am I Typing Too Loudly?"

She's a character - Patty with the no last name. Actually, Susan and I love her; she's great at her job and has a quirky sense of humor. TC likes her, too - and y'all know how I feel about that cat! (Did you notice the "Y'all?" Wouldn't my Immediate Southern family be proud?)

It probably takes an insane person to work here. Too bad she fits right in.

The only problem - she really doesn't like to go to lunch. I love lunch! I've been known to greet people at 9:00am when they come to the office - "Where would you like to go to lunch?"

"Hm mm ... it's only 9:02. I'm still wanting coffee."

"Well, it's never too early to think about a good lunch!"

Truth is, starting at about 10:25am I am already at lunch in my 'good place.' (In my defense, my office is on High Street and there are numerous restaurants within smelling distance that start firing up their grills and ovens about 10:00am. By 10:25 I pretty much can't take it anymore.)

"Anybody busy?" I'll ask as I go into the office where Susan, Patty and TC are hard at work.

"... what?" As if I have caught them not working. (Couldn't care less - this is about that great hamburger I smell cooking!)

"Where we going for lunch?" In my excitement, I'm practically yelling by now.

"It's only ... it's not even 10:30!"

"Well, by the time we walk there it will be time to eat!"

"Every restaurant here is within thirty feet!"

(Sigh) "Okay ... I'll just sit here by the window. Don't let (sniff) me bother (sniff) you. Really, (sniff) I'll be as quiet (sniff) as a cat."

Surprisingly, they rise in resignation.

"Let me get my coat."

Tomorrow? Who knows - I think I'll have to let you know when I write it!

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/

http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 21, 2010): 13,620 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 21, 2010): 9320

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"As Darkness Falls"

The twenty-first installment in the Robert Ian Winstin blog series "28 in Twenty-Eight."

"As Darkness Falls"

So, ... yesterday was about pure sound and programmatic sound combined to tell a story. Yesterday it was morning, 'film noir' style.

Today it is evening. Get up, have your morning coffee and pretend it is evening. On a beach. And ... there is a violinist nearby.

Perfectly natural!

OK - you have to stretch a bit, but the setting is pretty cool; waves lapping into the shore and ... "As Darkness Falls" a violin plays on the lonely beach. By the time he finishes - a small crowd has appeared - and threatens to drown out his playing. Eventually he stops, they leave - and the beach remains.

Make what you will of it!

Once again - I have great friends and colleagues. The wonderful violinist Jorge Aguirre met me me for breakfast in the morning and I convinced him to record this little ditty. (Like yesterday's piece with Eddie, Jorge had no idea what I was going to put as sound effects behind him.)

That's a nice guy!

Sound is sound. It really doesn't matter to me if it is made by a trained player on a wonderful instrument or made by nature in the form of the sound of waves lapping against the shore.

And ... these past two pieces have been about sound and, maybe more importantly, the marrying of two separate and different elements; scripted sound created by a person and sound by nature or random sounds.

As a composer I loved putting them together.

My thanks to Eddie and Jorge for lending me their estimable talents.

Tomorrow's music is about a very loud typist. Yep, that's right - and it is for piano.

Until tomorrow!

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/
http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 20, 2010): 12,925 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 20, 2010): 9113

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Morning: Film Noir"

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

"Morning: Film Noir"

Today? Perhaps something you are not quite used to calling 'music.'

Well ... (you think) ... that could be a lot of things you write Winstin!

(Laughing) You are probably right!

But - let me set this up for you - Sound sets the scene: a wind chime clacks slowly and languidly in the background. A clock ticks away the seconds. Somewhere a coffee pots starts to life and a forlorn clarinet begins it's plaintive call. A ringing of the phone. No answer. Concern pounds on the door. The phone rings again. It is, again, not answered. The clarinet finishes, the clock insistently ticks away with the slow moving wind chimes in the background. Suddenly, the phone is dis-connected. Time ends.

So ... what is it about?

Another ho-hum usual morning in the big city? A sad preview of death? The loneliness of being?

You decide.

For me, writing programmatic music (as opposed to 'through-composed') is not about trying to create the majesty of swans in flight with that single f sharp - always leaving the listeners shaking their collective heads - but creating an almost cinematic audio experience of sound for the listener.

Part of the compositional process is to record not only music, but to script and record the sounds needed to accompany the audio.

As you can well imagine - this is fun stuff to do. (You also start to stalk some of the best sounding water coolers and desk phones.)

I wrote this piece for my friend and colleague Eddie - a fantastic clarinetist - as you can hear. Originally the piece was titled "A Short Study for a Big Talent." And he is - big in talent! Of course, he was incredibly gracious to get up in the morning and come out and record it. (He was also very trusting knowing that I was going to surround his playing with additional sounds.)

I don't think he quite bargained for the coffee maker sounds, though!

I think I'll call the piece "Morning: Film Noir." (Kind of reminds me of those great black & white detective flicks.)

My thanks to Eddie and all who have written, commented and called me about this blog. It is rather funny, but when I started this thing it really was a way for me to get motivated and excited. Thankfully (and a bit strangely) it has turned into something more with a lot of listeners.

Thanks!

Tomorrow? A piece for solo violin. Monday - a piece about a typist, or a bird ... or cars. Hey! Chickens!

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/

http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 19, 2010): 12,115 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 19, 2010): 8991

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"What the #$%^ - I Tried to Come Up With a ..."

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

"What the #$%^ - I Tried to Come Up With a Really Cool Title and This is All I Got?"

"What the #$%^ - I Tried to Come Up With a Really Cool Title and This is All I Got?"

The title saga continues.

Why is it we "classical" composers are mostly inept when it comes to titles? 'Symphony #1.' Stunning title. Or, 'Sonata in G Major.' Yeah baby - that really says it all! Of course, I realize that our tradition of non-programmatic titles comes from an era where music was 'through-composed' and not programmatic. Pure. Idealistic.

This is a wonderful past and I embrace it and support it with all my soul. It just seems ... so sterile. Is it any wonder we feel a need to attach a descriptive title to a purely musical thought? A good example is the Beethoven "Moonlight Sonata," which Beethoven never thought of calling it. He called it - ready romantics?: "Piano Sonata #14."

So ... just what does this have to do with me and today's piece of music?

Well ... everything!

Most of the time I try to write very descriptive music essentially based on 'classical' forms and ideals. My 'language' as a composer is most decidedly not 'classical' - but my ideals are. And ... I have a tendency to call things with such descriptive titles as "Study #27," or, "Symphony #5."

Ooh! Be still my heart!

So ... today's piece of music?

"Study in Groups of Seven in a Chromatic Fashion," or, "What the #$%^ - I Tried to Come Up With a Really Cool Title and This is All I Got?"

Of course, in my defense - it is a study in groups of seven; listen to the right-hand in the beginning of the piece - groups of seven strung together end to end. (This rhythmic idea comes back so often it is almost motivic!) And, ... it is chromatic - related in a scalar fashion by half-steps.

This series of pieces has been terrific for me as a composer. I have been forced to create something new everyday, which, of course, means that I have had to try and make musical sense out of the smallest possible ideas and whims! So far it has been a lot of fun and I have enjoyed the emails and comments from all of you tremendously. (Included in those emails and comments are some of the most interesting people I have had the privilege of 'talking' to - including college music and conservatory students and ... a fifth grade class of elementary school students who discuss the music daily. Now that's a brave teacher!)

So, this is "What the #$%^ - I Tried to Come Up With a Really Cool Title and This is All I Got?" I spent a lot of time recording it this morning - couldn't get it really right until the last possible moment! (I must be getting old ...)

This one is for Mer the pianist and composer. Tomorrow? A piece for clarinet and sounds for my friend Eddie.

Thanks again!

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/

http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 18, 2010): 10,045 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 18, 2010): 8717

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Fantasy for Flute, Piano & Chamber Orchestra"

The eighteenth installment in Robert Ian Winstin's blog series "28 in Twenty-Eight."

"Fantasy for Flute, Piano & Chamber Orchestra"

I love the flute. It is an expressive instrument that is capable of a tremendously wide variety of nuance and character.

In writing this piece, a French 'bistro-esque' type of feel kept coming to the fore. Really, I tried to write it out of this piece - at one point I even had an accordion in the score. (Got rid of that one right away!)

In this, the "Fantasy for Flute, Piano & Chamber Orchestra," the role of the piano is more of a duo-solo instrument than mere accompaniment. It is a duet between the two solo instruments that starts the piece. (In fact, the piano starts the piece with a motivic series of sixteenth-notes resolving by a minor second. For those of you who don't read music - you may be better off!) The solo flute enters a few bars into this sixteenth-note pattern. The orchestra finally enters a few bars after that.

The feeling is definitely French. Funny how it doesn't starts out that way. (Sometimes a piece of music just ... happens.) Somewhere about the third hour of writing I gave up getting the "French" out and started to embrace it - weaving a more 'classical' feel (with the sixteenth-note figures of the piano), flute entry - then - flute, piano & chamber orchestra ("French").

This feeling now dictated the scoring of the "French" sections. I got rid of the accordion (more for humane reasons!) but shaped the strings and light winds to almost sound like an accordion.

In listening to the recording it comes off as a nice, friendly, light score that has some really lovely moments - at least I hope so!

My many thanks to Leesa Belton for her terrific flute work and the players who so eagerly came in so early! (Now that's friendship!)

This is the eighteenth piece in the series and I'm lovin' it! This one is for Nina at the Real Flute Project.

Tomorrow - a real 'knuckle-buster' of a piano etude. Later - a work for clarinet and sound effects played by my good friend Eddie.

Many thanks to Josephine Wall for the image "The Enchanted Flute."

Robert Ian Winstin

http://www.robertianwinstin.com/
http://www.numusicdirect.com/

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 17, 2010): 8990 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 17, 2010): 8212

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Blues Etude #2"

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

"Blues Etude #2"

A little more fun today ... not like yesterday!

Today's piece? "Blues Etude #2."

I got so much feedback from the first "Blues Etude," that I knew I had to do another.

Here's the setting: it is a chilly early (early!) morning here in Portsmouth, Virginia. (Yeah, I know - what did I think? February? I'm wondering if Al Gore needs to give his Nobel Prize in Global Warming back?) We've recently moved and re-built the studios in an elegant (but needy!) 1854 former Vaudeville theater. It is a truly glorious place - needs lots of work, attention and care, but - it is glorious.

It is also wonderful for recording. The large theater is about 50 feet wide, 120 feet long and 30 feet high. Everything sounds good on this stage!

This has been just the type of project I have needed to re-ignite my creative juices. My goal? Create 28 pieces in twenty-eight days. Nothing extensive - short, miniaturist works that explore what I want to explore that day. (Pieces are written, recorded and blogged that day.)

So, of course, strange topics sometimes come through, like, "Like Water Flowing From My Ceiling," or "TC - the Theater Cat!"

A 'Blues Etude' is exactly that - a combination form piece that puts the technical ferocity and demands of a Chopin 'Etude' with the immediately accessible elements of a 'Blues' pattern.

Technical demands are the name of the game in this piece - lots of them sound a lot harder than they really are - arpeggiated chords, walking bass lines in octave, off-kilter rhythms, etc. I love this kind of stuff!

So, for pure fun and calisthenics - "Blues Etude #2." This one is for my friend Cathy.

Tomorrow? A little change of pace - "Fantasy for Flute, Piano & Chamber Orchestra"

Robert Ian Winstin

www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 16, 2010): 8721 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 16, 2010): 7911

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numsicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"Men Have Biological Clocks, Too"

The sixteenth installment in the "28 in Tweny-Eight" blog series by Robert Ian Winstin.

"Men Have Biological Clocks, Too"

First - a hearty THANK YOU to those who are following this blog daily. It takes a special kind of person to listen to this much new music on a daily basis. There might be medication for that. Check with your doctor.

"Men Have Biological Clocks, Too."

Although ... when I look at my Grandfather (yes, I know I put a capital "G" there - but he is a kind of Capital guy) who is closing in on 97 - yes, ninety-seven years old, it is hard to maintain an argument about men and their biological clocks.

Especially since he was recently living with his younger girl friend. She's 84.

Actually, I'm just playing with time in this piece. (Aren't we all?) The left-hand drones out a constant beating of time - which is timed-out at sixty on the metronome; one quarter per second. (Coincidence? I think not!)

The right-hand messes with the time-line of the left-hand, much like life interrupts from time to time and throws us a few curves. (You'll also hear, if you've lasted this long, the right-hand 'time flying' figures that alternate between groups of three and four. In most time groupings, figures of three tend to give the impression of time pulling back a bit, and, when it releases back to groups of four you tend to feel a bit of relief that time has now continued it's inevitable march forward.)

Time continues to the end in the same constant tempo that was established in the beginning of the piece - just like in real life.

Hm mmm - I can't believe that I wrote the above paragraphs! I'm usually the happy one! (I must be harkening back to my slavic roots ...)

Nice way for me to reward returning listeners - write something depressing!

Oh well, tomorrow - by popular request - is another "Blues Etude." I going out on a limb here with the title to tomorrow's piece and call it ... "Blues Etude #2."

Pure titular poetry.

Robert Ian Winstin

www.robertianwinstin.com
www.numusicdirect.com

Stats: Blog Views to Date (February 15, 2010): 8443 Sheet Music Downloads to Date (February 15, 2010): 7721

You can grab the FREE sheet music to most of the music in this blog series at www.numusicdirect.com/28intwentyeight.html

"A Trio of Myopic & Near-Sighted Rodents"

The fifteenth installment in Robert Ian Winstin's "28 in Twenty-Eight" blog series