Arieff Toccata

[rwayland]

This toccata is derived from the the sketch originally planned for Faux Folk Music Nr 2, which was an embarrassment and abomination. It is lively and fast, and difficult to play. There is a slight resemblance to a boogie woogie style. The title is not related to the music. It is a reference to someone in my past.

Arieff Toccata

The mp3 uses GPO Steinway

Richard

[fabiolcati]

Excellent, Richard.

I'm always amazed by the amount of very good contemporary music growing under the ceiling of the Listening Room!

Don't want to start an argument with qccowboy with this statemnt, but today's world of music is so muchwider than Darmstadt!

[Frank D]

Hi Richard,

I downloaded this and played it a few times ... very agitated; I especially liked the low-register rumblings @ 2:30.

I agree, there is a somewhat relentless boogie-type underpinning throughout most of it. I'll go a step further and say if Mingus wrote a boogie, it may have sounded a lot like this! Nice!

I enjoyed the listen; thanks for posting.

Frank

[sanyarem]

Hello Richard, glad I was able to catch this one before heading out to work today! After hearing this piece, I remembered your style from your posts years ago. Though I wouldn't label all contemporary music as something I enjoy listening to, but yours finds a nice balance of innovation and listenability. It is interesting enough to be captivating, but not so much that it becomes over-complicated and difficult to follow.

I like the boogie comparison you used in describing this, it just makes it that much more fun!


Thanks for sharing!

[composingatnight]

I picture “The fun” verses “the Serious” but in the end the listeners are the winners.
~Rod

[rwayland]

Well, thanks to you all for your time and comments. All of you seem to have grasped my intent and feelings about the music. Sometimes I want to write music a little gentler than this, bu once I begin the music becomes self-animating and I can only follow and try to understand it enough to write it!

I am presently trying hard to compose a more melodic work, somewhat jazz, somewhat contemporary, with a deadline of 21 October 2012. The problem that I so often encounter is that such music becomes too imitative or sentimental crap, or just plain awful.

Richard

[rbowser-]

...I am presently trying hard to compose a more melodic work, somewhat jazz, somewhat contemporary, with a deadline of 21 October 2012. The problem that I so often encounter is that such music becomes too imitative or sentimental crap, or just plain awful. Richard

Then don't write melodic, somewhat jazzy, somewhat contemporary music which is "imitative or sentimental crap, or just plain awful." Write some good stuff instead.

It'll be good for you, Richard. Writing within tight constraints can be a great challenge, and not nearly as easy as it may seem. Your music is always of some interest, so it'd probably be impossible for you to write music which isn't still that, no matter how conventional the style you're being asked to write in.

I don't know if you can stand hearing any of my simple "Tom Sawyer" songs which I had to write within some very restricting parameters, but I've had enough positive feedback to think I may have succeeded in writing simple, melodic, even predictable things that aren't godawful. Maybe listening to some of those will help give you courage.

Randy

[rwayland]

Well, Randy, I can't quarrel with your comments. I have written a few melodic pieces which I liked, including "Soho Square", "To Kiss Your Claret Lips" and "Once Upon a Lovely Dream", and some others that I have forgotten about. They were not difficult, and I enjoyed writing them. The difficulty for me lies in arriving at an idea worth pursuing, which is the state I have been in for a week or two. Once the basic idea gels, I expect I will produce something worth listening to. I have some thoughts, but I am struggling to keep them from sounding like faux Frankie Carle or Schumann or whatever.

Schumann and Carle are both high on my list of greats. It may not be obvious from my compositions, but the concertos of Tchaikowsky, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and St. Saens are to me the epitome of great music. I also enjoy Mozart, when it is not badly played, as is the norm.

I have not yet listened to "Tom Sawyer", but only because my net connection is getting to be impossibly slow. In part, this is due to aging phone lines in this backwoods area, partly because the web is becoming overloaded and crowded. I expect some day I will be forced to go the satellite route, and possibly upgrade to a new system. Satellite is not unbearably expensive. If I switch to it, I will cancel my land line, and current ISP. The increased cost will be minimal. What stops me is the two year commitment, which essentially is the same as making a purchase of $1,600.00 or so, which I don't want to do. DSL would be a great solution if it ever becomes available here.

Richard