Bitter, Sweet, and Zesty!
We make our own fun in this household - PBat & J!
Due to falling ill with COVID a little over a week ago, it’s been a little later getting this post out than I hoped. I’m still quite tired and require a lot of breaks while working to maintain focus, but the worst of the physical symptoms seem to have finally subsided for now. While my partner and I are both grateful to have gone for so long without getting sick, it was no joke finally going through it. I may write more about this in a future post, but for now I’m ready to talk about anything else!!
Even while being sick, I’ve been in a rather intense writing period the last few weeks - in addition the New Music Cookbook works, I’ve been working on two major pieces for different trios along with planning for my fall projects. A few of the works this fall will be using text, and trying to find time and energy to look through potential choices (or even come up with some of my own) has proven difficult after so many writing days leave my brain like mush!
In any case, the cookbook recipes are proving to be a great focusing exercise as a writer - working through different instrumentations, focusing on a narrow selection of textures for each piece, and having such a clear inspiration as a starting point has made putting most of them together fun (even when they get a bit challenging sometimes)! While the last post saw a few pieces that pretty directly translated specific stages of the recipe into different sections of music, both of these next works take a more “big picture” approach. I hope you enjoy reading about them!
My partner recently taught me a simple recipe that uses chorizo, oaxaca cheese, cut-up tomatoes, and lime juice, garnished with sour cream / cilantro. A really delicious taco filling with very little fuss!
The Music!
The next two pieces in the New Music Cookbook are inspired by two sweet submissions. I liked how simple both of these recipes turned out to be - and with different takes on “sweet” foods, they turned out to be great fun to work on back-to-back!
Entry 3: Mango Salad (solo piano)
Monica Chew is a pianist and composer who is based in Oakland, California. Her own compositions have been performed as part of the Gabriela Lena Frank’s Creative Academy for Music’s #GLFCAMGigThruCovid initiative, the Hot Air Music Festival, and Left Coast Chamber Ensemble’s Intersection program, and she has given marvelous performances of other composer’s works (you can check out her Soundcloud to hear more)! I was ecstatic when she reached out to collaborate.
Chop, chop!
Originally I had this in 7/8, but Monica suggested breaking down the phrases into smaller chunks to help with readability.
This recipe is very simple - just a few chopped fruits and veggies mixed in a simple sauce - and I loved the idea of drawing bright, crunchy, zesty, and sweet textures out of a few simple ideas. The bulk of the work uses the same rhythm (short-long, short-long, short-short), and I had a lot of fun finding ways to create variations this pervasive, simple idea. The opening section plays a lot with dynamic contrasts and shifts in register, along with the left hand getting gradually busier as the long, accented clusters increase in denisty.
A touch of sweetness
The only other material really used in this piece are sections in 6/8, which uses an arpeggiation gesture in the left hand and a simple melody in the right hand. To create further contrast with the crunchy music, this music is largely single lines and no harmonies, though the longer, slurred lines help to create a lusher, gentle feel.
Short and simple!
Now in a lower register, the material strips away rather than building up.
The piece ends by using the material from the opening in reverse, the long, accented clusters from the crunchy music stripping away notes until it returns to the opening idea. While there is certainly a lot of places this piece could expand and develop into something much longer, I wanted to really fixate on these few simple ideas. At tempo, the piece is just over a minute, but - I think - says all it needs to with the ideas I ended up using!
Digesting the piece
Entry 4: Hipharpy’s Chocolate Mousse (solo lever harp)
Shana Norton (known sometimes as “hipharpy” on Twitter) is a harpist based in Austin, Texas who I had the great fortune of working with as part of the Neighbor Tones project in 2021. Her duo (which includes flute) often give performances that intersperse text throughout the program - sometimes even including works that have Shana speaking while she plays! She is such a joyful, adventurous performer with a style all her own - I absolutely love writing for her.
A lovely photo of both Mrs. and Mr. Hipharpy! :)
She requested that the piece be something a bit more approachable for various levels of lever harpists. I decided to focus a bit more broadly on a few key aspects of the recipe rather than making a step-by-step interpretation. One thing to note about this recipe in particular is that it is based a French mousse, which traditionally uses egg whites and no cream - making for a light, but very intense, taste with slightly more texture than one might be use to with other mousse recipes. She told me this recipe is a favorite of her and husband’s (for who this piece is dedicated), and I had so much fun reading her whimsical directions and descriptions. I can’t wait for you to read it for yourself!
Sweet and bitter
Opening melody - while the range is relatively simple, the later measures will require some deft finger work to repluck recently struck strings.
The piece is essentially in A-B-A form. The opening section starts with a light, almost march-like melody before transitioning into a darker, more circular melody. This quickly works its way back to the opening material, now with a few moments of dance-like rhythms and rapid whirling before settling back into the more march-like melody. This final iteration is even lighter than the opening, almost like a lullaby. The final few bars amp up the energy suddenly before finishing with a gentle flourish.
Light and airy
Return of the opening melody near the end, growing gentle and airy
Throughout the piece, especially since this is for lever harp, I stuck to a rather compact range (barely up to the fifth octave). Also, while I usually love to play with hockets and passing melody around, I stuck to a more traditional split between melody and accompaniment throughout. Both of these things, along with very simple rhythms, helped to create a light, open texture with lots of space throughout the piece.
Stirring and whirling
First introduction of brushing the strings with fingernails - a simple but fun technique!
A key technique to this recipe is stirring, beating, and whisking ingredients into particular textures. To mimic this in various forms, I mainly use two ideas: the first being melodies that fold back on themselves (rising and falling, using the same notes in different rhythms, etc.) and a technique in which the harpist uses the back of their finger nails to brush the strings rapidly. The latter is used first as transitional material, but eventually worms it’s way into the main melody by the end. This technique is also echoed in the use of traditional glisses throughout the work. By mixing these elements in throughout the work, I was able to achieve a sense of cohesion even as the piece moves through various different textures and ideas.
Digesting the piece
It was fun to create a slightly darker section in an otherwise rather cute piece - an homage to both the dark chocolate used in the recipe, as well as perhaps my mood during the first attempt! :)
When I tried it out for myself I had a bit of a disastrous attempt (sometimes I have trouble following directions…), but after gleaning a few key tips the second try came out beautifully! I think it’s good to have a few things go awry, as now I have some idea of how to further clarify these recipes and make them approachable for those less experienced with some of the techniques these recipes use. I had so much fun in the first attempt that it didn’t matter it didn’t turn out quite as expected, and now I know what not to do next time! This made me think that I may end up including little notes throughout the book (“tips from a bad cook” perhaps?) to help further guide people who are trying these recipes out for the first time.
Up Next!
In my next post, I hope to share a little bit more about the trio I’ve been working on for the Beau Soir ensemble (flute, viola, and harp), as well as two new projects I’ll be diving into for sax, trumpet, and piano as well as soprano and clarinet! There are also more recipes coming your way, so check back soon for more!!
My parents were recently visited by a rafter of wild turkeys - take a gander at that fowl play!
