Henningmusick

[karlhenning]

On 13 Sep, it was my privilege to take part in a benefit concert. I performed one of my clarinet unaccompanied pieces, Irreplaceable Doodles.

I have since learnt that there is a DVD of the concert available for purchase; PM me if there is any interest.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Henningmusick, old and older:

Recent performance of the Nunc dimittis from the Evening Service in D

The first performance of the Passion According to St John (choir unaccompanied)

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

I've been busy loading stuff up onto SoundCloud. For those who may be interested:

Hodie Christus natus est, Op. 76 (five-part choir and clarinet)

Suffrages from the Evening Svc in D, Op. 87 (officiant and four-part choir)

Nuhro (Hymn of Light), Op. 74 (choir divided in up to seven parts)

Alleluia in A[sup]b[/sup], Op. 33 (four-part choir)

Pascha nostrum, Op. 62a (four-part choir)

Mirage, Op79 (cl/vn/pf)

Night of the Weeping Crocodiles, Op16 (cl/vn/pf)

Lunar Glare, Op98 (cl & hpschd)

Lutosławski's Lullaby, Op25 (pf solo)

Gaze Transfixt, Op23 (pf solo)

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

starlight on the margin

Music of Karl Henning

I.
stars & guitars, Op.95 (2010)
Peter H. Bloom, bass flute
Mary Jane Rupert, harp

II.

These Unlikely Events № 3 2011 (première)
Marginalia 2008-ish (première)
These Unlikely Events № 1 2011 (première)
Peter H. Bloom, alto flute
Karl Henning, clarinet
Mary Jane Rupert, harp

Tuesday, 17 April
12:15PM
King’s Chapel
Tremont & School Streets, Boston
Voluntary donation

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

To-morrow!

Cheers,
~Karl

starlight on the margin

Music of Karl Henning

I.
stars & guitars, Op.95 (2010)
Peter H. Bloom, bass flute
Mary Jane Rupert, harp

II.

These Unlikely Events № 3 2011 (première)
Marginalia 2008-ish (première)
These Unlikely Events № 1 2011 (première)
Peter H. Bloom, alto flute
Karl Henning, clarinet
Mary Jane Rupert, harp

Tuesday, 17 April
12:15PM
King’s Chapel
Tremont & School Streets, Boston
Voluntary donation

[karlhenning]

(* clears away the cobwebs *)

Pleased to report that I have had a signally busy July, reclaiming the composing groove, largely by tying up at last a few half-finished projects.

Item 1: Finished a Sonatina for Cello and Piano, meant for a student cellist in the Pittsburgh area. The solo part is likely to be something of a challenge for the youth, though I tried my gamest to keep things simple. She is ready for the challenge, though, and is excited to bring the piece in for her lesson to-morrow.

Item 2: Finished the last of a set of five clarinet duos, These Unlikely Events. I semi-returned to these, by composing the fourth (finishing off its composition, really) while vacationing in February.

Item 3: Seeing at last to a task I’ve contemplated for more than a year, probably for more than two years: taking the three-movement suite for cello ensemble in four parts, It’s all in your head (not that that’s a bad place for everything to be), and adapting it for garden-variety string quartet. The cello suite has lain unperformed, lo! these four years (the cello instructor who invited me to write the piece for a group of her students, subsequently went through a divorce and has moved back overseas), and the more I thought about the piece, the more I figured I should put it out to work in String Quartet Land. So, at press time, I’ve finished adapting the first and second movements, and I am fixin’ to wrap the third up to-night, or at latest Thursday.

Item 4: With a sheaf of five poems, I have wanted for some little while to compose a Cantata (there are also two singers here in Boston game for the piece). At first I thought of accompanying it with a select group of four instruments, but a couple of players I had in mind for the project have become unavailable (unless money can be found to compensate them – I do not begrudge them this practical decision, in fact I wish I could arrange for myself to be paid when I perform); so the entire project has waited on the shelf while I sort out The Accompaniment Question. A solution has not quite been reached, but I am at last in touch with the conductor of a new music ensemble, to whom I want to pitch the project.

In short: no breakthroughs to report, but work carries on.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Oh! Nearly forgot . . .

Item 5: (actually pre-dates Item 1, though) Finished a Kyrie for four-part choir unaccompanied. No immediate plans to expand this to a full Mass, but in the back of my mind, it's not at all a bad idea.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Item 1: Finished a Sonatina for Cello and Piano, meant for a student cellist in the Pittsburgh area. The solo part is likely to be something of a challenge for the youth, though I tried my gamest to keep things simple. She is ready for the challenge, though, and is excited to bring the piece in for her lesson to-morrow.

Item 2: Finished the last of a set of five clarinet duos, These Unlikely Events. I semi-returned to these, by composing the fourth (finishing off its composition, really) while vacationing in February.

Item 3: Seeing at last to a task I’ve contemplated for more than a year, probably for more than two years: taking the three-movement suite for cello ensemble in four parts, It’s all in your head (not that that’s a bad place for everything to be), and adapting it for garden-variety string quartet. The cello suite has lain unperformed, lo! these four years (the cello instructor who invited me to write the piece for a group of her students, subsequently went through a divorce and has moved back overseas), and the more I thought about the piece, the more I figured I should put it out to work in String Quartet Land. So, at press time, I’ve finished adapting the first and second movements, and I am fixin’ to wrap the third up to-night, or at latest Thursday.

Item 4: With a sheaf of five poems, I have wanted for some little while to compose a Cantata (there are also two singers here in Boston game for the piece). At first I thought of accompanying it with a select group of four instruments, but a couple of players I had in mind for the project have become unavailable (unless money can be found to compensate them – I do not begrudge them this practical decision, in fact I wish I could arrange for myself to be paid when I perform); so the entire project has waited on the shelf while I sort out The Accompaniment Question. A solution has not quite been reached, but I am at last in touch with the conductor of a new music ensemble, to whom I want to pitch the project.

In short: no breakthroughs to report, but work carries on.

The young student for whom I wrote the Sonatina has taken the piece into her lesson this Wednesday past. Brave girl!

I've found that I need to add some detail to p.3 of These Unlikely Events № 4; should wrap that up shortly.

The third (final) movement of It’s all in your head (not that that’s a bad place for everything to be), Après-lullaby, is now complete in its string quartet version . . . and a quartet here in Boston may even take a look at it.

I did none of that work on Tuesday night . . . I learnt that day that a flutist in San Francisco had a call for scores, for which the deadline was Tuesday. As I spell out on the blog, I started writing that piece on the 5:10 train, and sent it in electronically at half past 9.

Cheers,
~Karl

[Seán]

This has been a very productive time for you Karl, well done.

[karlhenning]

Thanks, Seán!

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

And you thought there was no progress.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Sunday, January 27, 2013 1:30 pm
The Choir of First Church in Boston in concert
First Church in Boston: 66 Marlborough St., Boston, MA, USA (MAP)
The Choir of First Church in Boston performs:

Emersonia, Op. 113: Larry Thomas Bell (concert premiere)
Leaves of Grass, Op. 100: Paul Creston
Three Songs for Chorus a capella: Philip Glass
and short works by Cienniwa, Henning, Palestrina, and Schubert


$20 suggested donation to benefit The Music of First Church in Boston

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Sunday, January 27, 2013 1:30 pm
The Choir of First Church in Boston in concert
First Church in Boston: 66 Marlborough St., Boston, MA, USA (MAP)
The Choir of First Church in Boston performs:

Emersonia, Op. 113: Larry Thomas Bell (concert premiere)
Leaves of Grass, Op. 100: Paul Creston
Three Songs for Chorus a capella: Philip Glass
and short works by Cienniwa, Henning, Palestrina, and Schubert

$20 suggested donation to benefit The Music of First Church in Boston

There will be video of the concert afterwards.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

The choir did splendidly with Love is the spirit. Will furnish a YouTube link, soon as I know it, myself.

And I think I've finished the first movement of the Organ Sonata . . . should send it along to John . . . .

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Good start this morning on the second mvt of the Organ Sonata . . . but then, I did have some sketches I'd made ahead of to-day.

Cheers,
~Karl

[Seán]

I am delighted to see that it is going well for you Karl, well done.

[karlhenning]

Many thanks, Seán!

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

A red letter day: I do believe this marks the first occasion when my music has been officially reviewed in a periodical.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

And, lo!



Cheers,
~Karl

[IcedNote]

Very nice choral writing! Also impressed by your harmonic control.

-G

[karlhenning]

Thanks, Garrett!

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

And, lo!

Zowie, 205 views.

Thanks for watching/listening!

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Very nice news, in a small way: Paul rang on his way home from the rehearsal this weekend past of the FCB Choir. They read the Kyrie for the first time, and genuine enthusiasm for the piece warmed Paul's voice as he said, "Your Kyrie is wonderful." All the choir dig it, and in fact later in the conversation Paul reported feeling that, in reading my piece, the choir did their best singing that morning. He largely knew the piece, from playing the keyboard reduction in preparation for the rehearsal, but he was struck by how well the piece "sings."

If I did not have two other projects which I need to wrap up yesterday, I should get right back to work on the Credo . . . .

I believe that a piece of mine may have been played by Classical Revolution Detroit, but I await confirmation.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

It's that time again!

Thoreau in Concord Jail, Op. 109 2013 (première)
Karl Henning, clarinet

Tuesday, 12 March
12:15PM
King’s Chapel
Tremont & School Streets, Boston
Voluntary donation

Cheers,
~Karl

A few words about the Opus 109

This piece is the latest in what has evolved into a series of works for unaccompanied wind instrument, successively re-opening the question of what is both manageable, and musically tenable. The music itself is (I think) profoundly allied to the historical event which inspires it. Setting aside for the moment its practically iconic status in American cultural history, Thoreau’s imprisonment was an accident (we might almost say) of the thoughtful application of his moral principles – though woe (and red tape galore) betide any of our contemporaries who might try to withhold taxation based on any moral quarrel with government policies. The man consented, as it were, to yield up his freedom of body, if in doing so he might retain his freedom of thought; and the composer imagines Thoreau enduring his confinement philosophically. The music, then, is not at all dramatic – this is no Shawshank Redemption prison-break soundtrack. In keeping with Thoreau’s practical near-asceticism, the piece is pointedly economical of musical material, and even of expression.

Karl Henning holds a B.Mus. with double major in composition and clarinet performance from the College of Wooster (Ohio); a M.A. in composition from the University of Virginia (Charlottesville); and a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Buffalo, where he studied with Charles Wuorinen and Louis Andriessen. His music has been played and sung on three continents (North America, Europe and Australia), and an itinerant eggplant-picker is believed to have seen sheets purportedly from the Henning organ Toccata. Karl recently completed a Cello Sonatina, and a set of clarinet duos, These unlikely events. Current projects include a vocal quartet setting of Poe’s Annabel Lee; Misapprehensions for clarinet choir in 15 parts; and an Organ Sonata.

[karlhenning]

. . . And I think I've finished the first movement of the Organ Sonata . . . should send it along to John . . . .

John, I've made a few adjustments to the first movement of the Organ Sonata . . . I have a vocal quartet to finish, and then a clarinet choir piece to finish, and then I can attend to the second movement . . . .

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

John, I've made a few adjustments to the first movement of the Organ Sonata . . . I have a vocal quartet to finish, and then a clarinet choir piece to finish, and then I can attend to the second movement . . . .

Status Report:

1. Vocal quartet (setting of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee”) done, and submitted to the group who called for scores. If accepted, the piece will be part of their 25 April program.

2. Clarinet choir piece (Misapprehension, in 15 parts — 1 E-flat sopranino, 11 B-flat soprano, 2 bass, and 1 B-flat contrabass clarinet) making good progress.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

I just keep making tweaks to the first movement of the Organ Sonata . . . guess I'm setting up textual problems for a future generation of musicologists . . . .

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Status Report:

1. Vocal quartet (setting of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee”) done, and submitted to the group who called for scores. If accepted, the piece will be part of their 25 April program.

2. Clarinet choir piece (Misapprehension, in 15 parts — 1 E-flat sopranino, 11 B-flat soprano, 2 bass, and 1 B-flat contrabass clarinet) making good progress.

Status Report:

1. The Libella Quartet have accepted Annabel Lee for their 25 April program.

2. Further, daily progress on Misapprehension; on track to deliver it by month's end.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

With only a marginal delay . . . the clarinet choir piece, Misapprehension, was delivered to the director yesterday.

No definite word on when the string pastoral (or other bits) from White Nights may at last be brought to Glens Falls, but the conductor tells me that it remains on his list.

Anyone for whom Somerville, Massachusetts is a convenient venue is welcome to a concert there Thursday evening, 25 April at 7:30 which will include the new Annabel Lee for unaccompanied vocal quartet.

The next King's Chapel date is Tuesday, 8 October, and the plan is to perform Mystic Trumpeter then. Thus, I shall want to finish its composition . . . but I have time to address the second and probably third movements of the Organ Sonata first.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

It's that time again!

Thoreau in Concord Jail, Op. 109 2013 (première)
Karl Henning, clarinet

Tuesday, 12 March
12:15PM
King’s Chapel
Tremont & School Streets, Boston
Voluntary donation

Cheers,
~Karl

A few words about the Opus 109

This piece is the latest in what has evolved into a series of works for unaccompanied wind instrument, successively re-opening the question of what is both manageable, and musically tenable. The music itself is (I think) profoundly allied to the historical event which inspires it. Setting aside for the moment its practically iconic status in American cultural history, Thoreau’s imprisonment was an accident (we might almost say) of the thoughtful application of his moral principles – though woe (and red tape galore) betide any of our contemporaries who might try to withhold taxation based on any moral quarrel with government policies. The man consented, as it were, to yield up his freedom of body, if in doing so he might retain his freedom of thought; and the composer imagines Thoreau enduring his confinement philosophically. The music, then, is not at all dramatic – this is no Shawshank Redemption prison-break soundtrack. In keeping with Thoreau’s practical near-asceticism, the piece is pointedly economical of musical material, and even of expression.

Karl Henning holds a B.Mus. with double major in composition and clarinet performance from the College of Wooster (Ohio); a M.A. in composition from the University of Virginia (Charlottesville); and a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Buffalo, where he studied with Charles Wuorinen and Louis Andriessen. His music has been played and sung on three continents (North America, Europe and Australia), and an itinerant eggplant-picker is believed to have seen sheets purportedly from the Henning organ Toccata. Karl recently completed a Cello Sonatina, and a set of clarinet duos, These unlikely events. Current projects include a vocal quartet setting of Poe’s Annabel Lee; Misapprehensions for clarinet choir in 15 parts; and an Organ Sonata.

[karlhenning]

Psst, John: I sent you the 2nd movement : )

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Anyone for whom Somerville, Massachusetts is a convenient venue is welcome to a concert there Thursday evening, 25 April at 7:30 which will include the new Annabel Lee for unaccompanied vocal quartet.

This Thursday; very excited!

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Well . . . the Libella Quartet did a smashing job with Annabel Lee this Thursday past.

And last night, I reached what I think may well be the end of the third movement, and thus of the Organ Sonata entirely. Letting it "rest" to-day, and I shall see if any second musical thoughts arise.

John, you there? A succession of quarter-notes marked with both staccato and tenuto markings: would that make sense to an organist? How would he be likely to interpret that?

Thanks!

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

[...]

The next King's Chapel date is Tuesday, 8 October, and the plan is to perform Mystic Trumpeter then. Thus, I shall want to finish its composition . . . but I have time to address the second and probably third movements of the Organ Sonata first.

The Organ Sonata is largely done, though I still have some "clean-up" to do with the third movement.

True to plan, I've resumed work on The Mystic Trumpeter.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

No firm news. The Passion will pass under the glance of a choir conductor here in Boston for whom I have great respect.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Scarcely do the twain meet.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Now that the Op. 59 is a wrap (again), I am back into production of The Mystic Trumpeter as of to-morrow morning.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

A bit odd to reflect that, before resumption on Mystic Trumpeter, my most recent work on the score had been in May of 2011.

Happily, the soprano is on board, still.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Had a very nice chat yester even with Mark Engelhardt, formerly of the Cathedral Church of St Paul here in Boston. He's back at the parish where he had been, some 23 years ago, in Bayshore, L.I. I've been keen to get Mark's opinion on the Organ Sonata . . . all the keener as, should he take a liking to it, he is apt to perform it, and perform it well. Mark is the fabulously talented organist with whose abilities in mind I composed the Toccata.

Now, it is not quite true to say that Mark would run a mile in tight shoes to avoid the Toccata . . . the facts briefly are thus: on at least three occasions, he worked on the piece, with an eye to a specific concert he was preparing, but (although on my repeated questioning, he insists that there is nothing impossible about the piece) the practice time required to feel confident in the piece, ever wound up exceeding the time available to prepare for a given concert date. As a fellow performer who is apt to need ample time to practice Henningmusick, I understand all too well.

It is fair to say, though, that the experience of the Toccata laid the groundwork for the Sonata. If with the Toccata, which I wrote at a time when Mark (an organist with chops) was never interested in my previously-written music with too-easy organ parts, I made a compositional point of writing a demanding piece into which a talented executant might sink his teeth . . . the Sonata is designed as three movements of a time-scale modest enough, and with technical demands moderate enough, to serve either as musical bits for a church service, or as one component of a concert performance.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Well . . . the Libella Quartet did a smashing job with Annabel Lee this Thursday past.

Q.E.D.



Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

There'll be activity on this thread (other than my own) when I am a "musical death," I suppose.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Well . . . the Libella Quartet did a smashing job with Annabel Lee this Thursday past.

Q.E.D.

The Libella Quartet like our Annabel Lee so well, they are performing it again on 16 March 2014.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Just a note that in the time since writing Annabel Lee, I have finished:

Misapprehension, Op.112 (clarinet choir in 15 parts)
The Mystic Trumpeter, Op.113 № 1 (soprano & clarinet in A, text by Walt Whitman)
Après-mystère, Op.113 № 2 (flute & clarinet in A)
Nicodemus brings myrrh and aloes for the burial of the Christ, Op.85 № 4 (cello and piano)

And I've gotten a good start on just what everyone was expecting, Op.114 for clarinet in B-flat and marimba.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Viz. the book review which is just published in the Music Reference Services Quarterly, you can view a sample page here.

Cheers,
~Karl

[Seán]

Well . . . the Libella Quartet did a smashing job with Annabel Lee this Thursday past.

Q.E.D.

The Libella Quartet like our Annabel Lee so well, they are performing it again on 16 March 2014.

Cheers,
~Karl

Oh Karl, that is beautiful, I love it.

[karlhenning]

Thank you, indeed, Seán!

In separate news . . . last night, I interviewed/auditioned for a choir director position in a Methodist church not far from home. There is a process which needs to play out, but such things as were within my power went well. After one of their own warmed the choir up, and rehearsed them in the piece they are to sing this Sunday coming, I was asked to rehearse them in another piece (of their choosing). Without exaggeration, I can report that I made a strong impression, I have their musical respect . . . and the pastor collared me afterwards, singly, and told me that he hopes I get the job.

Of course, we shall see.

Cheers,
~Karl

[Seán]

Thank you, indeed, Seán!

In separate news . . . last night, I interviewed/auditioned for a choir director position in a Methodist church not far from home. There is a process which needs to play out, but such things as were within my power went well. After one of their own warmed the choir up, and rehearsed them in the piece they are to sing this Sunday coming, I was asked to rehearse them in another piece (of their choosing). Without exaggeration, I can report that I made a strong impression, I have their musical respect . . . and the pastor collared me afterwards, singly, and told me that he hopes I get the job.

Of course, we shall see.

Cheers,
~Karl

Karl, I am glad that you felt it went well and I hope that you get the position.

[karlhenning]

Thanks! A little to my surprise, follow-up e-mail came this morning, they want me to rehearse them again, and more extensively, next week. This is still just the next hoop, but it looks encouraging.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Moving parts

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

It is official: I have been engaged as the Choir Director for Holy Trinity Church.

Cheers,
~Karl