Henningmusick

Post by **Corlyss_D** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:37 pm

karlhenning wrote:My name in pixels

Cheers,
~Karl

Is that as opposed to "in print?"

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:18 pm

Perhaps a supplement, rather than in opposition :-)

Cheers,
~Karl

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:08 am

Karl, you're starting to sound like TopoGigio.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:25 am

Well, no composer wants to sound the same all the time . . . .

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:37 am

Today is the day.

In rehearsing The Mousetrap, Pete and I have found that it runs a bit longer than I'd expected earlier on. And it's a lunchtime recital, and quite a few fellow workers here at the office will turn out . . . so we can't have the concert running long. Regrettably, then, I'll strike Blue Shamrock from today's program, and figure on including it in a program later in the year.

Cheers,
~Karl

PGS · Post by **PGS** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 6:34 am

Good luck on your performance!

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:53 am

PGS wrote:Good luck on your performance!

Many thanks! I am enormously pleased with how well it went. I might yet wish that my clarinet had been in better shape still, but the composer has much to be happy for. Apart from having creditable performances of a couple of premieres to send off to a brace of a fellow composers, Pete and I made a fairly good job of the premiere of my own The Mousetrap.

Pete is such a damned good player! The performance yesterday, nothwithstanding its distance from Perfection, amply justified my speculation in writing such a behemoth of a chamber work.

I hadn't thought about it in a while; yet when I was asked the inevitable question, yesterday, about what tie-in the title has with the piece, my former thoughts had settled into something approaching coherence.

The title comes from Hamlet. The play-within-the-play is The Murder of Gonzago, and yet when Claudius asks, Hamlet tells him the name is The Mousetrap. Generally, in the background of the composition, were thoughts of how Shakespeare on one level, drew frankly from existing dramatic sources, but created something of excellence which is all his own; and on another level, has a distinct dramatic event which is an organic piece of the whole. Part of my thinking in the piece was, a new (for myself) approach to including 'found objects', and also variation in representing the object.

Now, I started writing a piece for Pete and me to play together almost exactly a year ago. Originally it was going to be a relatively brief piece . . . and sparse and atmospheric. But there wasn't the time to wrap up composition and get even an easy piece rehearsed in time for the recital, so I set the MS. down.

By the time I took it back up, I had decided on a somewhat grander plan. Part of this may simply have been, that in my mind, it was a slow-sustained piece for a long time now, and compositionally I wanted to write a burst of activity to contrast. Even in the early stages of the composition, I had included an 'organic quotation', though something pretty obscure and with sentimental value here at home, to make Maria and Irina smile . . . an allusion (though not, in The Mousetrap, in waltz-time) to a waltz used in the Gary Cooper / Audrey Hepburn movie Love in the Afternoon, called "Fascination." Soon I was not only broadening the compositional scope, but making a game of composing an environment whose 'orbit' might capture various bits from the literature. Part of what was going on, too, was likely the fact that in writing for viola, I had in mind Shostakovich's references elsewhere in both the Viola Sonata and the Fifteenth Symphony. And my own fascination with enlarging the piece was partly a matter of building on the Studies in Impermanence . . . thinking that, having managed a block of 20 minutes with a solo wind instrument, it must after all be an even easier accomplishment with two instruments.

Imperfections of yesterday's execution notwithstanding, response was warm, from listeners with a variety of musical background. So I eagerly await the recording.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:27 am

Hadn't planned on doing so, but here I've begun to venture upon the blogosphere:

http://henningmusick.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
~Karl

diegobueno · Post by **diegobueno** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 3:00 pm

Thank you, Karl, for putting a link to my site.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 3:05 pm

A pleasure, Mark.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 8:20 am

Organist Paul Cienniwa will play Three Short Pieces at First Church in Boston this Sunday.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:54 am

Alternate version of a trumpet piece.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 8:55 am

Two years of the sun.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:03 am

Among other things, a Dutch choir singing some dashed difficult music.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 7:55 pm

Another anniversary: Nuhro.

Cheers,
~Karl

[ edited this one in error, and then retrofitted it. long story ]

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:53 pm

Three Short Pieces for organ, Opus 34

Cheers,
~Karl

piston · Post by **piston** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:34 pm

Gorgeous, or should I say, de toute beauté!
You really compose music that could belong in many different cultural periods and which would be appreciated by different opponents engaged in vicious aesthetic battles. That "universal" appeal I have now heard more than once in your religious works.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 7:19 am

Many thanks, indeed, piston!

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 11:45 am

Just a verbal outrage, really

Cheers,
~Karl

Sylph · Post by **Sylph** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 2:02 pm

Karl, I forgot to tell you that I can't wait to hear what will happen to that alto flute piece! That what I read sounds great!

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:55 am

Sylph wrote:Karl, I forgot to tell you that I can't wait to hear what will happen to that alto flute piece! That what I read sounds great!

Peter assures me that once the holiday madness has subsided, he will give my piece a reading. Knowing how well he plays, it will be well worth the listening.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:42 am

In case there be any interest, there is a recording of an invigorating piece for choir & percussion here.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:37 pm

[ The story of how some little Henningmusick came to be played in the presence of a former US President. ]

[ Some leaves from the Order of Service. ]

Cheers,
~Karl

Sylph · Post by **Sylph** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:37 am

So... Karl... Could you tell us something about you, your music and your composing process?

How would you define your music stylistically? Who are you influenced by? Are you influenced by folk music of certain regions, e.g. Balinese gamelan of African tribal? When do you usually compose? Do you use a computer? Do you write your scores by hand? Do you compose at the piano? Stuff like that.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:08 pm

Sylph wrote:So... Karl... Could you tell us something about you, your music and your composing process?

Thank you for your interest!

Sylph wrote:How would you define your music stylistically?

I wouldn’t; no single stylistic label fits, and my palette is still ‘dynamically acquisitive’. In the realm of pitch, for instance: Sometimes I write in a pitch-world that is no particular distance from Common Practice; sometimes, a great distance from it; sometimes I write for a percussion ensemble, in which questions of pitch are irrelevant. I like being able to draw from a wide range. And I've been writing long enough, that (I feel, at least) it all sounds like my music.

Sylph wrote:Who are you influenced by?

Two dozen composers I like, and sometimes by music I quite dislike. Three fairly powerful, sustained influences have been: Stravinsky, Feldman & Russian Orthodox liturgical music.

Sylph wrote:Are you influenced by folk music of certain regions, e.g. Balinese gamelan of African tribal?

Of certain regions, overall not, though I do own a general influence from various folk musics. While I was doing my Master’s in Virginia, Scott DeVeaux (who teaches jazz there, and who had studied drumming in Ghana) had me assist in his African drumming class, and the rhythmic thinking I gleaned thence, I have found a great variety of applications for, since.

I've been told that my Alleluia in D sounds like Norwegian folk-music; yet, I did not have any such musical specificity in view as I was writing it.

Sylph wrote:When do you usually compose?

Whenever I can, around the mundane jobs. Often on the bus-ride into or back home from Boston.

Sylph wrote:Do you use a computer?

A great deal, though generally my use of the computer is to produce a legible, publisher-ready score and parts.

Sylph wrote:Do you write your scores by hand?

I certainly do far the greater part of my composition proper, by hand.

Sylph wrote:Do you compose at the piano?

I have to modify the answer to this from “seldom” to “never.” It is many years since I had regular access to a piano.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:36 am

Sylph wrote:. . . When do you usually compose? Do you use a computer? Do you write your scores by hand? . . .

Recent instance of writing, and a sample of MS.

Cheers,
~Karl

Sylph · Post by **Sylph** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:01 am

Thank you, Karl, very much, it was a very interesting read!

I've actually started reading the blog some time ago and you write very neatly, but I can't remember why I stopped and then I didn't have the time to go back to reading it. I will try to correct that!

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:49 pm

karlhenning wrote:Music of Karl Henning
Canzona & Gigue, Op. 77 (clarinet and organ)
Karl Henning, clarinet
Mark Engelhardt, organ

Canzona
Gigue

I have just come to this thread Karl and I have listened to both of the above works and also to Irreplaceable Doodles and I really like them. I especially liked Canzona. I look forward to listening to the other works for which you have posted links.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:55 pm

Fergus wrote:
karlhenning wrote:Music of Karl Henning
Canzona & Gigue, Op. 77 (clarinet and organ)
Karl Henning, clarinet
Mark Engelhardt, organ

Canzona
Gigue
I have just come to this thread Karl and I have listened to both of the above works and also to Irreplaceable Doodles and I really like them. I especially liked Canzona. I look forward to listening to the other works for which you have posted links.

Many thanks, and to Sylph, too!

Cheers,
~Karl

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:16 pm

karlhenning wrote: Murmur of Many Waters
(percussion ensemble . . . people who Need Melody, be advised)

Three Things That Begin with ‘C’
(clarinet & viola)

I have just finished listening to the above two pieces. I really liked Murmur Of Many Waters even though I did not think I would. I thought that it was very clever and inventive. Three Things That Begin With “C” was a bit challenging to my ear at first but I got in on it quite quickly and found that I really liked this one also.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:52 am

Met with a flautist last night to talk about the alto flute version of The Angel Who Bears a Flaming Sword. Well, we talked about it, in the midst of his reading through it. Even while he has yet to learn the notes and the rhythms, I recognize the piece, and am pleased to have composed it. He likes it, too, and seems to think we should take steps to publish the piece among the flute community (The National Flute Association, e.g.). Sign me up; at worst, it will be the 50th time that something which seemed a reasonable hope fizzled out over time.

On the bus this morning, did some work on the new piece (or, one of two new pieces, perhaps) for cello ensemble. The basic ideas for this passage, I threw down on a page some time ago, so they’ve been percolating a bit. So these 25-ish bars this morning, are a mixture of spontaneous reflection, and a stretch of music I first ‘envisioned’ maybe a month or so ago.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:54 pm

Fergus wrote:
karlhenning wrote: Murmur of Many Waters
(percussion ensemble . . . people who Need Melody, be advised)

Three Things That Begin with ‘C’
(clarinet & viola)
I have just finished listening to the above two pieces. I really liked Murmur Of Many Waters even though I did not think I would. I thought that it was very clever and inventive. Three Things That Begin With “C” was a bit challenging to my ear at first but I got in on it quite quickly and found that I really liked this one also.

Thank you, again!

I have a fond spot for percussion ensemble, and will write more for that grouping when there may be demand ; )

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:57 am

karlhenning wrote:Wednesdays in the Cathedral, Lunchtime Concerts, 12:15-1:00 pm.

18 June 2008:

Steve Hicken :: The Rings of Saturn, cl/va duet (2006, premiere)
Joshua Sellers :: Dithyramb, cl solo (1992, rev. 2008, premiere)
Karl Henning :: Irreplaceable Doodles, cl solo (2007)
Henning :: The Mousetrap, cl/va duet (2007, premiere)

Karl Henning, clarinet
Peter Cama-Lekx, viola

Cathedral Church of St Paul
138 Tremont Street, Boston, Massachusetts

The recording of the premiere of The Mousetrap

I was a-listening to this again, on the bus-ride in to Boston this morning. Even though I am aware of, say, a dozen things to repair for the next performance, these 'shortcomings' in the initial performance don't rattle me, and (if I may say so without immodesty) I like the piece very well.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:53 pm

Anyone going to be in Boston in July? I'll play a recital at King's Chapel on the 28th.

Cheers,
~Karl

Sylph · Post by **Sylph** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:28 pm

Karl, are you composing anything orchestral?

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:32 pm

I have 90 minutes or so composed of a ballet based on Dostoyevsky's novella White Nights. In a sense, it is a work-in-progress, because it is not yet finished, and I remain keen to finish it. In the practical sense of have I been able to find time to re-immerse myself in the project . . . progress is exactly what that work has not been in, since I have needed to take on part-time work in addition to the day-job.

At some point I will be able to take the work back up. But not just at present.

Cheers,
~Karl

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:06 pm

Getting started on stars & guitars

Cheers,
~Karl

Sylph · Post by **Sylph** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:34 am

Flauto basso? Interesting!

Soon — bass oboe!

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:53 am

I remember wanting at an early stage to write a piece for Peter and Mary Jane to play together; honestly don't recall what drove the selection of bass flute.

Cheers,
~Karl

Sylph · Post by **Sylph** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:17 am

karlhenning wrote:I remember wanting at an early stage to write a piece for Peter and Mary Jane to play together; honestly don't recall what drove the selection of bass flute.

At times, I love it, at times, it drives me mad, opresses my ears. I don't really know all that many orchestral pieces that call for one.

I know Ennio Morricone called for one in his soundtrack for Sahara, probably to depict the howling of the desert wind and to imitate the ethnic, Arabic flutes... But it didn't work for me. In the same way it was weird to see George Fenton use the duduk to depict the same desert — slightly less awkward, though. Duduk — east of Egypt... West of Egypt — hm...