Back in to the swing!

So. I have two new projects underway.

I'm vlogging!

My first NaNoWriMo project vlog (more below), followed by my second:



So there's also my NaNoWriMo project: a symphony for organ.

I detail the rules for this project in my first vlog post, but to summarize, I'm writing a

• multi-movement
• 15-30 minute
• solo organ
• motivically unified

symphony in the span of thirty days.

And in the three four days since the month started... I have a few sketches, and a full-bore theme for variations:

Not a bad start, I think, all told!

More to come as I do more. I haven't abandoned my other projects, just busy with other other projects and in recovery from a wedding and a vacation. Soon enough, I'll be back at it.

Cheers!

Your donations can help me keep writing these! Click to feed a composer!

Omni Die

Going from one of my least favourites to one of my most favourites - Omni Die is a hymn tune I most associate with the text "From the Slave Pens of the Delta," by Herbert O'Driscoll. As Rev. O'Driscoll is still alive, and his copyright is still active, I can't print or link his words, but this post isn't about his words as much as it is about the tune.

Omni Die - from the Trier Gesangbuch (Omni die dic Mariae), not that of Corner - dates from the late 17th century, and is a powerful and energetic tune, one that I could listen to and play with over and over. And so, I've provided here a prelude based on Baroque points-of-imitation techniques and a reharmonization, with the hope that people might get as much enjoyment as I do from this tune.

The prelude

Pick your favourite pedal-heavy registration and go. Light and clear preferred, I think, to best illustrate the contrapuntal nature of the work. And yes, in my opinion it's a viable introduction to the hymn - if you have a congregation that knows the tune and doesn't mind sitting for a few minutes while you play. Here it is.

Herein links the PDF

Prelude on "Omni Die" by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The reharmonization

... went places I wasn't totally expecting. But it was fun to write. I actually wrote it starting from the end and moving forward, so I knew I was working with a modal cadence and tried to make the rest of the piece fit. Instead, the whole thing went chromatic on me, much to my delight. And hopefully yours.

For PDF, click here!

Reharmonization of "Omni Die" by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Might be a bit of a challenge to sing. Shouldn't be too tough to play, though.

Eventide

The hymn-tune "Eventide," long associated with the hymn Abide with Me, has been a frequent target of my efforts. So for this week's hymn efforts, here is a reharmonization of it (perhaps handy for a final verse), a fauxbourdon because I like them (even when my harmony drifts to weird places), and a piece I've used as an improvisation for funerals, lenten services, and other similar quiet times. Since I've been doing this for a while, it feels like I'm finally putting down on paper something that's been in my repertoire for years. It's a weird feeling, to be sure.

Here they are!

When I see an accidental in the melody, I can't help but think "Key change," instead of "Leading tone." Forgive me, it only gets wilder.

Why yes, that is a cadence on the minor median resolving deceptively to the major median and sliding out from a second-inversion chord to a root-position tonic a tritone away. And yes, the harmony voices have a tendency to move in whole-tone scales from time to time.

Honestly, I'm not sure if the tenors would have an easy time with this one, melody or not. The urge to cadence out-of-key was strong, but resisted.
And as usual, the PDFs are here, and here's the license:

Harmonization and Fauxbourdon on "Eventide" by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

And the Simple Meditation. The pages should cycle every five seconds.

PDF available here

This is the same improvisational pattern I used to write the Meditation in the Little Suite, incidentally.

Simple Meditation on "Eventide" by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Little Suite

The organ is such a beautifully versatile instrument. I was privileged to play the organ at Crescent Fort Rouge United Church in a flute concert, playing a Handel sonata with a soloist (the inimitable Charmaine Bacon), a solo composition which I'm detailing below, and my first ever actual concerto, the Soler Concerto #6 for Two Organs, with a flute choir playing the part of a second organ. More on that later, I'm sure; for now, I want to talk about my Little Suite for Organ.

The Little Suite is built on patterns that I use to create improvisations are hymn tunes, although these pieces are not based on known themes but rather on original melodies. They were written separately, but I believe work nicely as a unified concert piece, and while they may be suitable for worship services, they were not written with that intent in mind.

The first piece is a Scherzetto, about 90 seconds to two minutes in length. It's in a constant three-against-two rhythm. The left hand keeps steady time while the right carries a flighty melody in the upper reaches of the 4' stop.

Secondly, the slow Meditation. Using a 2' stop in the pedal against wide open quintal chords the bass of the strings is a trick I've had for a long time, especially for improvisations on slow hymns, and I will probably start writing some of those improvisations down and publishing them. If a 2' isn't available in the pedal, a 4' stop can be used played up the octave.

Finally, the biting March. When I use this sort of pattern for improvising, it's not usually quite so sarcastic in tone. It uses a compositional form I've been toying with since I started writing, which is to shortcut the repeat of a ternary form (March and Trio in this case) by coming back not to the beginning of the primary section but instead to come back to the middle of it. Del segno, not Da Capo, in other words.

At the aforementioned recital, I was able to record the Little Suite, warts and all. It's here, courtesy of Soundcloud.

And as usual, the score is available here in glorious PDF.

Little Suite for Organ by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Spirituals are hymns too - Balm in Gilead

Or at least similar enough to be in the hymnal.

I wasn't satisfied with singing "Balm in Gilead" in unison this past Sunday. So we didn't. Here:

Available here

Balm in Gilead harmonization by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

So there's the harmony we sang. And here's the introduction I wrote but didn't play:

PDF link

It will tie fingers in knots. I simply didn't have time to practice it, because I was busy with a flute choir. No, I wasn't playing the flute... but more on that later, once I've had time to parse the recordings.

The introduction is actually entirely playable on a single manual (or on the piano, for that matter) if you don't mind a little voice-crossing, and if that's the case then the left hand can help the right with the lower notes and save some jumping around. Or you can play it as a full on, two-manual-and-pedal trio.

Back to the usual work, which hopefully means more writing and more posting - at least for now. Recitals approach in March, choir concert in April, and Easter happens sometime between the two.

Introduction on Balm in Gilead by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Piano music (still religious)

I mentioned that I'd get away from organ music all the time.

Pange Lingua is an ancient piece of plainsong (wikipedia info here) with a compelling little tune. Very simple and straightforward. Six lines of music, ranging an octave. Several years ago, I wrote a little set of variations on the tune for the piano. The style is one I would use at St. John's College while improvising during communion - high in the piano range, in perpetual motion, with wavelike figures. Eventually (in the second variation), this set breaks in to overtone playing of the sort Messaien asks for, where the right hand softly plays the natural overtones of the melody, colouring it. This has become a favourite technique of mine at the piano, and has figured in to some of my solo preludes and similar pieces, and in to the previous mentioned Sonatina for Piano and Violin. It's also a part of my writing in my Flute/'Cello/Piano trio which will no doubt be seen here soon.

I had some fun with the image file this time and made it in to an animated GIF, slowly scrolling through each page in turn so you can get an idea of each variation. It should change once every five seconds. For those interested in the five-page PDF file, it can be found here.

Pange Lingua Variations by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.