2 Improvs-Views From Above

[pianowolfi]

I know this might be too much- but I can't help it. These pieces are important to me, though I know that a lot of what i do in them is very imperfect. It somehow needed to get out. And I want to share it with you.

Happy new year to all. And peace of mind! Edit: lmao!! I've just realized that I had written "piece of mind"

[Derek]

Never ever say "too much" about improv! Nobody ever says that about Beethoven,Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninov, etc.  Why should we say it about our own music?  I'll listen/add these to the list later 

[pianowolfi]

Thanks Derek! This "too much" has to do with my musical situation. I feel that in myself are things that want to come out. And at the same time i know that the current form they are coming out is not yet the most ideal nor healthy one. I am desperately searching for a way of handling my feelings without burning out inside. At the one hand I want to be as intense as possible. At the other hand i feel that this can also lead to serious problems if you can't control it. All this is actually a problem I have had for a very long time and it may have appeared in the one or other post I've written here. It is one of my central problems as an artist as well as a human being in general. I feel these ideas in myself. They almost violently want to get out. After a long time of just rumbling in my subconsciousness.  And recently I have met somebody who just had to tap my soul in a certain way to wake these elements up. And now i have to deal with them. They overwhelm me. I need to get control over them. It's not easy. I hope I will be able to manage that.

[skyhawk]

Nice rise at the first, it got me going on the whole picture of a sunrise. Also, the maj7 was a must, lovely indeed.
In the middle there's almost a questioning kind of glance at the sun first rising up then finally backing of into the main theme again into a subtle resolution. The eight notes at the end were a nice touch; added to the ray kind of warm. Very picturesque.
Also, nice ending; subtle and absolute.


The simple structure to the View was simple but gave a sturdy kind of stance to the low-to-rise kind of feel of seeing over a mountain. Interesting set of chords used here. You also kept echoing back to the low-to-high motif, nice touch.   
It's uplifting around the middle half of it, also the nice build up to the theme was a nice move. Ooh, also the octaves at first gave almost a menacing kind of sound to the whole. The dissonance into the louder section around the 4:15 was also interesting. Overall, really nice atmosphere. Very light yet powerful at other parts.

 You tend to like to end your improvs with half note chords; it kind of sounds like a signature to the pieces. 

Overall, nice. It was enjoyable, even when at times some of the notes played would go back to dissonance. (Maybe a jump in thought?)

[pianowolfi]

Thank you Skyhawk! All that means a lot to me. As for the dissonances and half note chords, that is right, but there is nothing without a meaning in these pieces. I plan to edit them for a cd, then all will become more distinct and more contrasts will be brought in. I am currently developing a sort of motif-technique, like with all these different motifs, dies irae, e-a-b-a and so on. They all have their particular character and musical message. But all that is not abstractly constructed, it somehow comes together.

[skyhawk]

Thank you Skyhawk! All that means a lot to me. As for the dissonances and half note chords, that is right, but there is nothing without a meaning in these pieces. I plan to edit them for a cd, then all will become more distinct and more contrasts will be brought in. I am currently developing a sort of motif-technique, like with all these different motifs, dies irae, e-a-b-a and so on. They all have their particular character and musical message. But all that is not abstractly constructed, it somehow comes together.

Ah, kind of like conceptual continuity? Good choice on that thinking then, really helps to develop more and more themes to use.


How do you usually develop your motifs? Most of mine come when I just improv while thinking about my day at that moment.

[pianowolfi]

Ah, kind of like conceptual continuity? Good choice on that thinking then, really helps to develop more and more themes to use.


How do you usually develop your motifs? Most of mine come when I just improv while thinking about my day at that moment.

Well, it differs.
1. There are some motifs that come to me out of the mood of the day, like yours

2. Some come to me in the night, appearing in my mind in the morning or in a dream.

3. a very important category to me: visions. For instance this one here came out of a vision (that is a more intense imagination) of via dolorosa.

http://media.putfile.com/via-dolorosa (sorry, piano out of tune)
I was astonished when somebody whom I occasionally chat with listened to this piece and told me, that he saw a very similar scenario in his mind as I have had before I have played it.
 
4. some, like the main motif in"floating", first express an intense feeling, but are at the same time a sort of mystery to me, telling stories that I don't understand yet fully.

5. There are motifs like dies irae that fascinate me and represent at the same time something particular like (in this case) doom or fate or "decision"

6. Eventually there are some motifs that are like b-a-c-h, a name or word. This kind of motifs I don't use for a long time yet . Since I avoid constructing abstractly I did not use these ones before but now I have discovered that they can be very surprising and bring some musical content into a piece that would not have been there without them. One example for this is "sympathy" with the e-a-b-a motif. This combination caused interesting harmonic combinations. And currently I am addicted to it and use it in many of my pieces  

[ted]

You operate on entirely different improvisational principles to me. With you, the image, emotion, programme or what-have-you comes first and guides the whole conception. With me, these things rarely precede the event and indeed, sometimes occur to me while listening to it weeks afterwards. Both modes should, of course, be regarded as viable.

The "View from the Mountain" uses a physically convenient figure which has been used in quite a few well-known places from Beethoven through to Sefton Daly ! Because something has been used a lot in the past does not mean we should avoid it though. Part of the continuing fascination of music lies precisely in its chameleon ability to say very different things with the same abstract forms. This is a stance which I have taken for granted all my life but which, from contact with musicians, I have found to be by no means universally held. Taken to its extreme, the latter position would have us attach permanent aesthetic labels to specific sounds - minors are sad, ragtime is always jolly and so on. I myself cannot bear to limit my response in this (to me) infantile way. So I am pleased that your brief exposition of the octave figure gives it yet another new meaning in my brain !

The "Sunrise" piece has that very interesting repeated motif of three chords preceded by a note. As usual with your improvisations I feel the need for more rhythmic and harmonic development of this motif. However, in saying this, I am aware that such intention might just be my way of doing things and therefore irrelevant your purpose.

[pianowolfi]

Yeah i am aware that these ascending octaves are a quote from the Hammerklavier-sonata by Beethoven, I knew that at the moment when i played it. Though i felt the need to use this here to express what i want. You are right, my motifs need more development, this I will do hopefully during the next months when I edit all these things and try to brush them up ready to make a cd. It is brainstorming what i do momentarily because I am in a very productive phase and have ideas. Thanks for your comments!

[Derek]

Really enjoying "sunrise."  I love the part where the accompaniment stays in this one chord in the right hand as the left hand plays a melody alternating in rhythm. Actually I like the alternating rhythm that seems to permeate the entire piece. Good stuff! I'm gonna listen to the other one now.

"view from the mountain" really does give me the sensation of looking out over a vast countryside from the top of a mountain.  I visited Switzerland when I was 11 (with my family), I'll never forget standing near the top of Jungfrau....the skies were grey, the mountains were covered with snow, and there was a vast glacier in the valley.  It was just pure...mountainous...splendor.  And the Wienerschnitzel and Rivella I had had a few minutes prior to that was quite delicious! (there's a restaurant at the top of Jungfrau---goodness I hope I'm not mixing up memories....I have a tendency to do that)

Great job, can't wait to hear more!

[pianowolfi]

Legendary!!! Rivella!! Haha. Your memories are very correct. Haven't composed something on Rivella yet lol. But seriously, in my mind I had other mountains. More like Rockies. But this should not play a role. Music is music. You always want to go where you have never been. Jungfrau is great, I see it almost every year. And strangely enough I always assiociate this region with Beethoven. Thanks for commenting!