Preludes2011 #1,2,5,11 by EARL MARTIN

• Nov 8, 2011 - 23:09

These preludes are showing my musical personality and who (Elliott Carter,MortonFeldman!,PierreBoulez,OlivierMessiaen,Stravinsky,Chopin,Rachmaninoff,CharlesIves,Bach,beethoven) I am indebted to. Some preludes like #11 written 2 years ago show how I CAME TO BE ME through DEbussy,Ravel,Ulstvolskaya ! Scarlatti & Skryabin represent the individual and exotic national heritages while Bach 's social man and altruistic-religious idea of art goes to the center of what music is for. Jazz harmonies and hindu rhythm are my current fascinations especially noticeable in # 1. As an African-american I want to keep that legacy and am working on setting Rita Dove and Wanda Coleman's poems.
Morton Feldman in particular has given me the idea of what music is and maybe what it is for and most of all how it can be used. Everything is a sign and everything is a symbol because all things are related! What it is to make pure sound regardless of keys & triadic harmonies. Who needs a melody any child can shape a sensuous melody WE HAVE TO GO BEYOND THAT. Simplicity is endearing but it must be a truth!
Pierre Boulez made me want to write music like Lenny Bernstein.I want intense experience and a systematic formalist approach to tonality that includes 12 tone and other ways of generating musical ideas.
I am trying very hard to be atonal & tonal simultaneous (its our heritage)-because in our times its the only approach that makes sense .Roger Sessions ,Arvo Part & so many others shows that tonality can include all sound.
I hope I will be able to use natural materials like water and paper soon. Notation itself is an enterprise. Most of all formal methodologies e.g. sonata and rondo form never grow outdated since there r many ways the mind can give shape to a content.They go together form and content. Most of allI want to make the listener stop and appreciate the possibility of philosophizing in sound ,relating and arguing musical factors : the sheer existence of sound for the human animal is a miracle to be forever investigated!


Comments

In reply to by svenno007

Thank you so much for listening & looking .

I have not written any stretches beyond a 10th and the music unless there r errors is indeed very playable.

I wished u would have told me where or what you were referring to .I play all my own music and compose mostly at the piano unless Im writing for violin. There may be places where extra notes I didn't realized were printed but I work at the piano and I play all my own work.It is neither difficult-any pianists can attempt to play double notes try looking at some of my preludes where the chords are jumping from high registers to extremes of low and hi while left hand plays an ostinato.My atonal prelude has 2 errors in it because of printing errors in a small arpeggio passage any other errors I have not seen.

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.