Long before I started this blog, I decided to adapt the idea of a writer’s freewrites to music. The exact definition has mutated over the years, but nowadays I define a freewrite as a piece which I compose in one sitting, generally (but not rigidly) avoiding backtracking. That makes it a sort of compositional improvisation. [...]

Two weeks ago I completed my symphonic serenade, which I now dub opus 3. In previous posts I referred to the second movement as symphonic poem no. 1, and the third movement as symphonic poem no. 2. I wrote a third and crammed the three of them into a logical movement structure, where they form [...]

Here is the second in my series of symphonic poems. Still not happy with the ending, not because it’s not a good ending, but because it comes too soon. I want this piece to be about three minutes longer. I love it though, it is possibly my best work, so its length will probably push [...]

I just finished, in some sense, the first of a series (hopefully) of symphonic poems. I took a long break in the middle of writing this, so I could be mistaken, but I think it took about 20 hours total. It still needs a little tweaking; in particular some of the harmonies on the climaxes [...]

Holy crap, look, a new song! Sonata for Cello and Piano (not really a sonata, but that’s the closest description until I come up with a better name). [score].

Here is another composition. Maybe you can figure out how I have been feeling… Allegro agitato (Sheet music ; Finale source).

I just got Finale 2007 with GPO. I just tried it out a little, and it sounded incredible. Concerto2 soundbank, bite me (incidentally, I got many samples for concerto2 from GPO). I was so inspired by these great patches that I wrote a new song! It’s called A 41: Quartet (sheet music, midi, Finale source).

The other day, Jude asked me whether my daily improvisations were helping me improve as a pianist (rather than just an improvisationalist). My reply was that I couldn’t tell. And then it occurred to me that I’m not really playing anything challenging anymore. Yeah, I play Pathetique once in a while, Jeux Deau now and [...]

Can you believe it! I finished a song! It has been a long, long time since I’ve done that (I’m estimating 6 months, more if you don’t count freewrites). A 40: Riding on The Wind.