From the monthly archives:
VACATION: We realized that many times we can have as good of a vacation staying home and pretending we are “on vacation.” Avoid doing the stuff we always do at home. Treat it differently than you usually do. “It’s all in the mind y’know, huh huh, yeah” said Ringo’s cartoon character many years ago.
But sometimes, [...]
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Excerpts from final projects for M87. © UC Regents
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Our experimental class, Music History, Culture and Creativity, is now over. I’ve graded all 91 final projects. Their assignment was to write a composition in any style, for any instrumentation, using elements we discussed in class this term and most importantly [...]
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I’ve been up to my eyes with grading final projects (I’ll give the lowdown on that in a separate post).
A few months ago Susan McClary told me that she had been digging around in her family history on ancestor.com. I grumbled that I had jumped into it for a while 20 years ago but [...]
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Glamour & Eros (1987/90) mp3
for alto saxophone and electronics
Music: Roger Bourland
Performer: Greg Chambers, saxophone
Yelton Rhodes Music
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Glamour and Eros was originally commissioned by Jack Elliott and the New American Orchestra who specialized in orchestral jazz. Jack came up with the idea of including 3 Yamaha DX7s and an EWI [...]
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Mirabell (1991) mp3
Music: Roger Bourland
Performer: William Powell, clarinet
Yelton Rhodes Music
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Portable Rhapsody No.3 “Mirabell” for clarinet and tape was written for and dedicated to William Powell. “Mirabell” is a character in James Merrill’s epic The Changing Light at Sandover. Mirabell is a young mischievous spirit that speaks to [...]
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It always seemed to me that you can tell Paul McCartney’s lyrics as he has a penchant for couplets. Not sure that exactly works here, but this graph is a damn fun analysis of the logic of the lyrics to Hey Jude. I think…
[Thanks to my old pal from Green Bay, Rick Larson for finding [...]
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NOSTOS (1982) mp3
for flute, alto flute, soprano and alto saxophones, clarinet and bass clarinet
Music: Roger Bourland
Ensemble: Composers in Red Sneakers, Concert 7
Conductor: Theodore Antoniou
Yelton Rhodes Music
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
In my composer-biography phase of movie watching lately I watched biographies of Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. Both tremendously popular composers, but both lived with nostos [...]
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For readers who wish to find CDs with music by Roger Bourland, here is a discography.
Wind Song (2007)
Marijim Thoene (organ) and Anne Chabreck (flute)
Composition: Cantilena for flute and organ (1981)
Format: compact disc
Purchase
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Saxtronic Soundscape (2007)
Douglas Masek, saxophone
Composition: Glamour and Eros (1989) for alto sax and accompaniment
Format: compact disc
Purchase
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Live in Poland (2006)
Boston Gay Men’s Chorus
Composition: A More [...]
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Waltz Nr.70 for violin and piano (1989) mp3
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
“Waltz Nr.70″ was composed for a festshrift for Leon Kirchner’s 70th birthday. I never heard the piece until some friends played it at a party last year. I quoted it in “Recent Dreams” for horn trio.
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