Issue No. 5: Two Pieces and a Recap
The Day After
This issue of The Theisen Journal is being released officially on Wednesday November 4, 2020 - the day after a significant and intensely fought election. As I type these words, I do not know the results nor can I predict the aftermath. I have been finding peace in tumultuous times by focusing on creating music.
Despite the anxiety that accompanies pondering our political future, this past week was a joyous one. My sister got married on Saturday (yes, Halloween weddings are as much fun as you’d imagine they would be) and two compositions of mine were performed on opposite ends of the United States: Sleep Now O Sleep Now for clarinet and piano (2016) and Planetesimal Bump for jazz ensemble (2014).
If you want to listen to the streamed recordings and read a little about these pieces, scroll down!
Sleep Now O Sleep Now at National Sawdust
Clarinetist Chris Grymes and pianist Jeremy Gill performed my 2016 composition Sleep Now O Sleep Now at National Sawdust as part of a streamed presentation (Thursday October 29) on the topic of musical citizenship and collaboration. Grymes describes his session: What does it mean to be a good artistic partner as a performer and how do you create and expand upon your musical communities? Performers who play a lot of new music have the unique opportunity to build relationships and friendships with the composers who write music for them. Creating and expanding these circles of friends and co-citizens of our musical world is critical not only for the creation of new art, but in creating entirely new structures both inside and outside of the traditional structure of the music industry.
Chris is a musician with a stunningly broad portfolio: a tenured professor, a principal orchestral clarinetist, a concerto soloist, a chamber musician, a commissioning collaborative artist, and now the founder of his own indie classical label, Open G Records. He is clarinetist with the NS Ensemble.
In 2016, Chris commissioned Sleep Now O Sleep Now and gave the world premiere in January 2017 as part of Access Contemporary Music's Late Night at National Sawdust radio broadcast. The work is inspired by James Joyce’s poem of the same name.
One of the aspects of Sleep Now I enjoyed creating was the protracted coda that is to be performed completely independently and asynchronously between the two instrumentalists. Chris and Jeremy make it sound so natural and effortless in this performance! They truly nailed it.
I highly encourage you to listen to the entire hour-long presentation (or skip to 33:20 to hear my stuff).
Planetesimal Bump at Dixie State University
Glenn Webb led the Dixie State University Jazz Ensemble in a performance of my 2014 composition Planetesimal Bump on Monday October 26. The chart was written during my time with the Asheville-based avant-jazz group Rational Discourse and combines twelve-tone serialism with early '90s new jack swing. Yes, it's an odd pairing but I dig it!
For you aggregate-chasers out there, here’s an excerpt of the soprano saxophone part…
Video requires opening in YouTube by request of the performers. Planetesimal Bump starts at the 8:38 mark…
Recap
This concludes Issue No. 5 of The Theisen Journal and I must say I’m truly honored by the number of readers who have taken time to dive into my writing and respond/share. Thanks, y’all!
Catch up on previous issues by clicking the links below:
Issue No. 1: Ten Tips for Composing for Band
Issue No. 2: How To Manage Performance Anxiety
Issue No. 3: David Byrne's American Utopia (A Spike Lee Joint)
Issue No. 4: Conversation with deVon Russell Gray (in 12 Short Movements)
Let me know what you think of the compositions in this issue. I always look forward to responses from our beloved musical community.
Much love to you all. Be well and happy music making!