Diabelli Project 025 - Canon in G

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

This week it's just a very simple canon, sort of. If you look at the date, you'll see that I wrote this over a year ago, so I'm not 100% certain of my intentions. It seems to be in G major -- the key signature matches, and the opening bar outlines a G major chord. But there's no strong sense of motion towards the dominant, D major. Could this possibly be in D Mixolydian mode? (click on image to enlarge)

That's for you to decide. This is as far as I got, but you're welcome to finish it. Does it remain a two-part canon, or do more voices come in? Questions, questions. If you have any answers, please let me know!

Diabelli Project 021 - Canon in G Lydian

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

This week's sketch, like the one I posted last week, is a simple canon. And like last week's, it's also in a mode rather than a major or minor key. With such a long opening subject, it takes a while for this sketch to get going. But while I didn't fill up the paper with notes, I did write for the prescribed time before stopping.

So what happens next? Does this little canon stay in G Lydian, or does it change mode? That's up to you, of course, should you wish to finish this sketch. If you do, please let me know. I'm curious to hear how this one ends, too.

Diabelli Project 020 - Canon in E Dorian

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

This time I went with something simpler -- just a canon in two parts. Of course, it's not that simple. It's in E Dorian mode. But still, I think this opening suggests a piece that would be fairly short with no complex rhythms.

Or does it? What happens next is up to you, if you're interested.   If you see an possibilities here, it's all yours. Just be sure to send me the results!

The Diabelli Project 006 - Canon at the Octave

The Diabelli Project is about offering my flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli,'s music these sketches aren't great. But perhaps there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I like odd meters. In this case, I'm using 5/8, and this is an instance where notation really matters. If you look carefully, you'll see that I always notate a group of 2 followed by a group of 3, which suggests the pulse. ONE two THREE four five ONE two THREE four five... (click on image to enlarge)

So what could one make of that? I'm looking forward to seeing your results!

Diabelli Project 002 - Canon at the Octave

The Diabelli Project is about offering my flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli,'s music these sketches aren't great. But perhaps there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

Making myself dash of these sketches -- and now writing them out in a more formal fashion -- feels like starting an exercise regimen. At this point I was still doing very simple canons, so I wasn't stretching much creatively.

And when I wrote this out, my rusty manuscript skills weren't fully up to the task. I used to do a lot better job about spacing measures and notes within measures. And of course, the bass clef part should have a whole rest. But it's a start. (click on image to enlarge)

If there's anything of interest here you'd care to use, please help yourself! (Actually, I think I might return to this at some point myself. I like the first two measures)

Diabelli Project 001 - Canon at the Octave

The Diabelli Project is about offering my flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli,'s music these sketches aren't great. But perhaps there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

The first sketch I attempted was a simple canon at the octave. One thing to remember -- for each of these sketches, the entire amount of time spent on them was no more than five minutes. And that includes drawing the staff lines. Creatively, I was overthinking things, and I was not happy at all with the music I was writing.

So, just like flash fiction, this was just dashed off, completely bypassing my internal editor and going straight from thought to paper. For a first effort, I think it's OK. If you see something more, please help yourself. (click on image to enlarge)