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 woodwind trio project will cover six weeks, in pairs. The first week will be the beginning of a movement (written in a 10-minute flash session), and the following week, I'll continue the sketch for another 10-minute session. Then I'll move on to the next movement and continue the pattern.
This week's sketch begins the final movement. Everything grew out of the first two measures. There are two motifs - the three-note ascending figure in measure one, and the descending figure in measure two. As you can see, I sort of mixed and matched.
3/16 might be a little extreme for a meter, but I wanted lightness and speed. 3/8 might have served, but 16th notes just look faster.
As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.
Even with spam filters, some comments manage to make it through the system. Some of it's so oddly written, that it's oddly amusing. Here's a roundup of some of the "best" comments I received this month from spambots around the world.
The poetic imagery of spam
I don't think the translation programs these spammers use do their prose justice. The following comments are so tantalizingly close to actually making sense. But I do want to know more about that orbiting corset, though.
- So you'll look for to suffer. It is hands-down to pioneer a military science which works for you. Whatever join programs and different belief provoking functions of your period or in the trade.
- Your internet commerce terminated any reviews you can reason contact that corset in the orbit and they may turn penetrable to crime.
- Be designer here's a few substances on the mar that has content to you. Studying aritcles so much as pome seeds may actually control and colour and opposite opinion provoking functions of your cardio.
"Lumbering along" -- be wary
The Straco Express Layout, Part 23 - Lumbering Along remains one of the leading posts for spam comments. Just a reminder -- the comments to follow were all written in reaction to a description of an early 1960s small friction toy from Japan.
- Great post. I'm facing some of these issues as well.[I hear you, man.]
- Thanks a lot bro you might be extremely support. I like this hack exactly something that works. [Bro - I have no idea what you're talking about (and I'm not sure you do, either.] Taking off from this, let your ex-girlfriend know that you are still interested in her. [According to Facebook, my ex-girlfriend is on her third husband. Let's just keep the conversation focused on vintage toys if you please.]
The best advice this month:
- If you own a farm animal, disobey the influence to go with. Be wary of any job discourse. To get down intelligently consolidating your debt cannot be reliable that you employ them in a gravid way.
Words to live by -- if you have farm animals and are looking for a job, anyway. More sage advice and strange imagery coming your way next month.
Robert Schumann was born on June 8, 1810. Some of us contributing to the #ClassicsaDay feed decided to celebrate that birthday. For the month of June, we encouraged folks to post works by Schumann and his circle. Schumann worked with several major composers of the day. He also reviewed up-and-coming composers in his magazine.
Here are my selections for the fourth and final week of #ClassicsaDay #SchumannsCircle
Robert Schumann - Sechs Fugen über den Namen: Bach, Op. 60
Schumann, along with Mendelssohn were champions of J.S. Bach's music. In 1845 Schumann emulated Bach by using the musical notes of his name (B-flat, A, C, B natural) as a fugal subject.
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) - Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H
Initially, Schumann didn't think much of Franz Liszt. Over time, that opinion changed, and they became friends. They both shared a love of Bach, and both wrote music based on his name. Liszt's Fantasy and Fugue was finished in 1855, ten years after Schumann's tribute.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Prelude and Fugue in B-Flat Major on the name B.A.C.H. BWV 898
In the 19th Century, Bach's music inspired many composers. Several emulated Bach and wrote music based on his name. As it turns out, one of the works that inspired them -- the Prelude and Fugue BWV 898, may not have been written by Bach, but by one of his students.
Robert Schumann - Missa Sacra in C minor, Op. 147
Schumann studied the music of Giovanni Palestrina. As a conductor, he programmed Palestrina choral works regularly. His 1852 mass shows both the influence of Palestrina's Renaissance polyphony.
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) - Missa Papae Marcelli
One of Palestrina's most famous work - and certainly one Schumann was familiar with -- was the Pope Marcellus Mass. The work was written in 1562. According to legend, Palestrina wrote the mass to demonstrate to the Council of Trent that counterpoint still had a place in the Counter-Reformation.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) - Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann in F-sharp minor, Op. 9
No look at Schumann's Circle would be complete without Brahms. Brahms became close friends with both Robert and Clara in 1853. Both supported the younger composer. In 1854 Schumann was institutionalized. Brahms' Variations, written the same year, was a fitting tribute. The theme was by Robert, the dedication was to Clara.
I found a Line Mar Match Box Construction Set from the 1930s, complete and with instructions. The box claimed the set made 100 different toys. I decided to test that claim -- one toy at a time. You can read all the posts for the Line Mar construction project at 100 Toys.
093. Power Hammer
This toy proved very difficult to build. In the illustration, there's plenty of room between the top dowel and the one holding the cube in the cross-brace. In reality, there was no room at all, regardless of how far forward I tipped the 5-hole girders.
You may also notice that the 3-hole girder is secured to the crank at one end, rather than the middle as depicted. There's a dowel that runs through the assembly that joins it to the base. The length of it blocked the opening I was supposed to use. To position the girder so it touched the axle, I had to run the dowel through an end hole, rather than the middle one.
Heinrich Schütz published three volumes of his Symphoniae Sacrae. Hans-Christoph Rademann and Carus continue their traversal of Schütz's catalog with Symphoniae Sacre I.
This 1629 collection of works reflects Schütz's time in Venice. While there, he studied with Giovanni Gabrielli and Claudio Monteverdi. The influences of both are apparent in these settings of the Songs of Songs.
The Latin texts come from the Psalms and the Song of Solomon. The rich imagery is ripe for word-painting, and Schütz doesn't miss an opportunity. Even without understanding the words, it's easy to get the emotional thrust of the text through the expressiveness of the music.
There's also a spaciousness in these settings, with counterpoint that's seems both dense and transparent. This collection has a variety of instrumental and vocal combinations. I hear Gabrieli in the instrumental passages and Monteverdi in the word-painting of the text.
The Dresdner Kammerchor maintains the same high quality of performance they've established over the course of this series. Hans-Christoph Rademann's direction makes these readings models of clarity.
Heinrich Schütz: Symphoniae Sacrae I Complete Recordings, Vol. 14 Dorothee Mields; Isabel Jantschek; David Erler Georg Poplutzl; Tobias Mäthger; Felix Schwandtke Dresdner Kammerchor; Hans-Christoph Rademann, director Carus 83.273 2 CD SET
