Monday, September 27, 2010

Julia & Buddy music part 2

This summer's JULIA & BUDDY production for the MITF went pretty well but it was just a one-act. I am finishing the second act now. I did music for the opening of this summer's show and I quite like it, especially considering that I recorded it the morning of the show's opening. Here it is. I really like the romantic yet agitated sound of the piano coming in and out as counterpoint to the guitar lead melody line. Since it was so last-minute I didn't really finish it, knowing that only about the first 30 seconds would be heard before the show began anyway. I'm not sure what I'll do about that.

And what to do about the music for the second act? I decided to write a variation on Clara Schumann's Romance in E-flat minor opus 11. Why Clara Schumann? Why not? She's good and one of the very few women composers of the common practice period, with a longer and more successful career than Fanny Mendelssohn. And I like this piece in particular, the rumbling of the lower octaves at the beginning and the dah dah dah DAH repetition, and the interesting ending which sounds like a question.



Everybody in Clara Schumann's musicians circle wrote variations on each other's music. Clara wrote variations on Robert Schumann's work, Robert wrote variations on Clara's work, and Johannes Brahms wrote variations or Robert Schumann's work and dedicated it to Clara.

This German movie, Geliebte Clara suggests that Clara Schumann had a physical relationship with Brahms. They were certainly good friends, and at one point Brahms babysat for Clara while she was on tour - this was after Robert Schumann died in an insane asylum.

I sure hope so, at least after Robert died. Not only because Brahms was a cute younger guy, but also, Clara damn well deserved it, after having seven kids, working constantly and of course putting her husband's career ahead of hers - not to mention promoting Brahms's work too. I sure hope she was getting some of that hotty Johannes action.