The Musical Diary of Greg ScheerThe third movement of Inventions for Orchestra is less subtle than the first two. It’s an all out assault in 10/8 time. While I like the visceral excitement of this final movement and the way it churns through various harmonic regions, it bears an uncomfortable resemblance to the Hawaii Five-O theme. There I’ve said it.
Sadly, that momentary similarity may doom the entire composition for ever. But I’ll let you decide: Inv for Orch, movt 3, MP3.
Inventions for Orchestra, movement 2, began its life as a song called “Raining in Pittsburgh.” One day I’ll record that wistful take off on Bruce Cockburn’s “Thoughts on a Rainy Afternoon.” But in this case, its ever ascending chord sequence became the basis for an orchestral passacaglia: Inv for Orch, movt 2, MP3.
I’m slowly trying to digitize my collection of cassette recordings. Here is the first fruit:
For a long time I’ve been obsessed with M.C. Escher. My question has always been, “what would Escher have created were he a musician?” Well, he would have been J.S. Bach, of course. But what would Escher/Bach have created today, specifically if they were me?
I set about answering that question with a year of counterpoint lessons in 1993 and lots of piano sketches. Three of those sketches became Inventions for Orchestra. Movement #1 begins with the marking “Haydnesque,” but it soon morphs into something entirely different. And that’s the point. It continues to morph–like a fugue, but a fugue adrift at sea.
Special thanks to Roger Zahab for having the vision and fortitude (and lack of discretion?) to program music by unknown composers before it has even been composed.
Having just returned from two weeks in Ukraine, with flight arrival and departure from Budapest, Hungary, I thought it would be appropriate to post a recording of a composition inspired by my last visit to Budapest.
This is a demo of the University of Pittsburgh Jazz Band playing “Budapest.” The song comes from a set of songs called the European Suite, which I wrote after returning from a year in Salzburg and vicinity in 1989. The following year I scored the movement “Budapest” for a jazz arranging class.
I would be entirely willing to score the entire set of songs for jazz band. (Yes, jazz band directors, that’s a hint.) Until that time, you’ll need to satisfy your European cravings with this aural bon bon: Budapest MP3.
I know what you’re thinking: “When Greg posts only a few times a week to his music blog, it’s just not enough! How on earth can I hear Greg all the time, whether or not I have an internet connection?”
Well, my friends, an answer to your deepest need is here. Colin Gordon-Farleigh has just released a CD of our song collaborations called “Simply Greg.” You can get it at CD Baby, iTunes, or Amazon. You can purchase individual tracks or the whole collection. You can set your iPod to repeat the CD indefinitely or program your iPhone so my singing wakes you up each morning. You can even set up the cover graphic as your desktop picture!
So much Greg, so little time. I know. I sometimes feel the same way.
The second, and final unless he asks nicely, of the songs that I wrote for Bruce Benedict’s production of Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure is called “Evelyn G of Christminster.”
I have to admit right up front that I’m not a huge fan of old English. Don’t get me wrong, I took a Shakespeare class in college, get an almost weekly dose of thees and thous through hymnody, and even went to the Stratford festival on my honeymoon. But poetry with phrases like “your swift remove” is generally something I feel that I’m supposed to like, rather than actually do. But once I got working on the music of Evelyn G I found myself drawn into this beautifully wistful text. I hope I’ve done it justice.
The text was quite hard to set to music because each verse’s rhyme scheme is slightly different. I decided to set a very simple harmonic and melodic pattern that could adapt to each verse. This was good for the song, and a good exercise for me as a composer. I have a tendency to rush to complexity simply because I can. The restraint of sticking with i, iv, V (and a little splash of VI, III and VII) was refreshingly direct. See/hear for yourself.
A few weeks ago, I got an email from Bruce Benedict:
I am helping a theatre in town with a brand new production going up next may. They are creating a two part adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel Jude, the Obscure. They have given me a stipend to help get all of the music together and since it’s probably more than I can handle myself I thought I would put a shout-out. They want all of the songs to be from Thomas Hardy poems.
Bruce, you had me at “stipend.”
After a little more back and forth about the specifics of the instrumentation and style, I got to work on the two poems he sent. The first song I finished is entitled “In a Cathedral City.” Since the actors will be singing the songs and will also make up the small mixed ensemble accompaniment, I wanted to keep things easy. For this poem I decided that a soloist would carry the bulk of the song, with a four-part vocal/instrumental ensemble interjection at the end of every verse. This song will serve as a transition between the first act, set in the country, and the second act in which Jude strikes out for the city. The soloist (presumably Jude) sings in a modal folk style and the chorus interjections are bigger, more confident and frilly.
You thought Greg was just for the young and trendy. No, my friends, Greg is an equal opportunity composer. In this blog post, Greg reels in the older folks as Alan Watson sings the Colin/Greg ballad “When I’m with You.” The retro musical arrangement matches Alan’s crooning delivery perfectly. And the video proves once again, that green screen is alive and well:
Last, but not least, is submission #4, in which Greg gets down with his bad self.
Here’s what Faith Alive was looking for:
1 Corinthians 13: 1-4 and 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 : The memory work from 1 Corinthians appears in two successive units. Im kind of thinking rap for this. Could be cooland it needs to speak to 4th and 5th graders (the new young teens!)
Here’s the move I busted: MP3, PDF
This is just a demo to get the idea across, but I plan to make the final recording sound a bit like Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love the Way You Lie” (minus the cursing and violence). I’m guessing Eminem and Rihanna aren’t going to put out a scripture song album any time soon, so if anyone knows Toby Mac’s or KJ-52’s people, let me know. I think this could work for one of them.
What would a set of children’s songs be without a round? Submission #3 keeps things from getting square.
Here’s what they asked for:
Mark 5: 36b: This is a very short verse. Need a catchy chorus-feel that will work well with kindergarten and grade 1
Like “The Colors of the Covenant,” the first half of this is scripture and the second half is application–but this one is in super compact form. My hope is that this song will roll around in kids’ heads when they’re feeling scared. Kind of like “God is Bigger than the Boogie Man,” but without the talking vegetables.