La Pacifica (mp3, ASCII score link)

Hello, everyone, and here is a new piece I've composed called _La
Pacifica_, maybe in part a comment on my situation as a composer
living near the Pacific coast of the U.S.A. Of course, I'd warmly
welcome any feedback:

<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/LaPacifica.mp3>

For an ASCII score with notes, please see:

<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/LaPacifica_Score.txt>

For a Scala file of the tuning for this piece, please see:

<http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/zest24-diat_enh6_Bb.scl>

Kraig, this is the piece that prompted my question about conventional,
Sagittal, or other notations, and your very helpful reply. I'd love to
carry that dialogue further, and maybe can better offer a response to
your post now that the music itself is posted. I'll try to pick up on
that thread over the weekend, because your comments deserve a lot of
thoughtful discussion. For example, how might a piece of this kind be
notated in Sagittal, and what might different performers do with it?

As discussed in the notes accompanying the ASCII score, this piece
features a very expressive type of interval which I would like to
thank Gene Ward Smith for calling to my attention.

Least but not least, the piece is dedicated to John Chalmers, both for
his precious contributions to our understanding of tetrachords and
many other aspects of music, and for the most generous help and
encouragement he has extended me over the last nine years or so as I
explore a universe of interval space which he has made more
fascinating and engaging.

Peace and love,

Margo

Hello, Jon and all.

Please let me thank and congratulate you for your moving
interpretation of my _La Pacifica_. The choice of timbres, so as to
highlight some of the counterpart and part-writing while also keeping
a degree of blend, showed a very sensitive understanding of the piece
while bringing out some aspects not revealed by my own rendition.

<http://zebox.com/jlsmith/music/>

Kudos, and thank you for illustrating the saying that creative
arrangement is the highest form of flattery.

This is the kind of thing that happens very often in current
performances of medieval European music: lots of different
interpretations, varying in everything from instrumentations to chosen
tempo or tactus to, in some cases, decisions about basic rhythmic
patterns or which notes should sound simultaneously where the
manuscripts leave this ambiguous -- not to mention those questions of
discretionary accidentals!

Kraig replied to an earlier post I wrote about this piece before
recording and posting it, raising questions about how I should notate
it and seeking advice. He discussed the possibilities that one might
use Sagittal, for example, and let performers decide the precise pitch
contours.

I'll discuss this more in another post, but what I want to say now,
Jon, is that your performance with its sensitive instrumentation
eloquently illustrates one of Kraig's points: that a piece can and
should be open to many possibilities.

While it's natural that discussions about this diversity on MMM might
often focus on intonation, it's a much more general question. For
example, about 30-40 years ago, a group called Studio for Early Music
did some beautiful performances of 12th-14th century European music
informed by an understanding of Near Eastern practices that likely
influenced certain regions. Sometimes people ask whether their work is
still a leading authority on possible medieval performance practices
in Europe, and one answer is that their approach might be considered
"dated" from this point of view -- or, at least, that other visions of
what was likely "period practice" are in vogue at the moment.

Another question, however, is to ask whether their performances show a
feeling for the music and bring out artfully and entertainingly -- and
there, I would reply, "Absolutely!" If the music wasn't performed this
way in 1250 or whenever, we're all the richer that nevertheless it has
been done this way by now. This isn't to say that other performance
practices must be inferior to theirs -- only that they have shed new
light on the music in a most engaging way while seeking to be informed
by the best information available at the time.

Anyway, while I've often reflected on these issues as a performer,
experiencing them from a composer's viewpoint is very illuminating,
and you've provided both the inspiration and the occasion!

Thanks again for all this, as well as your many compositions, and my
Mom asked me to send you her "warm" regards. It was a pleasure to tell
her about your arrangement.

Peace and love, with many thanks,

Margo

I like the segment 1:10-1:20. It reminds me of Kyle Gann's 'Custer and Sitting Bull'.

On Fri, 2 Feb 2007, Margo Schulter wrote:

> Hello, everyone, and here is a new piece I've composed called _La
> Pacifica_, maybe in part a comment on my situation as a composer
> living near the Pacific coast of the U.S.A. Of course, I'd warmly
> welcome any feedback:
>
> <http://www.bestII.com/~mschulter/LaPacifica.mp3>