First double bar line of the year

What does writing music even look like? Most days it’s just scribbling, planning, scheming, plotting. Most of the actual artistic bit happens on scraps of paper. The finished product that a choir sings from is just a lot of tedious typesetting.

It’s possible that this E is now only the second scariest thing I’m doing today

Working today on a piece of music about living like a snail.
Sleamhnaím ar nós slimide búirc lena shliogán
“I glide like a snail with its shell”

#gaeilge #newmusic #choralcomposer

Text by Ceaití Ní Bheildiúin
Published by Dedalus Press

@swearlymusic.bsky.social

Jean-Michel Jarre. The one and only thing that unites contemporary composers with early music

I have a piece to finish, so naturally I made a tiramisu Swiss roll

Sometimes you just have to treat yourself. #advent #whisky

However this little chunk from a recent organ part is a nice bit of proof to myself that the style is certainly coalescing — and this little bit of intricacy only took about 25 minutes!

(Ignore the parallel octaves on the last quaver)

Good of Facebook to remind me that writing contemporary choral polyphony that doesn’t sound like pastiche and doesn’t just become a glorified modal chorale is something I’ve always found this challenging 😂

From #sketch to #score on a new Passion piece for SSAATTBB

#newmusic #choralmusic #composer #sketchtoscore #tenebrae #responsory #sacredmusic #premiere