conservatorychronicle

[conservatorychronicle]

I could only do one thing from my list, shitty week really.

[conservatorychronicle]

Just planning the week after spending way too much time on the post just before.

I have decided, whilst stating that this decision may not be still valid even as close as tomorrow, that I will regularly post on Mondays and on... Sundays maybe? Still not sure on that one but I wanna do, like, a weekly goals and review thingy. This is all hoping it ends up encouraging me, but also so that I can keep track of whatever the hell I end up doing a whole week of not getting one thing done.

We are now entering the exam weeks and all that goes through my head is "fuuuck!". Like, tomorrow we have the harmony exam and I know the voice leading rules and the acoustic parallels and all the different ways a dominant seventh chord can resolve and whatnot yet I have not practiced properly since the semester started and no amount of midnight practice can give me the practicality I need for tomorrow. Not to mention the part where we listen to a bunch of chord progressions with innocent little modulations and perfect little authentic cadences and I get lost in all the "what the fuck is the "figure" for that chord!?"s or the "what fucking tone are we in!?"s.

That also gives me the answer to a decision I had to make:

I write this blog with the most academic language I can muster up or;

I can just write how I feel with a few curse words here and there.

I doubt many people will get interested in and read this blog, I even doubt that I will blog long enough for it to amount to something but we'll see...

Now, here's what I want to get done by Friday so I can brew some beer in peace this weekend:

Get a proper grip on the 4 basic species of counterpoint, since the exam's coming up, not to mention the rest of the semester depends on me understanding this torturous musical sudoku.

Write at least 2 different "soprano harmonisations" (harmonising a soprano melody) and maybe post those here.

Memorize the Moszkowski Etude.

Tidy up the Impromptu and the last movement of the sonata, next week we are finishing the current piano pieces so I can learn some new ones after months.

Finish the first part of my composition.

Study for the history exam. Lots of work to do on this front...

Oh, can't forget all the Solfeges I haven't looked at since 4 days ago.

Also I need to practice singing a bit, I am not a done deal for the choir on that.

Finally, I should get started on a composition that I'm gonna gift —is that the right word, "gift"— to a teacher. I have got to get it done by the 25th or so.

That is the list. Let's see where we will be, probably, Sunday night.

[conservatorychronicle]

Here's a little something for you:

So this is just me reading/studying the score. Now I was already at the piano for like an hour at this point so I didn't do any retakes, hence I slowed down here and there as to not make a mistake.

Now, this is an organ piece by Cesar Frank —FWV 38 according to a Youtube video title— and my professor gave the book this piece is in to me, for me to take a closer look at the harmonic language of Franck. This is all of course to get the creative juices flowing for the piece I'm composing this semester.

I must say he -I'm talking about Franck here- requires a lot of attention to play. It is easy to get lost in the constant and abrupt modulations and the chromaticism and you sometimes have to show some effort listening to really understand what's going on, or risk it sounding like a bunch of unrelated pitch clusters.

The real tricky parts start on the page after but I have neither the time nor the will to practice and record them right now —not that I could do them justice if I tried to— so maybe later.

But beyond all, the first "sentence" of the work is beyond beautiful. These 3 and 2/3 bars really give me the feels—both happy and sad. It's like a perfect encapsulation of the bittersweetness of life. All in those tiny bars.

And the first two chords of the 3rd sentence are like magic. Completely ethereal. (end of bar 8 and the start of 9)(By the way the roman numerals on the score are not the numbers of the sentences, they indicate to the organ player which "instrument" to sound the organ like) I can't say I am a fan of how it is resolved later but it's fine.

That is all for this post now.

[conservatorychronicle]

Today was lowkey productive, but also I am falling short of what I need to be doing daily.

So we are currently on a weeklong holiday here and I am trying my damnedest to catch up with all the classes while also being constantly sabotaged by myself.

So far I have re-read Solfeges 3B No.1 - 9 excluding 5 and 6 since they weren't assigned. Some of them are quite easy and fun, like No. 7, but No. 1 is giving me hell in some places. Like, some of the jumps and melodic lines feel so off I can't land them quite right the first time.

Piano went well as well, currently I am learning;

Haydn Sonata 23 in F major (I don't remember the catalogue number or the set and am too lazy to look it up)

Schubert Impromptu Op. 90 No. 2

Moszkowski Etude Op 72 No. 6

The sonata is almost complete; the impromptu is slowly getting there; and, the etude I just started two days ago but it is coming along nicely. I am afraid that it will be hard to bring to tempo, but should not be a problem if practiced carefully and consistently.

Now, I also have some choir pieces to practice, as we are meeting this Sunday but I was really tired from reading through and practicing 7 Solfeges for like 2 hours today. So although I sat down and started singing, I quickly realized today was not gonna be it. (Also I had relatively decent intonation today but my throat or voice or whatever it is, was not cooperating)

Lastly, I made some counterpoint studies. Relatively simple stuff; two voices, first species. One cantus firmus each in dorian, hypo-dorian, phrygian, and hypo-phyrigian. One contrapunctus above and below. Tomorrow it's going to be second species.

That's all I'll log for today; although I had to still compose a bit, I might just go to sleep.

[conservatorychronicle]

I am creating this blog in a fit of procrastination. Now, I actually had the idea to document my university years on a blog for a long time now, yet I am already almost at the end of my second year, still catching up with last years semesters because I barely went to school due to some personal problems. But, what better time than now?