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Nikolas, your thread that was on the ABF has, rather mysteriously, vanished.

I had left a post on it; however, that particular post is not in my "posts" list anymore (it is as if it had never even existed). It is a shame they took the thread down, your set of pieces seems well suited to Adult beginners, which is not something that can be said of a lot of contemporary music.

Hi Nikolas,
9 March 2012

Having just recorded my playing of the first 8 measures of your Perniciosus ... it made my dog howl!! ... nothing but discords to break sensitive eardrums ... (but grateful for the “p” dynamics).

You seem to have gone out of your way to jangle a single-note romp of steadily increasing Manhattan outlines (mostly below Middle C) ... ouch!

But why?

PS ... Rubato is not an indication of tempo ... merely a licence to spread some notes. Also ... there is a keyboard tradition to include a rhythmic input, upon which to
float a melodic theme ... which can be enhanced by use of counterpoint.

Perniciosus is devoid of a regular beat and/or counterpoint.

btb,

I think you mixed up the threads, since this thread is NOT about Perniciosus, but since you posted I might as well reply...

Thanks for taking the time to have a look at (part of?) the score. You took a bite of the first 8 bars, which are... monophonic! So I would hardly think there is too much discord going on. I mean discord has the idea of 'dissonance' inside and if you're looking at a monophonic stream of notes it's quite difficult to pin down 'dissonance', right?

Ouch says you. I know plenty of people who enjoy this particular style of music and a lot who actually enjoy this particular work! And again you seem to be talking for the first 8 bars of a work which has no less than 239 bars! So it's about... 3% mathematically speaking.

Are you honestly asking that because you're interested to learn the opinion of the composer, or you're trying to devalue a work of music, simply because you don't like it? If it's the latter I won't be bothered with replying. If you are sincerely interested in knowing why I would be most willing to reply (perhaps in another thread?

An indication to spread some notes?!?!? Rhythmically? Off tempo? Either way you are free to disregard the 'tempo molto rubato' in the score as an indication of tempo and use it as a license to spread some notes. There's also a quartet = 52 up there I think...

You have not mentioned if you heard the whole work in youtube (where you can preview the whole score), or if you bought the score, but I can promise you that there's plenty of counterpoint and melodies going on in the 11 minutes of this piano music.

My turn now:

Why pollute this thread, which is about a different work, with this? I mean, really, I'm here and ready to answer to any questions, but this seems off topic last I looked at its definition.

Okay, that's just rude. You owe Nikolas an apology.

My dog howls at pieces by Christopher Norton and Robert Schumann, and Stephen Heller. Each morning he's howling as my son plays Norton repertoire.

My dog is content with gentle, lyrical pieces though.

I think that dogs hearing is more sensitive than humans, and what sounds fine to us can be very unpleasant to them. Probably like our enduring some violin screeches. Anyway, if the comment was intended as an insult, I don't see it as much of an insult, because it's an observation of how dogs sometimes react to music. And dogs are not prized for their mature taste in music.

Ann I do not wish to pollute this thread, which is about Sketch Music, further about this issue, so I will PM you, instead.

Thanks for your response Nikolas (Perniciosus m1-8) ... but when you defend your composition style with

“looking at a monophonic stream of notes
it's quite difficult to pin down 'dissonance', right?”

No ... WRONG.

I’m too long in the game not to instantly detect dissonance ... which can be hugely effective in small doses as a shock motif ...
but in Perniciosus, you labour the effect ad absurdum.

Please excuse me going off at a slight tangent ... happily I am the owner of the score of Schoenberg’s Opus 46 (6 minute)
“A Survivor from Warsaw” ... which will always rattle my cage.
The orchestral discourse
(whether brass, strings or woodwind) is rivetting ... including a narrative starting with
“I cannot remember anything ... I must have been unconscious at the time”

Against a rhythmic beat, the counterpoint of various instruments and voice ... there is the insistent jab of a haunting highlighting of the
outrage of the inhumanity of Man (to man) ... however, the harmony remains intact ... no need for dissonance ad lib.

Thanks Ann from Kentucky for sharing views on “howling” dogs. Far be it from wanting to insult Nikolas ... I was wanting the chappie to explain his style.

Please folk ... play the first 8 measures of Perniciosus and see if you don’t agree about the extensive use of discords ... please park sensitive dogs outside (thanks Ann).

I am in agreement that btb's post was extremely rude. I just meant that his complaint that the music made his dog howl was a lame complaint.

We all know btb. It's endless insults with him. I do give him credit for being able to outwit me in online battles though. So this is the last I'll say.

I'm sorry that our respected friend Nicholas has to endure this mean treatment.

This is marvelous music! I'm not a teacher, but as a student I'm delighted to see a set of new pieces.

Cheers!

I looooooove this and have ordered my copy. Thanks for sharing your talent with us, Nikolas. (And for the record, I like Perniciosus too lol).

Lizzy,

Glad to know you're enjoying the 'previews'. I can promise that there are more worthy tracks in the set (21 in totla), but alas only 24 hours in every day!

LadyChen, Thanks... And thanks for enjoying the more 'evil' side of me (?) in Perniciosus!

I'm currently working on some short-ish works for 4 hands (quatre mains) for piano (2 players, 1 piano)... Would there be interest to share my work as it goes in? :S It might turn into a blog-ish thread, but if there's interest, perhaps I would go about it... :-/

Yes!!! I would love to be updated on your 4 hands pieces (in addition to anything else you compose). I am looking forward to hearing additional recordings from the 21 pieces too.

Nikolas, got my copy in the mail and it looks great! As I was playing through the pieces my wife commented that the art matched the music - or was it the other way around? Which came first?

I was also happy with the invoice in Greek and the foreign stamps on the envelope! Life's little pleasures...

I looked for the other thread in the ABF forum. I guess the powers-that-be took it down. Too bad...

Sam

Sam,

Thanks for reporting your thoughts and first impressions.

The sequence of happenings with this set are as follows:

* first came the one named 'Just a Quicky'. Frustrated with a student who wouldn't study, I gave her this short assignment.
* Then I thought that I could shape out quick little 'doodles' like that for intermediate students, with a more contemporary approach. No more Czerny or Beyer or the such (not that it ever crossed my mind that I could replace such works...).
* Later on the student I mentioned earlier quit the lessons for a single lesson and as a result 'Failing Alkistis' came to existence. Her name is Alkistis and she keeps having lessons with me after all, but at that time I felt that I was failing her and she was failing herself.
* Everything else was composer and I started looking for a story teller to write a story on the music set. I did mention that the sequence of the works was not set, there were no titles and nothing else to give any guidance to anyone. That fell through COMPLETELY!
* So I decided to provide titles to the pieces on my own... In a whacky sense the titles worked quite well, so I started looking for a sketch artist instead.
* After looking at A LOT of artists who applied for the job, I came back to Piero Pierini, who I had met a month ago (before putting an ad that I was looking for an artist). We agreed with Piero.

Piero had in his hands most of the titles (I think 3 were missing, because I was unable to find any more suitable titles), the score in a draft version, with some empty spaces, where the illustrations would be, and some mechanical recordings from a computer.

He was wonderful! He did an excellent job on all 21 illustrations and I do think that the work would not be the same without his art! We had NO dissagreements on what felt right and what not. I requested only 2 things for two works (Failing Alkists and 5 Blue), and the rest were his own creations and ideas. A few illustrations had to be reworked slightly because there was too much black in his illustrations and a few size issues, but other than that nothing else was wrong.

In other words: Oh boy did he deliver! I am very lucky to have found him and I do hope to work with him in the near future.

Sorry for the long story, but I'm a fan of speaking my mind out loud, plus I feel that being autistic about my own art, doesn't help!

_________________________________

Invoice in Greek: Yes... I have to put that inside... I guessed it would appeal to a few... Then again it's all Greek to you, right?

_________________________________

Yup, thread dissappeared. I'm not still 100% certain on what happened exactly, but as I keep saying on various threads, this IS the home of Frank and I do need to respect his wishes.

Thanks again Sam

I got my copy on Monday. The book is just as beautiful as I thought it would be, but unfortunately I've been too busy this week to set at the piano -- though I couldn't resist a quick go at Ditsotred Romance, which was lots of fun.

Thanks, Nikolas!

I got mine too! Loved the Greek stamps on the envelope, which are beautiful before even opening the package. I was pleasantly surprised with the edition and illustrations as well!

tomorrow..

i don't buy many things 'new', but am really happy to support, i have just the sisters who will love it when I am thru.

I'll have to revisit this tomorrow when I'm a little less tired.. i keep ordering 3 books.

thanks apple*

Even if you ordered 3 copies, I'm sure that some human would be taking care of your order, and as such they would notice the 3 orders and would check with you...

and I'm glad that the copies have arrived to the rest of the people!

EDIT: We won't be able to ship out anything on this Thursday or Friday, because of the Musikmesse. If anyone is to make an order I would suggest they do it over the weekend and we will compensate by adding express shipping to any order without the extra charge!

I'll try again this morning. I must have been tired. You know Nikolas.. I lived in Salonika for over a year. My Greek wasn't the best (I could read it better than I could speak it) but I could easily find my way around and order food and converse about philosophy.

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