Next mando-project

[vkioulaphides]

Greetings, all.

I am, at last, moving right along with my next mando-project; a set of songs for mezzo-soprano and mandolin, at the request of the estimable Maestro Gladd of D.C. The set will be called "(x-number) Greek Lyrics"; the actual number is hard to predict, since the poems vary in length. The translations are mine, free, and perhaps might be selective, picking a verse here, a fragment there... This is hardly a scholarly undertaking, done for some strictly academic project of the local Dept. of Classics. This is my home turf, and I straddle it casually, unashamed...

Today, I composed the first of those songs, an absolutely HILARIOUS grievance addressed to The God of Wealth, who apparently has never arranged for the hapless poet to hit the proverbial jackpot. The reason, the poet explains, is that the god is simply too darn mean.

This gem of a poem, even with the natural elongation that setting to music entails, lasts a precious 40 seconds (!) Obviously, it will take a good dozen of such vignettes to build a presentable song-cycle, as it were. But I think that Neil, and hopefully his audiences, too, will appreciate these morsels from our Lyric Age (approx. 7th century B.C.)

[Acquavella]

Hi,

It sounds like a really interesting and fun composition. I can't wait to hear them.

Chris.......

[vkioulaphides]

Thanks, Chris.

I hope to finish these songs this very summer, especially since long strolls along the pine-rimmed bays of the Corinthian Gulf are expected...

As is my usual practice, I will wait until Neil premieres these songs before I circulate them. Absent an eager publisher —the safer bet, to be sure — I will then send them around to anyone who asks for them, as PDF files via e-mail.

The subjects are often... *ekhm*... a tad risqué —blame the POETS, not me!— but always deeply human, as was the culture that bore them: fully aware of the foibles of human existence, always quick to empathize, NEVER to condemn. This is definitely NOT art for the self-righteous...

Cheers,

Victor

[Acquavella]

Hi Victor,

Generally I rarely have the opportunity to perform with singers. Aside from a few concerts with sopranos I mainly perform with a guitarist or pianist. Your description of the composition has definitely sparked my interest. I'm looking forward to hearing Neil perform your new exciting work.

However, there is a composition of yours that I would like to perform. The piece is El Malecón for solo mandolin. How might I get my hands on this piece?

Chris......

[vkioulaphides]

Simple!

The price ($0.00) is right, too.

Cheers,

Victor

[vkioulaphides]

"I mainly perform with a guitarist or pianist."

As for my commercially available works, my Rhapsody for Mandolin and Piano is published by Wolfhead Music, and my Canzona for Mandolin and Guitar (as per that other thread) will soon be issued by Trekel.

The unpublished scores, of course, are available directly from me, gratis. One does not write mandolin-music for Return On Investment...

Cheers,

Victor

[Jim Garber]

Once again, I am looking fwd to your next and future works, Victor.

Jim

[billkilpatrick]

... sorry - i posted what used to be here to the wrong thread ... grovel-grovel ... scuttle-scuttle ... exit.

[Alex Timmerman]

Hello Victor,


Fantastic to hear that again new 'Victorianesk' music comes our way!

I'm, as always, sure that your songs for mezzo-soprano and mandolin for Neil Gladd will enrich our mandolin liturature.


Success!

Alex

[JimD]

Excellent!

As a mandolinist who is married to and performs with a singer (and is well-acquainted with several of your other wonderful compositions), I can only say that I eagerly await the completion of your cycle.

[Neil Gladd]

Great, I was just about to start reminding you of this! Depending on when they are finished (I know you're a lot speedier than I am), I have performance opportunities where I could premiere them in August and/or November. (I've been out of town for the weekend, or I would have responded to this immediately!)

Neil

[vkioulaphides]

Good morning, Neil.

As for speed, well... 9 operas later, one must have learned the value of swiftness, with (occasionally impatient) collaborators breathing down one's neck. Throughout my composing career, however, the challenge has always been to slow my writing down, pay some more attention to detail, and get the better results, as opposed to grinding out the most music in the least time. But those are personality traits, not artistic values...

As for premiere possibilities: we are going on vacation extraordinarily late this year, as I have (obviously) wanted to be in New York when Het Consort comes here on tour in late July; we do not return from Greece until August 19— by which time, as anyone in academic administration knows, one must roll up his/her sleeves and work overtime in the advent of the school-year.

In short, I see no way that I could have a finished, typeset and proofread score by August, Neil. I'd much rather write the best MUSIC I can, slowly and carefully, during the summer, then proof and typeset it when we return to the U.S., getting the final product into your hands by early September. That way, a November premiere should be quite feasible.

Besides, regardless of how fast or how slowly I actually composed something, I always strive to make it sound as if it was written in one sitting, with one, single stroke of the pen. With that sort of continuity —a tall order, if I can pull it off— the music "sings itself". I trust, in other words, that my better efforts are also my most self-evident ones; the casts of all my vocal music for the stage have always memorized their roles in virtually no time at all, claiming they were easy to learn. I take that to be a HUGE compliment, if not on an artistic level, at least on a practical, "musicianly" one. I will strive to make sure that whatever singer Neil works with will have no trouble breezing through these... breezy songs. #

Looking forward to it all! #

Cheers,

Victor

[John Craton]

This gem of a poem, even with the natural elongation that setting to music entails, lasts a precious 40 seconds (!) Obviously, it will take a good dozen of such vignettes to build a presentable song-cycle, as it were.

I empathize with you, Victor. I recently finished reconstructing two early American ballad operas, one of which had no less than 68 airs to set ranging in length from about 25 seconds to around four minutes. (Hence the reason I've had so few postings at the Café of late.) Unfortunately, I couldn't add any mandolin to these scores since the instrument wasn't known in America at the time. But great to hear you're expanding the mando/vocal repertoire! Do keep us posted.

[Neil Gladd]

The subjects are often... *ekhm*... a tad risqué —blame the POETS, not me!

Hey, the Campion songs I wrote end with this lovely couplet:

Do not mock me in thy bed
While these cold nights freeze me dead.

Besides, regardless of how fast or how slowly I actually composed something, I always strive to make it sound as if it was written in one sitting, with one, single stroke of the pen. With that sort of continuity —a tall order, if I can pull it off— the music "sings itself"

My songs were started in the early 1980s for a singer that I had a major crush on. When she married an opera star and moved to the south of France, I put them away, and didn't pull them out again until 20 years later, when I was looking for an excuse to work with my present singer (who is JUST a close friend). The songs are dedicated to both of them!

Unfortunately, I couldn't add any mandolin to these scores since the instrument wasn't known in America at the time.

Who says?! The mandolin was played in colonial America before we were a country, and then RE-introduced here over a 100 years later. I have the names and dates at home. Later...

[John Craton]

Unfortunately, I couldn't add any mandolin to these scores since the instrument wasn't known in America at the time.

Who says?! The mandolin was played in colonial America before we were a country, and then RE-introduced here over a 100 years later. I have the names and dates at home. Later...

Neil, this is fascinating! I did some research (briefly, I might add) after my wife bought a figurine in Williamsburg a couple years ago of a young man playing a mandolin. My sources (which I do not recall at present) stated that the figurine was inaccurate as the instrument was not commonly known in Colonial America. The operas are from 1730 and 1790, respectively, and it would have been fun to include a mdnolin in the scores someplace but, because of what I'd read, it seemed anachronistic. I'd love to learn more. Thanks!

[Neil Gladd]

Who says?! The mandolin was played in colonial America before we were a country, and then RE-introduced here over a 100 years later. I have the names and dates at home. Later...

Neil, this is fascinating! I did some research (briefly, I might add) after my wife bought a figurine in Williamsburg a couple years ago of a young man playing a mandolin. My sources (which I do not recall at present) stated that the figurine was inaccurate as the instrument was not commonly known in Colonial America.

I won't say it was commonly known, but there was more than one player. The first was Giovanni Gualdo, who arrived in Philadelphia by way of England, and set up shop as a music dealer and wine merchant.

But now I've hijacked Victor's thread. I'll start a new one tonight, unless Barry Trott, our mandolinist in Williamsburg, beats me to it. He wrote an article about mandolins in colonial America for Mandolin Quarterly many years ago. I had written an earlier article on the history of the mandolin in the U.S. which covered colonial times, but in less detail.

[Acquavella]

Hi Victor,

Thanks for the link. When I have a spare moment I'll learn your piece. Please let me know when the Trekel publishing comes out. Many thanks for your great work. Cheers.

Chris........

[vkioulaphides]

Any time, Chris, any time...

That, and ANY of my mandolin music that remains unpublished (i.e. minus the Rhapsody, published by Wolfhead; the Canzona and Passione Amorosa, published by Trekel; and my Greek Mandolinatas and Sinfonie, published by a composers' collective I am a founding member of) can be had, at minimal cost, through my website.

Pick on, Chris! #

Cheers,

Victor

[Neil Gladd]

I am, at last, moving right along with my next mando-project; a set of songs for mezzo-soprano and mandolin, at the request of the estimable Maestro Gladd of D.C.

I have a concert date: Sunday, November 4. Details to be forthcoming!

[vkioulaphides]

Glad to hear that, Neil-- the pun would have been idiotic, if intended...

The songs, too, are moving along. The title proper of the cycle will be SEVEN Greek Lyrics, as the poems are short, indeed. The poems/fragments involved are by Hipponax, Archilochus, Mimnermus, Theognis, Alcaeus, Anacreon, and Simonides. They delve on topics that range from the bawdy to the sublime; I hope you like them.

I plan to compose most of these songs while on vacation in Greece, typeset them as soon as we return, and have the score in your hands by September. The vocal writing is --for lack of a better word-- readily singable, and the mandolin-part colorful (I hope) but hardly virtuosic. I expect you and your musical partner to get a good idea of what this song cycle goes like, right from the first reading.

OK, back to thinking up tunes...

Cheers,

Victor

[Domhnall]

Oh, Please let me see these when you are finished them. I'd greatly enjoy it.

Thanks,
Dan

[vkioulaphides]

Certainly, Dan.

As is common practice, Neil has "premiere rights"-- after all, I am writing these songs for him, and at his request. Since, however, these songs are not slated to be published, and will therefore remain my own exclusive property, I will be happy to simply zap you an e-mail with the scores as PDF files attached. In due time, please just remember to send me your e-mail address, so I can do so.

Cheers,

Victor

[vkioulaphides]

Greetings, friends.

Today I composed the second of the Seven Lyrics: the succession of moods goes from the envious/ironic, to the erotic, to the sublime; the "keystone" No. 4 is downright Machiavellian; then, Nos. 5, 6, and 7, in the same order of sentiments as Nos. 1, 2, and 3.

No. 2 is titled "Wanderer's Delight"; the poem is by career warrior, amateur poet Archilochus.

Thus wrote Archilochus:

Wild fig-tree, perched up on a rock,
You feed the ravens so often;
You love every man all the same
Who succumbs to your charms,
You, the wand'rer's delight.

The type of personage addressed is... *ahem*... someone an errant mercenary like Archilochus must have had at least some familiarity with. #

Say, Scott... is the Morality Police on our case yet?



Cheers,

Victor

[vkioulaphides]

Greetings, friends.

Today, as promised, I have sent Neil my Seven Ancient Greek Lyrics for mezzo-soprano and mandolin. I hope he and his vocalist colleague enjoy them... I sure enjoyed writing them.

After the premiere —whenEVER Neil gets a chance to give it— I will be happy to share these songs with anyone else who asks for them.

Cheers,

Victor