Category: symphony

I’ve Joined the Knee-dy Once Again

Posted on 2024-08-30 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

Let Knee Encircled I could have started off this post with a much larger and more gruesome photo post. Be glad that I did not. [shudder]

I had Exploratory Knee Surgery on this past Tuesday. It wasn’t much fun on its own, but with my wife there to keep me company (and some VERY, VERY strong post-op drugs), I had some fun. That, plus the fun of meeting nurses, doctors, and lab techs that I’d met from previous admissions, and we all had a good lime. I got to tell them about the works I have up on my MyScore account (also loacted at this link, but with score previews and full audio previews online), and I got to play one or two of the latest arrangements I’ve done since April (e.g., Bruckner’s 2nd, 1st Movement).

In any event, the surgery went well as far as I can tell, and the post-operative period is going about the same. I had a goodly about of bleeding into what I’m calling my “blood grenade” (it’s a vacuum pump that’s shaped like an American M26 grenade). I didn’t experience any swelling that I’m aware of this time, so that’s good. My next appointment is in 2 weeks, so we’ll see what happens then.

Now, to cease the medical droning (I know, I know), In addition to what’s been going on with Bruckner’s 2nd, 1st Movement, I’m working on his 2nd movement now, as well! I’m also looking for someone, ANYONE, who could bring me a working cover version of any of the songs on my Calibrations album, with the exceptions of Spicewood (track 12), and the two speech-only tracks in tracks 13 and 14. Only one track entry per true name or synonym, so don’t go off and fire me 20,000 tracks from 20,000 proxies. We *will* check you out.

With that said, have fun, and good luck! I hope you’ll enter. The entry deadline is September 30, 2024.

I’ll Be G-ing You

Posted on 2024-07-28 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

trebleclef Some learned colleagues in the Facebook Concert Band Orchestration group have shown me the light of day, as it were. I’ve been carrying the torch for a straight transcription of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 in A Major from orchestra to band without a key change, thinking that any such change away from A Major would be “dumbing it down.” Turns out I’ve been shooting myself in the foot. The key of A Major is so hard for some instruments, especially Eb instruments like saxes, that it’s nearly impossible to play for all but the most professional of ensembles. I’ve been limiting the number of ensembles that could perform my arrangement. This was made quite evident when I made a copy of the score of the 1st movement available for review.

I have since transposed my arrangement into the key of G Major. This retains some of the feel of the A Major original, yet cuts down on the number of sharps in the key signature for everyone. As a result, it should open up the arrangement for more ensembles to be able to play it.

Here’s the YouTube link where you can listen to the two versions back to back and compare them:

A Major Version: https://youtu.be/bGvums5A6jg
G Major Version: https://youtu.be/S5E2X2x6TIs

If you have an ensemble and wish to perform this movement, please contact me and I’ll get a score out to you ASAP. Thanks for listening!

At Last, Bruckner Symphony No. 6 is Finished!

Posted on 2024-04-15 Written by D. Lee Jackson Leave a Comment

Bruckner Symphony No. 6 Movement 4 Cover It took a very long time – from August 2023 to the present, in fact – but at long last, my arrangement for concert band / wind ensemble of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 in A Major is finished. I’ve put it through the proofreading wringer several times, just to be on the safe side, and I’ve done the musical equivalent of dotting all of the Is and crossing all of the Ts. Everything is as tidy as I can possibly get it, so I’m calling it done.

For any of you who might be reading this with a possible interest toward performing it with an ensemble, but you’re not sure if you can commit to taking on a full four-movement Bruckner symphony, worry not. I have divided the movements into four separate score-and-parts sets. You can try just one, or you can go for the whole package. It’s your choice.

Naturally, I’ve put demo recordings of the individual movements online, this time on YouTube. I’ve also put up a Playlist with links to all four movements, in case you’d like to listen to the symphony in the traditional manner. Here are the links to the videos:

Movement One
Movement Two
Movement Three
Movement Four

Playlist Link (all four movements)

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you are interested, or if you just have feedback on the movements. I’m waiting eagerly to hear from you. Thank you!

Contact page – https://dleejackson.lbjackson.com/contact

Keil and Carragan and Dorico – Oh My!

Posted on 2024-02-27 Written by D. Lee Jackson 2 Comments

My fascination…some might call it an obsession…with the music of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony Number 6 in A Major has continued to this date, in the form of concert band / wind ensemble arrangements which I have completed for the first, second, and third movements of said symphony. I am now working on the fourth movement (the Finale), and it’s turning out to be more difficult than the middle two movements, and possibly more difficult than the first movement. In any event, I am around 90-100 measures short of finishing my first full symphony, and I’ve already arranged over 320 measures of the last movement to date. To quote Patrick Stewart, “Gods, what a monster!” This is a big symphony, albeit not when compared to some of Mahler’s gargantuan offerings.

One thing I’ve learned in the course of arranging this symphony is the 18th-century use of a dynamics mark called the “Keil,” which is pronounced like the name of the character “Kyle” on a certain animated TV show and marked like this: ( ). While this looks like a staccatissimo mark, it is not one. It stands for a combination of an accent and a staccato articulation, according to a correspondence I had on February 5th, 2024 with Dr. William Carragan, the author of “Anton Bruckner: Eleven Symphonies” (a.k.a. “The Bruckner Red Book”). He wrote:

That mark, like a vertical black arrowhead, is very common in Bruckner. Its German name is “Keil”. It means a solid but not abrupt accent, more emphatic than the shorter staccato. It should not be overly lengthened as some inexperienced conductors do, nor should it be abruptly abbreviated. You should absolutely include the Keil in your arrangement, and then explain to people how it should be played, as a staccato with an extra nudge.

Unfortunately, I must report to Dr. Carragan’s disappointment that the music writing software I use, Steinberg’s Dorico Pro 5.1.21 as of this writing, refuses to support a Keil mark properly. I cannot get it to work alongside the all-too-similar staccatissimo mark without serious performance and/or playback issues. Therefore, I had to make a choice: I chose to keep the staccatissimo mark on its own, and rewrote the Keil mark as a simple accent above a staccato mark. It works well enough so far. My apologies, Dr. Carragan.

In any event, I said I’d arranged the first three movements of Bruckner’s 6th Symphony, and here I would like to present SoundCloud links to them for your listening pleasure. Please let me know what you think by dropping me a line from the contact page once you’ve listened to any or all of them. Thank you for taking the time to listen!

Here’s the 1st Movement (the Majestoso)…