Finally finished! (Corston Duo)
After three months of working on my Corston Duo for violin and harpsichord, I have finally finished the piece! The composing process for this specific work has been very enjoyable and part of me doesn't really want to let it go because I really have loved writing and developing it to the point the duo is today. But at the same time, I am really looking forward to the premiere performance on the 25th June in Corston, hearing it live and not by computer-generated sounds - it is going to be really exciting!
I think what made this writing this piece really enjoyable for me was being able to work with the violinist during the actual composing process, when the piece wasn't even finished. In working with the player, it meant we could discuss what the overall interpretation and style I wanted for the duo and so on. These are the sort of things that make the piece come alive and it was really interesting to hear the violinist's take on various phrases within the piece. As usual, it is very useful to check over the usual things like playability, phrasing, bowings, dynamics and so on. I've written pieces before when I start working with the performers only after I have completely finished the piece. Don't get me wrong, it isn't always possible to work with the performers before the piece's completion but I feel it is really helpful to get different insight from a performer's point of view during the composing process so you can build that insight into your piece as you write it and it can make the piece more effective when it is actually finally finished.
The last two pieces I wrote before the duo (Oligos and Emergence) was a rather stressful composing process where things weren't quite clicking for a long time and only just came together at the very last minute before the deadline! So I found working on Corston Duo very refreshing - that doesn't go to say that it didn't have its challenges, there were definitely things that I had to think through carefully and problems I had to solve like barring and even writing for a pair of instruments I have never written for before! It's just that the whole process for the duo has been a lot smoother where things fell into place more quickly, and I felt really motivated to write and get it finished. I was writing Emergence at the same time as Corston Duo and that was a much harder, less enjoyable process and finding motivation to write Emergence was quite difficult.
When I was asked by a friend of mine to write this duo for violin and harpsichord, I thought that was a very interesting combination to write for and would be a good challenge for me. Knowing the nature of a harpsichord (a harsh timbral sound with no scope for dynamics at all), it was very easy for me to decide that I wanted to write in my usual fast and syncopated rhythmical style because if I had written a slow expressive piece, the harsh timbre of the harpsichord and lack of dynamics would have cut through the more tender moments, which is not ideal. I also had to get the idea into my head that writing for harpsichord isn't the same thing as writing for piano.
In the first few weeks of sketching out potential ideas and material, I began to have a rough idea of what I wanted the shape of the piece to be and how I wanted it to sound. But after developing these ideas further, the piece took a completely different direction and it ended up being in a tango dance style which I was not expecting at all! It took a life of its own and I just had to trust my ear and musical instincts that it would still work! At first I was unsure whether this was right direction I wanted the duo to go in, but the more I wrote I found that I quite enjoyed the fact that it was influenced by a tango dance-like style (Piazzolla is one of my favourite composers!) and it has given the piece a fresh twist that isn't there in my previous pieces.
Corston Duo is one of my favourite pieces that I have written so far and through writing it, it has made me want to explore and write for other unusual combinations of instruments so watch this space and let's see what other weird combinations I can write for and feel free to suggest any ideas!