LEANNE DAHARJA VEITCH

New composer website!

2011-08-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I've decided, for various reasons, to move my composer website (this blog) over to Wordpress.

The new website is located at http://leanneveitch.wordpress.com.

As with this blog, you can subscribe by email, or via an RSS reader or news aggregator.

A few bonuses though: the new website is now linked in with Twitter and Facebook.

So you can "Like" the linked new Facebook page (located here), and keep up to date with all the latest, as all the posts and info will feed straight through.

Same with Twitter. My new alias at Twitter is (surprise surprise!) LeanneVeitch, and you can find me here. Follow me, and you'll get all the latest right there on Twitter.

Features of the new site will include:

Free downloads of full and partial scores, including scores not available anywhere else online
Downloadable recordings of choir performances of my music, so you can hear how your choir will sound when you perform a work
Performance listings, so you can check out upcoming performances in your town or country
In-the-know advance offerings of latest release music - get the dish before anyone else by staying in touch!
Direct contact details - if you need a particular arrangement, you can ask the composer directly!
Feedback box - you talk, I listen!

It's up to you, but this blog here will be gradually closed down over the coming weeks, so come on over to the new site and check it out! Update your links now, and I'll see you over at the new site! http://leanneveitch.wordpress.com.

Works in progress...

2011-07-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy over the last few weeks, composing and writing lyrics, and getting ideas together for another major work, on the scale of The Wheel of the Year.

The work will be a Christmas Carol cycle, built around a dozen or so original carols, and set for SATB, with various solos designed to be pulled from within the choir.

It will be accompanied by piano, and my husband Michael Winikoff and I will be co-writing the work, with him doing the lion's share of the piano writing, and me the majority of the melodies and texts, as well as designing the overarching themes and motifs.

The work will be designed to run for approximately half an hour, with a "scaled down" option available for about 18 to 24 minutes, where a choir can opt to remove certain pieces while still retaining a smooth flow.

The work will comprise mainly small pieces, with the individual carols designed to be able to be performed by themselves, or as part of the entire work.

So that's where I'm going over the next few months. I'm hoping we'll have the work ready for a release in about 3-4 months time, ready for Christmas performances in 2011. That means we're going to be pretty busy!

As the work gets built, some of the pieces will be released individually, so choirs can choose to include them in their Christmas concerts early in planning stages, if they choose.

I haven't done a big work for a while, so this will be a bit of a challenge for me. I'm looking forward to writing music that choirs around the world will enjoy performing year after year. That's my goal, and that's what I'll be attempting to achieve.

Two of the works are already in the bag: Sing Christmas! and Mary Sings A Lullaby are both set to be included at this stage, although some reworking of the former may be required.

A third work, Night Wind of Bethlehem, set for SSA plus possible piano, is all but finished, and a fourth work, set for tenor, baritone and bass, is nearing completion. Both will be released here at this website.

A fifth work, I Saw A Star for SATB plus SATB semichorus, is still being worked on.I've been tackling it for several months now, and it still has some "technical difficulties" to be worked out.

Other works

Apart from these, I'm hoping to finally release a fairly significant work, Moonstruck!, in the next few weeks. I'm currently editing the tenor line, which has a few awkward jumps that need smoothing and re-writing.

And another "Moon Song", titled "Moonbird", is on its way, gathering impetus. I'm happy with where it is heading, and it is finding its niche in that happy place between classical / choral and popular / rhythmic music where I like to write and experiment.

It should end up about eight minutes long, so I suppose it will be a fairly significant work too. It is looking like it will be set for bass, baritone, alto, alto, soprano, soprano and cello, with percussion, flute and piano.

And I wonder why I never seem to have any free time?!

New composition for SSMA: "Mary Sings A Lullaby"

2011-06-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to spruik my new composition. It's a Christmas piece, set for Mezzo solo or semi-chorus plus SSA and piano accompaniment, titled "Mary Sings A Lullaby".

I thought it was about time the mezzos got a piece of the action re solos, so this time the top sopranos are "backing vocalists" and the mezzos get to shine!

I'm attaching the text plus a link to a midi demo and PDF. The piece is under personal copyright - for performance details, please email me.

[midi - listen to "Mary Sings A Lullaby" demo]
[mp3 - listen to "Mary Sings A Lullaby" demo]

[PDF - read "Mary Sings A Lullaby" score]

Mary Sings A Lullaby

Sleep, my pretty one,
Sleep, my darling,
Let the stars be your crown and the night wind your guide.

Sleep, my darling,
Sleep, my sweet one,
Let your eyelids be closed and your sleep bring you peace.

Now the sky floods with moonlight, and peace stills the land,
And the air rings with bliss, for hope's hour is at hand.

Sleep, my pretty one,
Sleep, my darling,
Let the angelkind watch you, encircling their wings.

Sleep, my darling.
Sleep, my sweet one
Let your dreams give you comfort: fear nothing, my love.

Now the sky floods with moonlight, and peace stills the land,
And the air rings with bliss, for hope's hour is at hand.

The work is dedicated to Kingsley Nieass, who died recently. He was neighbour and friend to our family, and the best "uncle" any person could ever have. I miss him very much, and only wish I could write better music to honour his memory. This one is for you, Uncle K.

"Moonstruck" ready for recording and release

2011-05-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy over the last few weeks, despite the lack of updates here at this blog. Everything was set back a bit by a visit overseas for personal reasons, but I'm back now.

One of the larger pieces of music I've been working on for some time, Moonstruck is just about ready for release. The score is ready, and I'll be recording a sample version of it for check-through before public release.

In the meanwhile, here's an mp3 of the work for you to listen to:

[Moonstruck mp3 demo]

I'm pretty happy with the work - it is set for SSATB with optional soprano solo, with piano accompaniment. Duration is approximately 5 minutes.

I've also released the individual movements of Wheel of the Year to CPDL, after getting a lot of requests over the years. So that's done.

Now I'm busy working on Psalm 23 for solo soprano with piano accompaniment - a change for me, away from choral works. It might end up a duet with mezzo - we'll see. But at present it is going well. A short piece, it should be ready in a week or so.

Black-eyed Susan - new short, easy work for SSATB

2011-03-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

My latest small work, soon to be released on to CPDL, is titled Black-eyed Susan.

I'll be releasing it publicly as soon as I've recording it and checked for errors, finalising the score. In the meanwhile, here's an mp3:

[Black-eyed Susan]

I decided to try story-telling in song, and for this work I went back to my roots, when I was growing up in Hong Kong.

I remembered going shopping in Jardine's Bazaar, which was around the corner from where I lived (I lived in the Hoi Ping Road mentioned in the song), and talking to one of the stallholders there.

She said she'd been "wooed" by her husband sixty years ago, when she sold fish and frogs and he sold hundred-year-old eggs!

I thought it made a good story, and although I've embellished it a bit, I like to think that the happy couple (now ninety years on, if they're still alive), wouldn't mind too much.

The dedication

I'm dedicating the work to my music teacher I had in Hong Kong - the first music teacher who ever showed faith in me, as well as in the ability of many others.

He was a very kind man, as well as a first-rate teacher.

I have wonderful memories of his classes, and he believed that if we thought we could do it, the sky was the limit.

This one is for you, Mr Meir.

Black eyed Susan

Near Hoi Ping Road on Causeway Bay
There used to be an alleyway,
Before the high rise came to grow
Seems such a long long time ago.

The bowls of frogs and jellyfish
The smell of bean curd in the air.
The stalls of hundred year old eggs:
She was his flower in the mess!

He saw her each and every day.
He longed for her in every way.
She helped her mama at Bazaar:
He watched so closely from afar

She was his black-eyed Susan,
He dreamed of her day and night.
She was his black-eyed Susan:
His daisy girl of great delight!

Each day she'd smile at him so sweet,
He heart would stop or miss a beat.
He finally summoned up the nerve
To say hello to daisy girl.

She was his black-eyed Susan,
He dreamed of her day and night.
She was his black-eyed Susan:
His daisy girl of great delight!

Now sixty years have been and gone:
High rise has crushed the shanty town.
Another thing is not the same:
They sell together in the lane!

She is his black-eyed Susan,
He dreams of her day and night.
She is his black-eyed Susan:
His daisy girl of great delight!

She is his black-eyed Susan,
He dreams of her day and night.
She is his black-eyed Susan:
His daisy girl of great delight!

NOTE: Black-eyed Susans are pretty little daisies. You can learn about them here.

--Choristers love feedback - and I'm no exception! Now you're here, I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please comment! Thanks!

Love will make the roses grow

2011-03-13T17:16:00.001-07:00

As part of my SATB Challenge, I'm attempting to write one small piece of music each week, in different styles.

This is really my way of doing an apprenticeship, as part of my Grand Plan (more on that later...maybe!), but also to produce good quality short works for choirs.

This work is actually a cheat - it is set for SSA, not full SATB. It has accompanying piano, harpsichord or guitar - or lute would be ideal! So it's a pretty flexible little work.

Here's the midi:

[Love Will Make The Roses Grow]

And the original text:

Love Will Make The Roses Grow

Love will make the roses grow
Fair, though thorns have pierced her eyes
Blood of flowers weep to the earth
Wounds to water, as she dies.

Time will make the roses die
Petals fall and beauty fades
Rose to thorns and dust let fall
Blossom silenced by night's grave.

Love will make the roses grow
In their perfume memories rise
Sweet distilled in Love's design
In her petals beauty lies.

I've tried to evoke a medieval "feel" in this work, and get a sense of the way a small troupe of minstrels would have sung of love, and death, and roses.

I'm just finalising the score, and deciding on the dedication, and then it will be released under Creative Commons License 3.0 to the Choral Public Domain Library.

Short and "swete" - I hope!

New "live recordings" page

2011-03-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

Followers of this website will notice that there is now a new "live recordings" page.

From time to time I'll be adding live recordings and Youtube links, so you can hear how my music sounds when performed by choirs and ensembles around the world.

At present, you'll find links to performances in Argentina, Brazil, Australia and the United States. I've also been promised recordings from South Africa and the United Kingdom - watch for these soon!

Over the coming months, I'm planning to take some of my works into the recording studio for professional-standard release. It will be lots of fun, but quite tedious - as anyone who has ever done the "studio" thing will know!

These recordings will be made available at this website.

Pierce College sings "Crescent Moon"

2011-03-06T23:52:00.001-08:00

I just found another performance of "Crescent Moon" on Youtube that I didn't know about. Pierce College in California did the piece in the middle of 2010.

The soloists in particular did a wonderful job. Thanks so much!

"Once There Were Flowers" published on CPDL

2011-02-27T12:27:00.001-08:00

"Once There Were Flowers" is now available online at the Choral Public Domain Library.

The piece is set for SSATB, and is very simple and straightforward.

I have released it under a Creative Commons License 3.0. What this means is that it is freely available for non-commercial use. If your choir or musical group would like to perform the work, you can freely copy as many copies as you need, and there are no performance costs.

Of course, I'd love to know you're performing my work, so I can add you to my list of official performances :-)

Here's a link to the PDF and mp3, and the full text, which is also my own original work.

Once There Were Flowers

Once there were flowers, now they are gone
Petal and blossom scorched by the sun
Summer is over, winter is come
Once there were flowers, now they are gone.

Once there was music, now it is gone
Silent the voice which once rose in song.
Silent the singer, silent the song
Once there was music, now it is gone.

Once there were leaves, but now they are gone
Strength will remain, though stripped to the bone.
There will be a new song: how can morning bring a light?
Love's sacrifice, and dawn breaks the night.

Where is the song that gave such sweet bliss?
Where is the song that gave such as this?
Melody within us brings forth the song:
Hope is renewed; Love's music lives on.

I am now in the process of writing up the recorder ensemble version, which will also be available under a Creative Commons 3.0 License.

Come Again! A return to church anthem

2011-02-25T18:32:00.001-08:00

I never thought I'd write something like this, but a friend asked me to, so here it is. It is non-denominational, and intended as a return to church anthem.

I'm just finalising the words on the male voices, and it should be be available in the next couple of days for freely available download and duplication.

[Come Again!]

Come Again!

(Soprano optional solo): Come again! Come again!
From the hills and the riverside.
Come again! Come again!
Bring your daughters and sons!
For the words of the true song are sung as they ever were
And the Lord is alive, and the dance has begun!

(All:) Come again! Come again!
Welcome all! Welcome everyone!
Come again! Come again!
Bring your faith and goodwill.
For the words of the Good Book are great as they ever were
And the Lord is alive, and the dance has begun!

(All, with soprano descant:) Come again! And again!
Welcome all! Welcome everyone!
Come again! And again!
To the heart of great joy!
For the Word is sung the same as it ever was,
And the Lord is alive, and the dance has begun!

The SATB Choral Writing Challenge

2011-02-25T18:23:00.000-08:00

2011 is my year of The SATB Choral Writing Challenge.

I've decided to attempt to write a new SATB piece every week.

One new work, once a week every week, all year.

Yes, it's a huge undertaking. And there will be exceptions to the attempt, such as the weeks I'll be on holiday over Easter and suchlike. But the goal is to drastically increase my output, so that I learn the real hardcore techniques of choral writing.

The works won't be long. They'll mostly be short and sweet, and pretty traditional. This is pretty much a training exercise. And they'll all be released on CPDL under Creative Commons Licenses for free performance and duplication.

I wonder if I'll make it? But if don't try, how can I find out?

This week's piece is Come Again!, which is a "return to church anthem" a friend suggested I write. I've stuck with traditional harmonies and a very simple pattern, and am quite happy with the outcome.

I'll be putting together a page on this blog with the results of this SATB Choral Writing Challenge, and which work is which week. If I miss a week, I won't be bashing my head against a brick wall or wearing a horsehair shirt. The Challenge is just something to encourage myself to do as much as I can, and inspire and learn.

New composition: Once There Were Flowers

2011-02-06T19:41:00.001-08:00

In the last month and a half, when not dealing with other matters, I've put together a short little work.

It is ready for recording now, with the text almost complete, and I'll be creating versions for SATB and SSATB as well as a recorder version for recorder ensemble (five recorders).

It's called "Once There Were Flowers". Click below to have a listen:

[Once There Were Flowers]

Once There Were Flowers

Once there were flowers, now they are gone
Petal and blossom scorched by the sun
Summer is over, winter is come
Once there were flowers, now they are gone.

Once there was music, now it is gone
Silent the voice which once rose in song
Silent the singer, silent the song
Once there was music, now it is gone.

The choral versions (SATB and SSATB) will be available on CPDL, and the recorder ensemble version will be available here at this website shortly.

All versions will be available for download and performance free of charge.

New work in progress

2011-01-26T15:26:00.000-08:00

I've not done much over the past few weeks. Its been school holidays, and this amateur composer has had to mind them.

But now my daughter is back in kindergarten, and my son is spending a lot of time reading and doing puzzles and lego, I'm finding time once again to work on my music. And I have a new piece in the works, now that MoonStruck! is done and in the pre-recording stage, before doing proper recordings with the choir and releasing it to the public.

The piece I'm working on doesn't have a title yet, or even a topic. I just dreamed up the theme, and went with it. It's looking like it will be SSATBB, although I may write up a simplified SATB version as well. It will also probably be a capella, and written for a small choir.

Anyway, have a listen to the "in progress" version:

[New work in progress]

So what does it sound like to you? A Christmas piece? An earth/Pagan piece? Or something completely different?

A good first season for "Sing Christmas!"

2010-12-28T12:40:00.000-08:00

Sing Christmas! has done pretty well for its first season out. I've been happy with the reception it has gained.

It was completed and released quite late in the year. Regardless, it has achieved performances in South Africa, the USA (two in Ohio and one in New York City), and just yesterday I was emailed about more performances in Canada - in Vancouver, giving the piece its Canadian premiere and encore. Performances in three countries is pretty good start for a small piece from a little unknown composer like me!

This success has encouraged me to write more similarly small Christmas pieces, set for SATB. I currently have a second piece, I Saw A Star, almost complete, and a third - as yet unnamed - piece is now in the works. Both should be released well in advance of next year's holiday season.

Sing Christmas! is available for free download from this website, and there are no performance fees attached to the work, as it is held under a Creative Commons license.

MoonStruck! ready for early 2011 - with demo recording!

2010-12-25T19:09:00.000-08:00

My new composition, MoonStruck!, will now definitely be ready early 2011. I've been putting the finishing touches to the score, and have finalised my group of singers for the demo recording for an mp3 file that will be available for listening, so that choir directors looking for new works can hear how the piece may sound.

As with most of my other music, MoonStruck! will be available under a Creative Commons license. Released into the Choral Public Domain Library for easy access, and available here at at The Chorister blog, as well as a few other places, this work will be available for free download and performance by choirs, under standard Creative Commons license agreement terms.

The small group of singers are all confirmed, and are happy to be a part of the project. I'm just a poor amateur composer living on a farm, so I'll be paying them for their services in fresh home-grown fruit and eggs from our chickens! but they're all terrific singers, and they'll do an awesome job.

The recording sessions are likely to happen in late January, with release of the demo recordings pretty much immediately afterwards.

In the meanwhile, you can hear a midi of MoonStruck! in its current form by clicking on the link to the left.

After MoonStruck!

After MoonStruck! I'll be completing I Saw A Star, which is another Christmas piece, and getting back to work on Pied Beauty rewrites.

I'm hoping to release both later in 2011, along with some other works in the pipeline.

I just wish I had more time to write music! It takes such a long time to write even short pieces - I have no idea how anyone ever writes a symphony!

Repeat performance of Crescent Moon - this time in Argentina

2010-12-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a recent performance of Crescent Moon in Argentina I didn't know about, until a Google alert pointed me to it on YouTube.

Enjoy - and thanks to the Instituto de Música José Hernández for performing Crescent Moon. The performance was lovely, and the didgeridoo worked beautifully.

New composition "MoonStruck"

2010-11-11T14:17:00.001-08:00

MoonStruck is the latest piece I am working on. It is set for SSATB and you can hear an "in progress" midi on this blog.

The final version is likely to be set in a slightly lower key, to make it an easier sing for the sopranos.

This piece is a love-song to the full moon as it rises at night. I hope to give some sense of being captured by its beauty.

I've often felt, when the moon rises up over the hills of my home town, that I cannot look away - the moon is so entrancing that I feel addicted to looking at it, and drinking in its loveliness.

I wanted to express that feeling in music, and the sense of dancing with light, and the rhythm and play of moonlight on the landscape.

MoonStruck is part of a long-promised trio of Moon Songs, begun with Crescent Moon a few years ago. I intended to finish the trio off a long time ago, but of course life and family got in the way, and the completion of the trio has been a long time coming.

"MoonStruck" will be dedicated to my children, and will be available on a Creative Commons license for free live public performance and duplication, under personal copyright.

MoonStruck

Caught in a web of light, I am moonstruck
Caught, spellbound, I'm moonstruck
Light...

I cannot look away, she's brighter than the day
I'm caught, transfixed, spellbound, I'm moonstruck
I'm moonstruck now!
Light!

I'm blinded by her light, the day has come at night
I'm caught, transfixed, spellbound, moonstruck
A-ah, she rises up, she rises up! I cannot close my eyes!
Her beauty dazzles me!
I'm caught in a web of light, I am moonstruck!

New composition: "Sing Christmas!"

2010-08-16T00:45:00.000-07:00

My latest composition has been completed, and is about to be released.

It is titled "Sing Christmas!", it is set for SATB choir, and quite short and straightforward. It would suit choirs of pretty much any size and ability.

The piece is set for optional hand drum and sleigh bell accompaniment. For beginner choirs, a rehearsal piano reduction is also provided, which can be used if necessary in performance.

Click below to listen to a midi:

[Sing Christmas! Final midi]

And the lyrics:

Sing Christmas!
Ring every bell! Sound every drum!
Tune every harp! Sound every horn!
Throw every door wide to the sun!
Sing out with joy! Sing Christmas!

Toll every bell! Be glad and sing!
Sing the great news the angels have giv’n!
Share in great joy! Bless everyone!
Sing out with joy! Sing Christmas!

Earth is renewed for the Christ-child is born!
(Earth sings for the Christ-child is born!)
Hope is renewed for the Christ-child is born!
(Hope lives for the Christ-child is born!)
Faith is restored for the Christ-child is born!
(Faith lives for the Christ-child is born!)
Sing out with joy! Sing Christmas!

Sing everyone! Sing hope for the earth!
(Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!)
Sing everyone! Sing peace on the earth!
(Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!)
Sing everyone! Sing joy to the earth!
Sing out with joy! Sing Christmas!
(Ding dong Christmas!)

Earth is renewed for the Christ-child is born!
(Sing! Sing ding dong! Ding dong!
Hope is renewed for the Christ-child is born!
(Ding! Dong! Sing fa-la-la!)
Faith is restored for the Christ-child is born!
(Sing! Christ-child is born!)
Sing out with joy, so sing out with joy,
So sing out with joy! Sing Christmas!

If you are interested in performing this piece, please email me and I will send you a PDF of the score (with piano reduction for rehearsal purposes) for your perusal.

Performance of WOTY "Yule" in Brazil

2009-12-15T13:14:00.000-08:00

Grupo Taliesin have been kind enough to send me the link to a YouTube of them performing my piece "Yule" from Wheel Of The Year.

Thank you, Lauro and Grupo Taliesin!

Working on "Pied Beauty"

2009-11-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

"Pied Beauty" is starting to come together nicely.

I'm fairly happy with the result, and hope to actually have it in performable state before Christmas. Maybe. Hopefully.

Of course, once upon a time, composition was a lot faster, because I didn't have children to contend with. This is the real reason why there aren't too many female composers - you simply cannot compose and mind children at the same time.

Writing is different, when it is short pieces, because you can see whether you are at, stop and start, and come back to it. But with music, you need that long-time, train-of-thought extended period stuff that children don't allow.

However, my son is going to school next year, and I am hoping my daughter will have a place in morning kindy, which will give me four straight hours a day - to work on my novels and paid writing, and to get some serious composition done.

That will be great.

In the meanwhile, you'll just have to take my word for it that "Pied Beauty" is coming along. But I do think it will be my best piece yet.

At least, here's hoping.

Repeat performance of Beltane from "Wheel of the Year"

2009-10-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

I just received an email for Sandra Uitdenbogerd, committee member of RMIT Occasional Choral Society (ROCS) in Melbourne, Australia.

They recently did a repeat performance of Beltane Song from Wheel Of The Year as part of their showcase concert on October 2nd 2009, with violin, cello and flute.

Thanks to Sandra for letting me know!

Let the composer know!

Speaking as a very minor composer - someone who struggles with the title - I think it is really important to let composers know you are performing their works.

If you are doing it illegally, let them know anyway - just send an anonymous email, and avoid mentioning the details of who you are!

I know this is probably dodgy advice, but I think most composers, regardless of the legalities, would prefer to know that their work is being performed, rather than it being ignored. And they'd rather know about illegal performances than not know at all.

Most people aren't ratbags. And a lot of us come from choir backgrounds, and understand that getting permission can sometimes be tricky or too expensive. Most people are not out to get every cent they can - although some certainly are!

My opinion is that most people are decent. I figure I'd be unlikely to make any money from my music anyway, so I release it under creative Commons, and then the work is free and I get credit. All good. I'd rather people perform it, and for me the satisfaction is in the writing of it, not the money anyway. I'm not a composer for the money - if I was, I'd be pretty poor!

If you are a composer...

If you are a composer, release your music onto Creative Commons. Be realistic - are you honestly going to make any serious money out of it? Not likely. If you have one piece that has been wildly successful, by all means release that one piece commercially, but release the rest to the Commons.

That way, people are more likely to perform your music, they're more likely to get to know you, and they're more likely to request and look for the few pieces you keep under a commercial license, if you're actually any good.

If you don't release your content, you'll probably be facing the reality that your stuff will disappear into the void when you die. No-one will know about it, and your relatives will probably throw it out when they clear out "old uncle Fester's silly music" or "old aunty Fungusina's dratted compositions".

What a waste.

Pied Beauty - Textual manipulation

2009-10-12T00:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the poem in it's entirety:

GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;

And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

And here's what I'm doing with it, textually:

CHOIR 1: GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Then repeat text: Glory, glory, glory to God.

CHOIR 2: (repeat of first line of poem) Glory be to God for dappled things-
(then return to original text pattern)
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
Then repeat text: Glory, glory, glory to God.

CHOIR COMBINED: And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
MEN of both choirs: All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Middle voices of both choirs: Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

Higher voices, switching back and forth: With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
BOTH CHOIRS, ALL VOICES: He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

Choir 1 is SSATB
Choir 2 is SATB

At least, that's how it is currently working out.

Once I've got a complete working piece, I'll run it past some friends, record it, and tweak it.

I'm also probably going to change it down a bit - I think it is too high for the upper voices, and I'll be shuffling the chords in a bit tighter.

This is what you get from someone with no music training - I stuff up, then have to do major revisions, like changing keys and suchlike. Which means the whole thing will then sound wrong to me.

Oh well.

I guess I'm a composer-in-progress, just like my music is work-in-progress!

If anyone out there who is following this blog and has music training, you don't know how lucky you are! Especially if you can play the keyboard! I don't have that skill and it would make composition so much easier!

Leanne Daharja Veitch: Biography

2009-09-29T23:32:00.000-07:00

Background

I grew up in South Australia, and apart from a few months free tuition with the local primary school on the violin, I did not receive any music training. Despite this setback, music was always an important part of my life, and I have been a keen listener and have had a keen interest in various forms and styles of music - in particular folk, country, and medieval.

Formative years were spent in Hong Kong (1981-1984), after which I returned to South Australia. I finally began to sing with choirs in my mid twenties, after being "talent spotted" singing in the shower at a friend's house.

I moved to Melbourne, Australia, in 1996 after finishing a few degrees. Since then, I've sung in various choirs, including a number of Australian Intervarsity Choral Societies Association choirs as well as the Melbourne Chamber Choir. I've also been a keen participant in the Intervarsity Choral festival movement, attending every festival between 1993 and 2007.

2008 brought a family migration to Dunedin, New Zealand, and I now sing in St. Paul's Cathedral Choir (Dunedin) and City of Dunedin Choir. Life is busy, and I find little time for composition, but a few pieces are in the pipeline, and I hope to be presenting them to the public soon.

I am new to composition and have no formal musical training. I write music because I love to do so, and whether what I write is any good or not is up to the listener to decide. I try to use my own text as much as possible to avoid copyright issues; as a professional writer this is easier for me. It also makes composition more fun and challenging!

Goals as a composer

My goals as a composer are to write music that is beautiful, as well as being straightforward to perform, and to write music that is freely accessible and available to all. I do not believe in esoteric, difficult text or content; what I write should be fairly possible for a choir or small group to perform to a decent standard on just a few rehearsals.

I'm also glad to be an example of yet another woman composer - there are far too few of us in the world! While women are making huge inroads in various other artistic forms, composition seems to be one that is lagging. As a woman with no formal musical training, I want to be an example to others: we can compose - we only need to have faith in ourselves!

Major Works

The Wheel Of The Year: My first composition has to date, to my knowledge, been performed many, many times in over a dozen countries (including Australia, the United States (several States), Germany, Canada, Brazil, France and England). The response has been very positive, and this piece prompted requests from around the world to write more.

The Wheel Of The Year can be performed in its entirety or as individual movements, depending on the time of year, and the needs of the occasion. Some of the individual movements have found their way into the mainstream Australian Pagan community, and are now performed regularly at Circles and private and public gatherings at festivals such as Yule and Midsummer.

Crescent Moon: My second composition (Crescent Moon) was picked up by an Israeli composer within weeks of its premiere performance (in which it won second place in the Australia-wide ROCS Composition Competition), who has written variations on the piece. The piece has recently been performed in New Zealand (August 2008), and has received requests and interests for performance and workshopping in the USA (March 2009).

Pied Beauty: In progress

2009-09-29T23:13:00.001-07:00

I've been working, on and off, on Pied Beauty, for a little while.

You can have a listen to how it is sounding so far:

[Listen to Pied Beauty - in progress]

You'll notice a few things about the midi.

First, there are breaks in the various sections. That's to help me in the transitions. They won't be there in the final piece.

Second, you can hear a few chord clashes. They also won't be there in the final work.

Last, you can hear that I've only laid down the Sop 1, Sop 2 and Alto lines - and nowhere near all of any of them! The Sop 2 line is the most complete, and the Alto is the least. I've not done any of the Bass or Tenor lines yet.

This is pretty typical to how I work. I like to get the top lines sorted, then I muddle around with the men's voices. Sorry, men!

The piece, when finished, will be for SSATB.

I'm vaguely happy with the direction it is heading. Composition is one of those funny things - you think you know what it will sound like, and then a new idea heads you into a completely new direction.

I find composition hard. I don't play any instrument, and my theory is weak, to put it mildly. So it takes me a long time to get anything done - and that's without considering distractions, like my two preschoolers!

I think I'll continue with this though. I love the poem, and would love to get a composition of it done. Hopkins would probably have burned it, but I'll go ahead whatever!

I really wish I'd learned to read and write music, and play the piano (even though pianos are dreadfully out of tune). It must be so easy for people with that sort of training!

New blog: Leanne Daharja Veitch, Composer

2009-09-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Welcome to my new blog.

At the moment, I'm in the process of shuffling my compositions across, so they'll all be here in the one place. Please forgive the HTML-untidiness!

You'll soon be able to search for various pieces with a search function.

This blog will contain not only composition, but poetry and snippets that I am thinking of setting to music, as well as works in progress.

All content here is copyright to Leanne Daharja Veitch, unless specified otherwise.

I will be releasing most of my music under Creative Commons, to be freely shared and distributed, according to my own ethics. However, I do request that you adhere to the Creative Commons licenses as stated. And please, if you perform or use my music, please let me know! I'd love to hear from you!

Cheers, and thanks,

Leanne Daharja Veitch
Composer.

Christmas carols: In progress

2009-09-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a series of new Christmas carols. I was hoping to have them done by now, but no such luck.

My life, of course, has taken a turn to the extreme business end of things, and chances for composition without interruption have been thin on the ground. Still, they're happening.

I'm hoping they'll happen in time for Christmas 2009 and not 2010! The first is I Saw A Star, which has a middle easterny sort of feel. I can't explain it any better than that, but will hopefully post a snippet or midi of the work in progress before the end of the week so you can hear where I'm heading with this one, if it isn't finished altogether.

I don't like to put complete works on the blog, until they've been performed at least once, in case they get nicked.

Although my intention is to make all my works Creative Commons, I'm not silly enough to believe that music can't get stolen. It does, all the time. At least once a piece of mine has been performed I have a swarm of people willing to testify who wrote it, and when, and some hard evidence to the fact.

I don't ever intend to make profits from my work, but I do want to be given credit as composer.

The next carol I'm working on is a carol with a 50s feel, and quite fun. Its very positive and lighthearted, and has a solid bass line. The basses will actually like me for this one, instead of hating me as per usual. I'm known for giving all the good stuff to the sopranos and altos, and leaving the poor males of the choir behind a little - this is their turn to get the good stuff.

Beyond these two pieces, I'd like to do a few more, aiming for at least a quartet of carols.

Why write carols?

I want to write carols because they're fun, and they have a large audience in terms of choral works. At this time of year there are hundreds of choirs around the world looking for new content, and I should have no problem getting my stuff performed if it is even half way decent.

I also find a lot of the new carols that have been written in the last few years rather insipid. A lot of them are bland and tasteless, have no sense of fun or rhythm, and aren't even beautiful. They're real 'why bother' pieces of music. I think I can do better.

Finally, I think we need new carols that come from Down Under. The new stuff seems to be coming mainly out of America these days. While that's fine, I think it is time that people from other cultures got in on the act and produced decent Christmas music.

So yes, I'm writing carols. Once they're done I'll hunt around for choirs to perform them. The carols will also probably eventually be published on the Choral Public Domain Library with some of my other works that have been published there.

And a little rant...:-)

Music should be shared, and it should be free. I put my money where my mouth is on this issue, and it is one I feel strongly about.

If copyright had been around in the time of Mozart, choirs would never be able to afford to perform his works. Music is a gift to the composer, and she or he in turn should share that gift with the world. Free of charge.

End of rant.

Mona Lisa: In progress

2009-09-28T17:29:00.001-07:00

I have been working on a few pieces, back to back.

One of the new works is based on an original poem of mine, Lisa.

For the choral piece, I may retitle the work Mona Lisa, to make it more obvious what it is all about. Here is a link to a midi:

[Listen to Mona Lisa in progress!]

You will hear it is quite clashy. That is on purpose, although I'll probably rein in a few chords, and may alter a few things when it gets its first sing-through with friends. I may also increase the tempo somewhat, but that depends on how difficult chorister find the work - I suspect standard choristers may find it a hard piece to perform.

Comments are very welcome - as usual :-)

Pied Beauty - Composition inspiration

2009-09-28T17:28:00.001-07:00

GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;

And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

Why have I posted Gerard Manley Hopkins' famous poem? Because I'm writing a composition to it. I always loved this poem, probably because I'm such a counter, original, spare, strange, fickle, freckled kind of gal ;-)

So I think he deserves to be set to music. Don't you?

I Will Grow A Garden: In progress

2009-09-28T17:27:00.001-07:00

Here is the start of a composition I'm working on for the poem I Will Grow A Garden, which I posted earlier. See if you can work out where the lyrics lie ;-)

[I Will Grow A Garden - Composition in progress]

So far the harmonies sound thin, because all I've laid down are the second alto and a bit of a first alto and mezzo line. The final piece will probably be scored for SSAATBB, if I can manage it.

I'm not sure what instrumentation, but there will almost certainly be cello and flute. I might score clarinet, if I can wrangle a friend who is an excellent clarinetist into playing it (I haven't summoned the nerve to ask him yet).

I'm also not sure of what size choir this would be for, but I'm hoping it will end up being more appropriate for a larger choir. It would be my dream to write something that is performed at an IV or similar.

Apart from this piece, I'm also working on a piece for the poem Lisa, which is turning out quite tricky and atonal. It will either be brilliant (here's hoping!) or bloody awful.

I'll post a midi when it is in good enough condition that I'm not too embarrassed.

Composition: Earthsong

2009-09-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

A short piece: [Earthsong - click to play]

Not sure how I feel about it. Maybe it has potential. Maybe I'll develop it, maybe not.

Composition: I Will Grow A Garden (in progress)

2009-09-28T17:24:00.001-07:00

I will grow a garden
Up to the sky
The blue, blue sky...
I will grow a garden
With the warm earth beneath
And the blue sky above
Trees bending and twisting
Leaves curling, unfurling
To shimmer in the sun
To glorify the sun!
To worship, to feast on the sun!

I will grow a garden
With worms creeping and wending their way through the soil
Blending and building new life in the soil
Thriving and threshing new life in the soil
Breathing new breath and new life in the soil!

I will grow a garden
With flower and fruit, budding on bower
Corn and grain, glowing on stem
Bees buzzing and humming voice-lifted in song
Insects and bird-song Frog-calls and bird-song

I will grow a garden
Honouring the earth as she nourishes me
Giving my soul as she gives back to me
Life giving to life, soul giving to soul

I am my garden; my garden is me

I will grow a garden
I will grow a garden
I will grow a garden.

I am setting this piece to music. It's turning out to be harder to do than I expected.

Composition: Beltane (Wheel of the Year), 2004

2009-09-28T17:23:00.001-07:00

I wrote this piece a long time ago. I still like it.
[Click to listen]

Poetry: Sinkhole

2009-09-28T17:21:00.003-07:00

filtered haze twirling, spinning,
shapeless dust fragments of a dream
bouncing off each other in a random kaleidoscope of blue, grey, green...

gazing up

a stab of light
laserbeam bright
slicing the dark and the dim:
cold, light, bright, thin...

damp, dirt, dust,
drowned land beneath the ground
distant shapes a handsbreadth away
lungs full, hard,
heavy breath chilling my bones
icicle stabs of air...

up there in the light.

i reach towards the light
touch the sky with fingertips

outstretched

and down here
sunk beneath stone and earth and dirt
i am alone

in the silence

in the dark.

I wrote this about a sinkhole I saw on a nature program. The photography was beautiful, and it touched me to write this.

Poetry: Palls

2009-09-28T17:21:00.001-07:00

through the dusty, grimy, yellowed, broken plate glass
behind wooden doors, with paint, mission brown -
blistered, peeling
within stone:
black, pitted, scarred

beneath an iron cross:
twisted, misshapen, meaningless
with pigeon droppings
and homeless men urinating against the buttresses...

and burger wrappers crouch,
crumpled in nooks, knoll and doorway

the birds huddle against the winter wind
feathers fluffed,
their beaks a stagger of blades,
their claws grasping the black ironwork
their eyes a glassed and beady row
watching the river's flow

while i sit, alone, on my family's pew
and contemplate
what i thought i knew

I wrote this about St Paul's, opposite Flinders St Station in Melbourne, hence the title of the piece. I wrote it a while ago, and upon revision I find I like it even more.

Poetry: Inside the husk

2009-09-28T17:20:00.001-07:00

i am not who you think i am
but then, i never was

in shades of green and magenta
i catch my portrait, a smear of identity
against a wall of numbers and zip codes and files.

butterflies smashed on glass slides
and cold insertion of metal and latex gloves
as he peers over bifocal lenses
and 'hmmms' as he pulls my identity apart.

i hide inside your castle
a secret -
we laugh
we all laugh at the printer
whirring colours and reams of paper

we laugh at you.
can you hear us laugh?

you are the joke.

and i my husk that you think you see
is merely a shell of identity.

This is partially a meditation on an examination in a GP's room, and partially an in-joke against a slightly-insane person I once knew. I included it in this blog because it has some interesting imagery I'd like to develop later.

Poetry: Glass

2009-09-28T17:19:00.003-07:00

twist a slice of lemon around my little finger
spit the pips in a glass jar and swallow the pith

a room of faded, jaded, blanched, overstuffed
smirking, boasting, preening, pimping

and dim lava lamps spinning shadows at the wall with faded posters,
peeled, concerts passed and gigs long gone

my talk all lies,

how good am i? spinning webs of deceit
did you know i spoke with brad and jen?
yes, they are good friends

i'm invited to every party
my collar just so,
and shoes laced with purple laces.

you will notice, and comment how good i look
and i, with an air of noncholance
will pretend i made no effort no effort at all

orange light, fading to grey
in the swirls of cigarette smoke that linger in the air,
taunting our lungs

i hold my glass cunningly between manicured fingertips
and pull an olive from its cocktail stick

i pretend i don't see that man in the corner
lost, quiet, nothing to say with mismatched shoes and ill-kempt hair
with torn jeans from a bulk store
and sweater with pulls, loose threads and lint

and as he watches me
and i watch him
i realise that i am him and he is me

This was originally entitled 'gone', but now I've changed it to glass. It is, of course, about a person whose self-image is a complete fabrication. Then he sees himself in a mirror and is reminded who he really is.

Deconstruct a chrysalis

2009-09-28T17:19:00.001-07:00

>I wrote this about how we can try to pull living bodies apart to figure out how they work, but all we'll ever understand that way is the mechanics, not the life. It's a stand against vivisection, and dissection in general.

deconstruct a chrysalis
unravel the twisted thread
pull apart the gossamer

take a look

nothing inside but a shrivelled corpse
no pulse,
no beating heart

no wings,
perhaps the tiniest hint of a shroud that once might have flown

now the gift is gone

deconstruct the universe
unravel the twisted mind
pull apart the skin, the eyes

take a look
nothing inside but a shrivelled heart
now pulled apart

NOTE This poem has been set to music by my husband. You can download the score above.

Poetry: Look

2009-09-28T17:18:00.001-07:00

Look at my shirt!
Look at my pants!
Look at my belt shiny new from a designer can't you tell?
Look at my shoes they were made for dancin you know?
Look at my watch it was expensive only one in the city
Look at my ring real diamonds, real gold, real platinum,
Real Gucci real Prada real D&G real Hilfiger real Klein
real real real everything real

Aren't you impressed?

I go to the right clubs
I listen to the right music
I have the right clothes, the right hair, the right glasses

Not that I need them

The right smile -
fixed at great expense and bleached white to dazzle you

I drink the right drink
shaken not stirred
I tan at the salon
I get a manicure a pedicure an omnicure
Wrapped in plastic and sprayed with deep black mud
Specially imported
Aren't you glad to know me?

Look at my shell
Look at my body
Look at my possessions

But don't look inside

Empty

And somewhere,
in the echoing landscape of innerspace
Might be me -

I can't tell

Poetry: Parasite

2009-09-28T17:17:00.001-07:00

wouldn't stop to help
couldn't help but stop to see
blood on the bitumen ripped flesh,
limb from limb

they stare, they talk, they mutter
what a shame what a shame so young
why do these things happen
lets go have a coffee
lets forget all about it
and go watch the news to see if they saw our faces when we stared at the blood

hey! there I am!
god I look fat
I'll never wear horizontal stripes again

but maybe

if I dyed my hair yes that's it that's what I'll do damn, they're filming the blood again

did you see it?
were you there?
I was - I saw the blood on the bitumen

I saw it happen!

I did!

Appreciate me!

I saw it happen and I was on tv!
Listen!
Look at me!
stop looking at the blood
blood doesn't matter
not his -
he was gay

I saw his partner
crying tears
but they werent real tears you know
not like the blood.

ruby drops spilling on the drainway
till yesterday's news washed it away

I wrote the above piece ages ago, upon hearing of a gay man with HIV in the papers. He was run over in the road, and the concern in the paper was where the blood would run to, and any possible contamination. It made me think about the callousness of society, and I pictured the people who saw the death happen, and how they might have viewed this man's death from their possibly shallow perspective.

Poetry: Silent Gods

2009-09-28T17:16:00.003-07:00

water drips from my spine
eyes flushed, skin stinging
knowing every seam of bone and grit and blood

feel

the flow like water on the wet floor
steady stream of insect debris

taste

bitter as a silent tombstone
humbled by weeds

see

knowing with eyes shut

guess

the reality
another lifespan,

maybe tomorrow I will step and crush their bodies
maybe not

will god crush me?
or am I already the fallen?

A contemplation of death and failed suicide, dealing with the aftermath of having almost taken one's own life, and the possibility of what comes next.

Poetry: Shake

2009-09-28T17:16:00.001-07:00

shake at the twisted kaleidoscope

bend at the melted stars dripping down through a sliced vein...

happy puzzles know no development
simply a strangled kiss,
a bleached struggle for life thwarted..

dizzying..

I know no bounds.

do I dare disturb the universe?
do I dare to touch the external?

what do I feel?

nothing, but the cold, dull ache of emptiness.

This is one of a series of poems in which I used the fascinating line of Eliot's. Agan and again I find myself coming back to his work - he was so far ahead of his time and made such a magnificent yet simple statement about the modern human psyche. "Do I dare disturb the universe?" is a question for today's bland, TV-obsessed mainstream.

Poetry: Lisa

2009-09-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

She is there
in smoky hues of black, tan and green
with some white between the edges of the frame
and the listing catch-plate, bearing her name

Visitors. Admirers.

they look:
oh yes....mmm...beautiful...exquisite...
a fine piece of artwork
he really knew what he was doing.
I must buy a print at once -
where's the souvenir shop?

they don't see:
her hidden heart
a wooden plank that's all -
not even canvas.
Rotting all the while.

While the visitors smoked
and the lightbulbs flashed
and the babies screamed
and threw rattles on the carpeted floors

before they slung her in a perspex cage
and hung a crimson barrier on golden stands
and glued the 'No Smoking' signs to the walls
in four major languages.

And esperanto.

Such a small smile:
her eyes, so far away.

The background
semi-formed in the acid colours of a dream
fading into a memory of long dead fingers
twisting the bristles of a brush
and catching a smile then bones,
now dust.

I keep coming back to this poem, and have finally decided to set it to SATB music for small choir. The Mona Lisa has always fascinated me, and there is something incredibly sad about the picture for me. I also find her bone structure interesting, and in this work focused on the fact that not only is the famous smile that was painted now long gone, so too are the fingers that painted her. I'll post a link to the choral piece once it is complete, and then will scrounge around to try to find a choir to perform it.