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Palette

I'll admit that I'm a movie music nerd and a fan of the usual suspects (Williams, Horner, Howard, Zimmer, etc.). Some others on the less...

Atmosphere

In early 1914, Holst heard a performance of Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra. This seminal experience along with a suggestion from...

Color Separation

A single yellow bloom will really pop in a bush of red ones, even though they are all roses.

Texture 1 - Writing for the whole ensemble

A while back, I wrote an entry called 4 Dimensional Texture where I identified 4 basic ways to group instruments in a large ensemble.

Breaking my own rules

I usually have three or four arranging projects on the front burners and many more unfinished projects in my "work in progress" file....

Farnaby's Conceit

The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book comprises nearly 300 works composed for keyboard by notable English court composers from the time of Queen...

Breaking up the Romance

Too soon? I'm having too much fun with these titles. I promised to talk about the decision to transpose this movement of Robert...

More advice on Romance

One of the things I appreciated about teaching was that I learned things about my own playing by observing and articulating ideas to...

Limoges - The Big News

Sadly, only a few of the sketches by Victor Hartmann that inspired Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition have survived. We must rely on...

Little Red Riding Hood

I've been a big fan of Rachmaninoff's music for many years, but arranging his music for brass presents, in some cases, insurmountable...