Transcriptions & Compositions

Transcriptions & Compositions

Playing the music of others is all very well — delightful, in fact — but there comes a point when one feels compelled to put pen to manuscript paper oneself. Or, in this modern age, to prod at a computer until MuseScore produces something approximating one's intentions. I have developed rather a fondness for transcription and arrangement: the art of taking a piece conceived for one configuration of instruments and reshaping it for another. It is, I find, a splendid way to understand music from the inside out — to crawl about in its architecture, as it were, and see how the thing is constructed.

Among my completed endeavours, I am particularly pleased with my saxophone and piano duet arrangements of Zez Confrey's Buffoon and Bix Beiderbecke's In A Mist. Both pieces, originally for solo piano, translate rather fetchingly to this new instrumentation — the saxophone lending a vocal quality that complements the modernistic harmonies most agreeably. Presently, I am labouring over a piano solo arrangement derived from a Ray Noble orchestration, which is proving both exasperating and enormously satisfying in equal measure.

Ensembles & Orchestrations

My principal occupation in this realm involves transcribing and arranging scores for MuseScore — both solo works and ensemble pieces. Whilst I have dabbled in big band charts, my heart lies chiefly with smaller combinations: trios, quartets, and the like. There is something rather intimate about writing for a handful of musicians; one must be economical, precise, and yet leave sufficient room for each voice to breathe. It concentrates the mind wonderfully.

As for original composition — well, the pot simmers. I have numerous themes and fragments accumulating in notebooks and digital folders, each awaiting its moment of coalescence into something presentable. Melodies arrive at inconvenient hours; harmonic ideas materialise during otherwise mundane activities. The business of corralling these notions into finished works is ongoing, and I anticipate unveiling fresh compositions in due course. Watch this space, as they say — though not too intently, or you shall strain your eyes.