Wednesday, February 10, 2010

"Like Grass Peeking Through the Melting Snow"

The title of this post comes from today's installment of Robert Ian Winstin's series 28 in twenty-eight. The blog that posts the recordings and performance notes describes the project as:

"A month long text and audio blog about the creation of 28 new pieces of 'art music' in the twenty-eight days of February by composer & conductor Robert Ian Winstin."

The composer has created a companion site that makes the scores of these pieces available as free downlaodable .pdf files. Most of the 10 pieces produced thus far in the series are written for the piano and are admittedly short. In his notes the composer has written about how much he enjoys composing "miniatures" and that the series has afforded him an opportunity to do this.

Even if you don't like the music (but I definitely do), the concept of disseminating this much material in a serial offering over an 28-day period is an amazing idea. Smart people who know more about these things will provide comments about the long-term sticking quality of Mr. Winstin's writing, but I find the music well-crafted, intriguing and often filled with humor. Prior to the appearance of the series, I had heard the composer's extended work for violin and orchestra, "Taliban Dances," and as I have delved a little deeper into his past work it is clear that he is the genuine article--a living composer making music that matters.

So how cool is this! We can gaze into the composer's workshop window for a month to see what is going on inside, at least a little bit. Personally, I am fascinated by what I see.

Click here to visit the 28 in Twenty-eight blog where you can hear the music and read the composer's comments.

Click here to see the music scores for the series.

Click here to visit Robert Ian Winstin's artist website.

Posted via email from pkpiano's posterous

1 comment:

Robert said...

Hello Paul! I am honored and quite humbled to be discussed in your blog. Thank you for your attention and your kind words.

I very much look forward to delving through more of your blog.

Robert Ian Winstin