Chappell gets his act together

Here's a new post, finally! I apologize to all the readers out there for not writing anything for an entire month. Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans...

Things are great here! There's a lot to see and do, and I've been working really hard on composing. I finished a trio for alto flute, clarinet in A, and viola - a 2-minute piece following the arc of a single long melody line. It starts off pleasant in a quirky way, goes through a series of unpredictable twists, and ends up with the three instruments essentially arguing with each other. I think it's the best thing I've written all year - it definitely represents a breakthrough for me, as far as putting some new concepts into practice, and understanding more how to create a musical language which will be unique for each composition.

I've been here for over two months now, and many things are starting to feel quite familiar - finding my way around the city by U-Bahn or foot, speaking in German with shopkeepers and waitresses, cooking creatively with the foods that are available, even using the laundromats! (No more 10-euro washes, I found a cheaper place, and whenever I go there, I end up showing other customers how to use the machines! A far cry from the situation described in my September post...)

The main thing that's been going lately is Wien Modern, and it's been a dazzling array of concerts focusing on modern music after 1970. A highlight was the concert of 13 brief solo pieces for different instruments, plus a few folksongs arrangements, and culminating in the one piece which all the musicians performed together. Also the opening concert of music and film: one short film by Man Ray was shown three times with musical accompaniment by different composers, and there was a fascinating mix of ensemble pieces and short films, sometimes together, other times on their own. The most striking film was "Ferment" by director Tim MacMillan, a visually poetic journey across a city, presenting dozens of different scenes and hundreds of people, all frozen in a single moment. I also enjoyed a concert of free improvisation with theremin and other electronic sounds, a wild saxophone quartet by Olga Neuwirth, several orchestral concerts, and several documentary films about composers from Gustav Mahler to Frank Zappa.

Between composing, concerts, getting to know some of the other young composers + musicians, spending time with Rosalind, taking two trips outside the city, and applying for grad school, I've been rather busy! And I'm so excited about how things are going, I do feel like I'm making the most of this opportunity. As far as finding the time to write blog entries...I think the solution will be to write much shorter posts once or twice a week, relating specific anecdotes & discoveries, rather than trying to only do these longer ones. Until then...!