26th January, 2012: Memorial University Wind Ensemble Performers “Rocky Mountain Lullaby”
Memorial University Wind Ensemble performs Rocky Mountain Lullaby under the direction of Dr. Jason Caslor as part of the Newfound Music IX at 2pm on January 26, 2012.
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18th January, 2012: “Rocky Mountain Lullaby” wins Canadian Band Association Competition
“Rocky Mountain Lullaby” just won the 2012 Canadian Band Association Composition Competition. It was chosen from among 28 submissions and was considered “interesting, yet technically accessible” by the jury. ”Rocky Mountain Lullaby” was commissioned by Simon Fraser School and director Ryan MacLeod for middle school band in 2010 and is inspired by my hiking and backpacking trips in the Canadian Rockies.
If you or your band are interested in purchasing the score and parts please email me and I’ll send you price and shipping information immediately.
The score is embeded below.
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17th January, 2012: Going for Baroque
I’m currently finishing off a work for the wonderful Pacific Baroque Orchestra and thought I’d share some insight and answer some questions about writing for a Baroque orchestra.
First off, what is a Baroque Orchestra anyway? Well, a modern “Baroque” orchestra consists of copies of instruments, or actual instruments that would have been used during the Baroque period of music (1600-1760). For example a Baroque oboe has only three keys (a modern oboe has 45 pieces of key work), the Violone is the predecessor to the Contrabass, and of course recorders are rarely used in modern music. String instruments generally had shorter bows and everything was tuned lower since the strings were made of cat gut 
and couldn’t be stretched as tightly.
What is it like to write for a Baroque orchestra and how is it different than writing for a modern orchestra? The principles of music don’t change depending on the instruments I write for. I am more familiar with writing for a modern orchestra, but I have written for enough different and unusual ensembles to be comfortable approaching instruments I am less familiar with. I have also listened to recordings and seen Baroque orchestras in concert so I knew what I was getting into. For my “Partita” I listened to recordings of Pacific Baroque and other Baroque orchestras to see how I would be inspired by the sound. Every piece is a different bricolage because I am different, and the instrumental possibilities are different with every piece. For Pacific Baroque I was inspired to write music that is a blend of popular rhythms and melodies, Baroque counterpoint and form, and my own personal style. I didn’t know that the harpsichord could sound so funky!
It’s been such fun to write this piece I can’t wait to hear the PBO dig into it. If you are in Vancouver you can check out Pacific Baroque Orchestra playing my “Partita” along with Bach and sons music on Saturday March 24, St. Mark’s Church ~ 7:30pm and Sunday March 25, West Van United Church ~ 2:30pm.
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5th January, 2012: Rachel Portman’s opera “The Little Prince” – a review
The adaptation of Antione de Saint Exubery’s “The Little Prince” by librettist Nicholas Wright and composer Rachel Portman immediately intrigued me. It doesn’t seem like an obvious choice for the stage. In the end the production values were high but the music left me wanting more.Film music, especially modern film music, tends to rely on convention and cliche. It also tends to go for broad strokes rather than subtle details. It is in these ways that Rachel Portman’s background as a film composer come to light. There are broadly two moods: sentimental, and silly. Portman turns the existential text of “The Little Prince” into simply sentimental. For me there was an almost cringe worthy moment in the first act when the pilot and the little prince are looking at the sunset when Portman resorts to the tried and true mediant relationship (I to III in this case). This particular chord progression was used by romantic composers like Liszt and Dvorak sparingly in the context of their harmony and always brings a certain sense of longing. Film composers have gleaned on to the trick and use it constantly to evoke these feelings. Edward Scissorhands and Up are the most glaring examples. It pulls on the heart strings every time, but it has lost much of its original effectiveness. It is now cliche. In general I felt that Portman turned to the obvious or cliche and much subtlety was lost.
In a work as long as an opera, key relationships and harmonic variety are vital to keeping the music to the ear and avoiding fatigue. In “The Little Prince” it seemed as though Portman spent a long time on a few keys with little variety. The result is that the flow and structure lacks direction and we are left with a series of moments. As a film composer form and structure are always imposed from the film and so it makes sense that this is one of the weaker aspects of the music. This became an issue at the end of the first act and the end of the piece where Nicholas Wright and Portman tack on big endings where none dramatically or musically made sense.
In many ways, Portman’s film experience is an obvious benefit. While the emotions may be overly simplified emotions, they are very clear and direct, an absolute necessity for children and sometimes a rare occurrence in contemporary music. The orchestration is standard and “filmy” but expertly done. 26 instruments sound like a large orchestra and the voices come through clearly. She also has a knack for writing for the voice. The lines follow the naturally speaking patterns when necessary and the words are extremely clear. Portman’s choice of the children’s chorus was inspired and added a necessary other element to keep things sonically interesting, whimsical, and likely ads interest for children.
The costume design, set design, direction, and singing on “The Little Prince” are all excellent. The costumes managed to translate Saint-Exupery’s drawings into the real world while maintaining a level of abstract and whimsical. The direction and camera work were most pleasing. It fell somewhere between the standard opera DVD and an actual film production. Unlike many opera DVDs the camera position changed and moved and fit the nature of the story as a whole. The singing and acting were clear and emotional. Joseph MacManners was particularly impressive given his age, even if the acting was a bit stilted on occasion. It was great to see the wonderful Willard White as the king and tenor Teddy Tahu Rhodes did an excellent job as the pilot and more than anyone else he took me along the journey.
In the end the music for “The Little Prince” occupies a world in between romantic opera and modern. Like much film music it has neither the tunefulness of romantic opera, or the daring colours and extreme expression of modern. The result is pleasant to listen to, and emotional, but not on the whole a deeply moving or challenging experience.
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5th November, 2011: “The Toronto Review Of Books” reviews ”Opera Briefs”
Talia Zajac reviews Tapestry New Opera’s “Opera Briefs” and says of Christiaan Venter’s music for”The Drawing Class”, “Sombre, deep piano chords penetrated the children’s world as their teacher tried to keep the horror at bay punctuated with notes of pure delight.” “Buoyant, light notes and dark shadows mingle to evocative effect in Christiaan Venter’s music for Sharon Bajer’s “All of the Sky”, a short scene based on the life of Iqbal Masih…”
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23rd September, 2011: Tapestry New Opera presents “Opera Briefs”
Tapestry New Opera presents an evening of 12 scenes or mini operas from this years “Composer-Librettist” laboratory from five composers and five librettists. Christiaan Venter’s “The Drawing Class”, “Noor Over Afghan”, and “All Of The Sky” are presented along with others. It promises to be an entertaining and illuminating night of new opera.
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3rd September, 2011: 2011 Composer Librettist Laboratory
I just finished the amazing “Lib-Lab” with Tapestry New Opera and am exhausted, exhilarated and inspired. Having the chance to work with such fantastic writers, musicians and dramaturgs turned my appreciation into love for the medium. There are too many things to say in a few sentences. Suffice it to say that I must write for opera.
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5th February, 2011: Vancouver Phoenix Chamber Choir “Young Composer Reading Session”
Ramona Luegen and the Vancouver Phoenix Chamber Choir read new compositions on February 5th, 2011, including my new work “The Rovers” with text by L.M. Montgomery. I cannot wait to write more for this beautiful medium.
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