Tag Archives: plays one

Posted on

Here’s a game we can all play

captain-up-widgetIf you have visited my website during the past month, you may have noticed a little floating bar on the right that says “sign in to play” and I know some of you have wondered what that’s all about.

Here’s the game:

  • Every time you comment, share or like one of my posts or pages, you earn points.
  • Every time you perform one of my #PsalmQuest pieces, you earn massive points!
  • In fact, every time you visit this website, you earn points!

Over time, you achieve badges and levels of competence that are great fun to keep track of. Really – it’s fun, and very easy to suddenly rack up some serious numbers! (Scroll down to the Leaderboard, and see Robert’s example below.)

Grand Prize

But there’s a grand prize at stake: whoever has the most points towards the end of my #PsalmQuest will be invited to the last concert of the last Festival of Psalms in May 2020. Yes, this is a long-term game, but you could get an invitation to come visit me in Tampa Bay! And if you’re a musician, that means you’d get the chance to perform as the opening act in front of thousands of audience members and possibly even broadcast live globally.

The last Festival of Psalms concert will be in Tampa Bay in 2020Awesome, right?! I’d love to see you here, and share the stage with you, so let’s get to it! Sign in, and remember that every time you use the social media buttons to share/ tweet/ plus or comment, you get points. Look how many points Robert, a private car service owner in New Hampshire, received after first signing up and commenting and sharing: over 6,000!

Quickly earn points and be invited to attend the last Festival of Psalms concert! (Click it to tweet it)

It’s amazing how quickly the points add up, so please go sign in now to play, and start earning your invitation to Tampa Bay!

#PsalmQuest concerts

There’s a list of world-wide concerts of my #PsalmQuest pieces right here on my website. How do I know? Because every time someone plays one of my pieces, they simply add a comment on the #PsalmQuest Concerts Page telling us when and where, and that’s how performers can score massive points towards their invitation! Maybe you know someone to be the first?

Of course, you can also use that same page to see if there are any concerts near you that you would like to attend! Scroll through so you don’t miss any.

(Here’s the URL in case the link above does not work: https://www.stephenpbrown.com/concerts/)

Sign in to play, click to share, and earn those points!

Posted on

Next Piece #7: Bagatelle for Violin

This was a surprise!

In my 7 year composition quest, piece #6 took a little over a month to write. This one took a day. Yes. One day!

Solo violin

It helped that the piece was being written for just one instrument alone, which is a complete contrast to Warrior Peace. Another contrast is the style: actually, I’m not too sure where this style came from but it is clearly a “contemporary” piece. I followed my usual system for composing music based on the psalms (Steps 1 & 2 I’ve already shared with you, and step 3 is coming soon) and after composing the closing melody, decided the piece was going to be too long for a “Bagatelle.”

Bagatelle for violin by Stephen P Brown

A non-musical “Bagatelle” is the pinball machine’s predecessor

I could change the title, or change the piece. The melody survived but the decision was made that the six sections before it would be shortened. Normally I write one chord per bar. In this piece, sometimes that happens but mostly it is one chord per note. And bearing in mind a solo violin often only plays one note at a time, the harmony progresses pretty rapidly!

Psalm 112

This composition is based on psalm 112, a wisdom psalm. It is short but has seven sections. In the end, though, the first and last sections in my piece were swapped – I’d rather begin with a curse and end with a blessing. So, here’s the structure:

  • A – Curse on the longings of the wicked
  • B – Blessings of righteousness
  • C – Blessings in adversity
  • B – Blessings of being gracious and compassionate
  • C – Blessings in adversity
  • B – Blessings in righteousness
  • A – Blessedness of those who delight in wisdom

One commentary (Longman and Garland) titled this psalm “The Triumph for Faith” and another (White) titled it “The Gain of Godliness.” Make of that what you will, but the piece is intentionally short and therefore I titled it “Bagatelle” – not after the board game, mind, but the musical form.

Listen

Listen to a computer rendition here (I’d much rather hear it live, and maybe we will next year):

Click here to get your copy of the score. Please share this post with violin players you know, and perhaps one of them will record it at home for us to post!

And please add your thoughts about this solo violin piece in the comments below (be sure to sign in to Disqus using Facebook, Twitter or your email). Do you like the style/ genre? Do you think it is short or long enough? Does it disturb you or make you think or calm you down? Do share your thoughts: