This is a pretty huge opera – one of the biggest that we do here at Bob Jones. There are literally hundreds of people involved in the production. Opening night is Tuesday, March 9th, one week from tomorrow as I’m writing this. If you are in the Greenville area (or even if you aren’t) you should definitely consider coming to see this. Even if you don’t think you like opera, this production will not disappoint. The music is cool, the costumes are cool, and the set and staging are really cool.

More information on the opera can be found on the BJU website. You can also view the Facebook event that has been created for it.

• Choral Literature – a survey of choral genres/music down through the centuries
• American Hymnody
• 19th Century Techniques – a study of musical form and analysis of 19th century music
• Private Composition

I am also still in the University Chorale (website | twitter). In addition to performing a concert in April, we are heavily involved in the school’s opera which will be performed in March – Samson et Dalila. All of these classes, plus involvement in choir and opera and work responsibilities will consume most of my time this semester.

But there is always something “cooking” on the compositional front. This month, I will wrap up the incidental music that I’ve been writing for Northland International University’s spring drama. Pretty soon, it will be time to decide on music for my graduate recital (spring, 2011). I will have about 40+ minutes of original music to write for it. I also hope to hear soon from a few publishers regarding my latest choral pieces which I submitted recently.

That’s about all for now. I’m excited about this semester and the many learning opportunities headed my way.

I used the GIMP to create the graphics for the site. The main image is, of course, the watercolor-esque background at the top. I placed a stock image (which I modified to look like a painting) behind a white layer mask and painted portions of the mask away using some free watercolor brushes I found online. That is what gives it the watercolor brush-stroke effect.

To add some extra pizazz, I decided to use some font-replacement technology to utilize a fancier typeface for the headings and main navigational links. I am using the Cufon javascript library and the font is called “Nilland.”

The neat thing about this design, is that it can be re-skinned very easily. That is, I can change the background image at the top and make a few small changes to the CSS and… viola… the site has a completely different feel. You may see it change from time to time with the various seasons or for holidays. It’s very versatile.

So, take a look around and let me know what you think!

Feel free to use it with your congregations and let me know what you think of it. I hope you enjoy it.

Jesus Lives and So Shall I (PDF)

First, next week I will be releasing a brand new hymn right here on my website. Actually, a new tune and harmonization for an old text. It’s a hymn of triumph that will be fitting with the celebration of Reformation Day and the 500 anniversary of the birth of John Calvin.

Second, I’m excited to be going on tour with the BJU Chorale to New England and surrounding areas November 2nd-9th. We’ll be making stops in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland. Those interested in keeping tabs on the Chorale can follow their twitter feed and http://twitter.com/bju_chorale.

Third, I have a commission to announce. I have been given the opportunity to write incidental music for a sacred drama which is to be performed in April at Northland International University in Dunbar, WI. The music will consist of about 5-10 minutes of music for in between scenes and also some background music during the scenes.

Fourthly, my website will soon receive a little bit of an overhaul. I am currently working on a new design which is nearing completion. If time permits, I hope to have it up by the end of the semester.

Lastly, if you’ve not yet seen, my teacher, Dan Forrest, has recently released a CD recording of many of his concert choral works entitled “Arise, Shine!” It is a great CD compiled from various recordings of concerts done on campus featuring the BJU Chorale and combined choirs. I’m even on a couple of the tracks. More information and links to purchase this album can be found on his website – www.danforrest.com.

• Orchestration
• Research & Writing in Music
• Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis
• Private Composition (w/ Dan Forrest)
• Private Piano (w/ Mark Parker, my teacher from undergrad)
• Music Group credit (BJU Chorale)

As always, there are new things happening on the composition front. I have a piece or two that I’m working on presently. But for the most part, this year I’ll be doing a lot of composition exercises and such with Dr. Forrest. Next year I will begin composing all the pieces for my graduate recital (spring semester of 2011).

The Chorale is also going to be quite busy this year. We’ll be singing in campus church a few times, singing in the Vespers program Sept. 20th, performing a couple selections by Mendelssohn as a part of a faculty recital series in October, helping with a Craig Courtney reading session in October, going on tour to New England in November, and performing the Messiah (3 times) at Christmas. That’s busy enough to rule out having a regular concert of our own this semester.

My job on campus as part of my GA program is with Web Technologies. Essentially, there are four of us responsible for maintaining applications, forms, and the like on BJU.edu and the BJU Intranet. I spend most of my time at work programming applications and doing security and performance upgrades on previously existing applications. I’ve gotten to work with people from various departments on campus – Human Resources, BJU Elementary, the School of Fine Arts, Office of Student Services, and many others.

This semester will be stretching in more ways than one, but also should prove to be academically enriching as well. I’m most excited about the opportunity to (finally) have an outlet for my compositional efforts. Previously, it was just something I would do on the side with the sporadic moments of free time I would have, but now it’s my major. I’m excited… and only slightly overwhelmed at this point.

P.S. I have found myself updating my blog less and less as time goes on. If you’re really interested in keeping tabs on me, I encourage you to follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/peteranglea). I update that almost daily – and often more than once per day.

As a result, we no longer have a need for our old domain name, and are looking to sell it. It is currently listed at Sedo.com.

Throughout music history, many different composers have hid special messages or meanings within their compositions. The most notable examples of this are Bach hiding his name – B,A,C,H (B-natural) – in The Art of Fugue and Schumann hiding his name and the hometown of his fiancée in his piece, Carnaval. And so I thought, “if they can do it, why can’t I?”. I decided to use this same process in composing my piece. In fact, the melody of the processional begins with a melodic transcription of Melody’s own name. To do this, I extrapolated the musical scale from A-Z (for example: A=A, B=B, … G=G, H=A, I=B, and so on). If you apply that to the letters in Melody’s name, you get F-E-E-A-D-D. Her middle name, Joy, comes to C-A-D. The first six notes I refer to as the “Melody” theme, and the last three as the “Joy” theme. I found that when I played the “Melody” theme, it naturally split itself into two parts, F-E-E and A-D-D. The music seemed to naturally provide me with three groups of three-note thematic ideas with which to compose the entire piece. However, there were a modifications that I needed to make. First, the “Melody” theme seemed to center itself around a D minor triad. Of course, minor keys would never work for a wedding, so I simply changed the F to an F#, and the C to a C# to place the melody in the key of D Major. Second, I decided to transpose the entire melody to the key of G for obvious reasons. Those that know Guillaume well typically just call him “G” because the French pronunciation can trip a lot of people up. A third minor change was modifying the “Joy” theme from C#-A-D to C#-B-D (or F#-E-G in the new key) to make it fit better with the flow of piece.

Armed with my new thematic ideas, I set about actually composing the piece. For inspiration, I listened to Claire de lune from Claude Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque and Dirait-on by Morten Lauridsen many times to get me thinking in a “quasi-French” mode. The result was a melody of about sixteen measures length in 3/4 time. The entire piece ended up being written in a somewhat stanzaic form. The first stanza is an augmented version of the melody, which leads into a slightly faster, flowing stanza. What follows is approximately fourteen measures of transition intended to deceive the listener into thinking the key signature has changed, when it fact it hasn’t (the entire piece in is G Major). The final stanza (for the entrance of the bride) is louder and more majestic. The astute listener will also hear traces of the “Bridal Chorus” (“Here Comes the Bride”) mixed in with the main melody. The piece then ends as it began – tranquil – with traces of the “Melody” theme.

The last piece of the puzzle is the actual title of the piece. I struggled coming up with a name. All I could come up with for the longest time was “Melody in G,” but that sounded too cliché. So, I decided to say it in French (everything sounds more artistic in French, right?). So, there you have it – Melodie en Sol. I jokingly told Melody that she is the bride, the commissioner, the title, and the tune. By the same token, Guillaume is the groom and the key signature – the tonal center of the piece which provides the necessary musical environment for the melody to thrive.

So, thank you and congratulations, Melody and Guillaume. I couldn’t have done it without your help! I hope that whenever you listen to this piece in the future, it will bring back many wonderful memories of your special day.

Listen to Melodie en Sol (8MB).

Anyways, for those that will not be coming to the wedding, but would still like to watch, my brother will be running a live webcast of the entire wedding starting at 6:30pm on Friday. The link for the webcast is http://www.firstbapleb.org/wedding/. Please tune in and watch, and while you’re at it, leave a note of congratulations for Melody and Guillaume. Thanks!