Douglas McCann Works
The following was written by Douglas McCann, per Jane's request, via his iPhone
Douglas McCann Info
composer for piano./ contemporary classical.. works recorded by renowned composers/pianist alessandra celletti, and virtuosos paul barton, mayumi kato, keiko nishizu, markus staab.
lives in venice beach, ca. former attorney, and high school english teacher with audio film lectures on youtube douglassmcann
designed: STI MULTI 5 Language Methode system and taught english at the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar.
albums: Little Red (released 2013) youtube douglasmccannpiano
all pieces have free notation... email nucouche@yahoo.com
Little Red
when writing music, the unwritten rule I have is that one would always have a sense no matter at what measure or moment in the piece, that one is listening to the same piece of music. this may seem to go without saying, and in 'little red', perhaps more than my other pieces this seemed to be the case, with very deliberate verses that segue into a distinct chorus. another note on this piece, is that prior to this, i had heard might music being describe as melancholic, and in my own mind, at times soft, and perhaps too feminine.
little red seems to me to be in a sense a driving masculine work. all music requires some sort of chord progression, and rhythm, and that's how the piece begins. 8 beat measures, with the fifth beat being noticeably left out to create some syncopation,,, and then sometimes inserted, as i kind of support to prepare for the next measure. often in this piece when moving from one measure to another, it is done without any hesitation for dramatic effect. the building of crescendo in the second verse uses octaves in the right hand for emphasis, as well the rising content in the right hand, this time done slightly differently from the first verse, which works to surprise the listener. it is noticeable, throughout the piece, beginning in a minor, that no black notes are struck,,, until toward the very ending the f sharp is for a moment,,, and the natural c note within the e minor chord has the same dissonant sound, yet has returned to the white note. the chorus repeats twice, but repeats three times at the end, not twice. I had dedicated this piece to pianist paul barton in appreciation for his performing my works on youtube, long before we ever met in person. when in thailand at his studio, he suggested, that in the final chorus, to begin the right hand at a lower octave then i had written... on his feurich grand piano, i immediately could hear the extra beauty this small detail added... though a virtuoso, he admitted huge difficulty in playing my works... what he meant was the difficulty in bringing the content out as much as possible, because i wrote so sparsely... which he actually preferred over other cluttered pieces.. so with this in mind,,, he must have done numerous takes, while recording little red so well for the album.. as he did this with me coming and going throughout asia... there was a ritard mistake, i added in the notation, at one point, because people were having difficulty with a quick right hand part,,, and maintaining exact metronomic timing... this turned out to be a mistake to add the ritard... so paul again graciously re recorded it... this piece has a very distinct left hand pattern, which avoids the melody, and an overlay of the right hand as melody... indeed, in almost all cases my composing strategy normally has a chord progression pattern, with the melody coming later to tell the story. also on youtube, many videographers have taken the music, and used it in their videoart uploads. i like that the music has a modern sound, though in a classical framework.
Varese d'Espagna
this is a piano variation and arrangement
inspired from a violin theme of spanish film composer Alberto Iglesias. the 3 movements range in tone from playful to romantic, to melancholy... and incorporate original ideas through variation, yet refer to the iglesias's strings. though not a minimalistic repetitive sounding work, it is sparse and stripped down to the bare necessary notes, without much chording, which gives it a light sense, and makes it accessible to a new pianist. written in waltz, 3/4 timing, the left hand may or may not underline the music with all three beats, sometimes, the third beat is silent... as in gymnopedie 1. varese is not impressionistic, rather, defined thru melody exclusively from the right hand. the music is meant to be question and answer phrasing... with tension being built up, and released by way of chord changes... also with an emphasis on chromatism, i.e. the first two notes of 'fur elise'.. the motif of moving from major to minor chords suddenly, is designed to make the piece more musically attentive. in essence varese is a derivative work, as well an exercise or vehicle to learn how to compose, via translating orchestral string music to the bare piano. derivation is something to be celebrated, not avoided in one's attempt to be an original composer. indeed, unique composers with signature non derivative sounding music, all admit to their influences, if not sub conscious ones. i often think of what happens when poems are translated from one language into another,,, how this process forces the translator to do more than a simple literal translation... and such an effort forces one in effect to be creative.. so this occurs when we move from instrument to instrument and is an excellent method to learn how to compose. ultimately, varese is a piece designed so it will be performed in a small concert piano setting, perhaps by a young student. my daughter nickie, who doesn't play piano at all, learned how to play the first movement... ( i taught her visually, including how to use the sustain pedal via breathing) and performed it at a school talent show in 8th grade. markus staab and jane grossman and yulia lebedinsky have recorded varese and uploaded to youtube, as well a tutorial by jane. there is a huge sense of validation, as a composer when other musicians perform their work... given all of the great work to choose from.Für Nicole (2013)
Album cover by Nicki McCann,
daughter of Douglas
'fur nicole' began as a variation on an earlier composition of mine, nucouche... specifically just using the opening left hand without any voicing. the idea to do an entire piano piece that could be played with one hand only, the left, as well to put other constraints, made the composing at times more difficult, but a few things i hoped would be gained in return.
first, that the piece would never sound cluttered, being just single notes throughout in the tempo of three, and always moving up 1,2,3 from left to right on the keyboard, except for just one moment which is perhaps imperceptible for the listener.
since there aren't two simultaneous voices, or counterpoint, as with most piano music, in order for this piece to be musical, it followed a kind of question and answer pattern, along with echoing and foreshadowing.. without veering too far away from the opening musical idea, throughout, which creates a comfort for the listener always knowing they are in the same piece..
too comfortable becomes too predictable so this was a challenge to keep it always slightly changing as well. in this version, i identify perhaps 6 distinct passages.... even now, it might be possible to go back, and re order parts... however, the unique sections were not composed in any particular time order. I documented what i was doing by hand notes, such as
f#c#a f#dc# f#cb f#da g#c#f g#c#f... to keep track of what i was doing... which allowed me to come up with all the 'clever' or interesting parts... Now, the task was to arrange them so to speak, paying attention to verse followed by bridge and segue back to verse.
after the piece was finished and notated in standard musical transcription, the final editing could then begin. My dear friend, and admired musician, Jane Grossman, took pity on me as I was struggling with constant changes, and decided herself to transcribe a final work, worthy, of a pianist to actually perform. Surprisingly, Jane offered to perform and record at my subtle urging as well, which to my ear is such a validation, and special experience, to hear slightly different emoting and expression from another sensitive yet hugely talented artist, from music i composed. Indeed during this process, we in a sense collaborated and a few content changes were made to the betterment of the work, some arrived at thru sheer accident, stemming from communication difficulties vis a vis email.
so as with any work i do, i am always mindful and hopeful, that it is instructive or obvious in its structure, as to how to compose music, because the ultimate goal is to inspire other musicians to venture out into creating their own work, for all of our pleasure one day.
Les Anges
the title, the angels, comes from my mother's favorite french restaurant on the beach in santa monica... so the title may have been an association i made with her since she passed away, though not deliberately....the idea for the counterpoint bridge, came to me, in a logical sort of way, away from the piano.... as in, maybe if i tried that, this would work. indeed, in a later piece, le ali per alessandra, i play both chorus lines simultaneously, two notes at a time.... as a harmony.... and in les anges, either the melody is implied or contained within. the point being, upon listening to le pont, the bridge, that is, one can consciously focus on the single left hand notes, and just let the faster right notes color the content.... or listen to the right notes without thinking of the left.... or do as most of us do upon listening to music, not think at all...the timing in the left hand is what originally propelled the idea for a piece, as it has 3 beats, it has some sense of waltz.... however, i believe the piece is in 6/8 because... over 6 notes, beats 1,3,4, would be the left hand in terms of rhythm... the fact that it only hits white notes is an obvious observation, meaning the piece remains in the key of C throughout. the number one rule in any piece must always be that one has the sense that every moment of the work, one hasn't left that work... here, because the bridge inverts in effect the chorus, there is no deviation... in a way this is a somewhat pianistic sounding piece with the counterpoint, but it is also very sparse, especially in the beginning, though busy with question answer in the right hand... from measures to measures... perhaps it is almost too sentimental, thus, i rarely play it.... and once someone told me they were crying upon hearing me play it live... a few years back famous composer pianist alessandra celletti surprisingly recorded it... that was like having ernest hemingway read my poems aloud... and later paul barton plays it very perfectly on my album, and now such a wondrous addition, is jane playing it on a steinway, after struggling somewhat in terms of figuring out what speed might work best.... either 4 minutes plus or less... i hope you listen to her exactness and musicality in this attached music..... i originally played and uploaded this on myspace years back, and swedish pianist lydia ashton took it upon herself to notate.... so i always remember how lucky i was for other musicians to collaborate...
Tutorials
Little Red
Varese d'Espagna
Für Nicole
Les Anges
Sheetmusic courtesy Douglas McCann