15.) Brightness August 11, 2013

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I squeezed this one in between travels.  Here we have two transposition of Messiaen's second mode, the beloved diminished or octatonic scale.  The top voice, which was composed in it's entirety before the lower voice was added, uses the first transposition.  It was composed without any rhythmic structure, but I consciously kept the opening ideas in mind as I worked.  The bottom voice uses the third transposition, and did have a preconceived rhythmic structure of short eighth note phrases separated by an eighth rest.  After every four measure or so one eighth note is added to the phrase length.  It is kind of obnoxious, but also gives the piece a particular vibe.

The title refers to how I'm feeling today.  My wife and I just spent five days in Philadelphia at the Strengthening Health Institute studying macrobiotics with Denny Waxman and Susan Waxman.  We learned a lot about the philosophies behind macrobiotics and also the practical applications of it.  We were served delicious food prepared with the best ingredients in the most careful and caring way.  This food and knowledge has left me feeling satisfied, inspired, clear-minded, and bright.  This piece was extremely easy to write because of the state of mental clarity I was in.  If you are interested in improving your life, I highly recommend checking out the Waxman's and the SHI.

I'm particularly thankful for that clarity as I only had a short time to get a composition written, notated, learned, recorded, and uploaded.  Unfortunately my upcoming travels will prohibit me from uploading a piece next week.  As I wrote earlier, I am committed to writing fifty-two pieces for this project, so with your grace, I will upload two pieces in one week in the near future as a make-up.  Happy August.