Roland Karl Bryce Composer
"There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be"
(John Lennon, All you need is love)
NAME Roland Karl Bryce
PUBLISHED
NAME Karl Meinhardt
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LOCATION Lewes , U.K.
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JOB: Music Technology Lecturer
STYLES: Composes to commission
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BORN: Raploch, Scotland
You want to know about 'moi'? Why that's charming, thank you!
Earning a living as a Composer has never been exactly easy, has it? Reading musicians' profiles in 'Linked IN', they often describe themselves as a: Composer/Arranger/Pianist/Teacher. That's because they would be grateful for any work they can muster. Arranging a song for a choir, maybe, or, teaching piano, or composing a track for an advertising agency. Meanwhile, they might be working on their 'Symphony' or a full-blown Opera!
Historically speaking, the likes of Vivaldi, Mozart, or Salieri were all 'teachers' and 'arrangers'. It seems that they all taught music, the 'Greats' I mean.
To survive as a composer/musician you might possibly arrange some mundane theme for a few extra pence, trying to add some musical sparkle to it. (cf. KV 605) You struggle for your art, but persist, and now and again you might sculpt a very fine musical work or better. Remembering always that : "Ars lunga vita brevis!"
(Art is long, but life is short.)
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'Composition' can be an intensely private process unless you are working on a collaborative venture.
You shut yourself away for hours upon end, seldom hearing the final result except in your head. (So saying, music technology has helped greatly to keep us better in touch with the musical outcomes.)
It takes personal courage to reveal your musical ideas to the world on manuscript, or (as is more likely these days) a recorded ‘track’. Even so, self-doubt creeps in from all corners. I often think about the 'greats', like Brahms, for example, who was full of self-doubt and reportedly destroyed a large number of his works. He sent his latest scores to Clara Schumann (nee Wieck) for feedback, for she was the pair of 'trusted ears' that helped him to face up to his personal doubts and misgivings.
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My website shows off some of my compositions. I adopted a publishing name of 'Karl Meinhardt' for a couple of flute albums that I released in 2012. My mother's maiden name being 'Meinhardt', I felt that the other side ought to gain a share in the credit for my creative endeavours. If we don't self-promote, the likelihood is that nobody else will promote our music. YOLO as they say! Go for it!
Be kind to composers, they are probably overdrawn at the Bank.
The Stirling-Perth railway line: Easter Cornton crossing.
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THE TRAIN (Delayed) 2018 is an aleatoric style piece for flute and prepared piano.
Listen to it here: "click"
RECENT WORKS:
Portinari and Black Monk
(a musical drama set in the Dissolution 1538)
Listen to extracts here: "clickety-click"
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'The Lord's Prayer' (2022)
(a 3-part vocal setting of the sacred text, including a Kyrie/Christe with a 3rd in nomine Domine canticle)
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New Piece: A Laudate Dominus setting for Mezzo Soprano and strings/organ plus obbligato Flute/Violin/'cello
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Some rambling thoughts:
It can be nostalgic reaching back to your roots. Born in Scotland, that takes me back to Bag-pipes and Scottish fiddle playing. I recall my first experience of standing, hearing a pipe band at the Highland Games as a child. Every cell in my body seemed to become transfixed by the power of the drones. So too, was my first live experience of violin melodies and ensembles at the Mod.
We should never underestimate the importance of music education, including exposure in the media, for children have a highly enhanced range of audio awareness: 20Hz - 20,000Hz.
We reach age 18 and the range declines year on year.
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I also recall the very first episode of Doctor WHO, The electronic music was startling. Therefore Pop songs about Daleks (2018) are just sonic flotsam that washes up near our creative beach hut. A few hours of carving and the flotsam can be something quite reasonable to chuck back out there. Such songs/tracks are for fun and who knows? We all need to keep our eye on having fun! "click here"
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