A much-needed new Classical Caber: Morceau No. 8
I think we could all use a little more beauty in our lives, especially after the ugliness of this year’s presidential election (and the potential for what might follow). With that in mind, here is Dirk’s “Morceau No. 8”, the eighth in a series of 12 piano morceaux, none longer than about 3 minutes. Here’s Dirk’s description of the piece:
I think Morceau No. 8 captures a bit of the uncertainty that our country faces right now, and yet provides a certain much-needed peacefulness. Dirk and I hope you enjoy this brief respite from our crazy, unpredictable world. To hear more of Dirk’s original compositions, check out his SoundCloud page. If you’d like a copy of Dirk’s music on CD — including some exclusive tracks that aren’t on his SoundCloud page — you can get one through our GoFundMe page. (The GoFundMe has officially concluded, but if you’d still like to order an autographed CD, we’d be delighted to send you one!)
Once subtitled ‘Mysterious’, this composition was the result of an accidental handfall on the piano keyboard one day. The sonority had a distant, rarefied feel; I had a vision of an empty snow-covered field, distant mountains, a misted sun in a grey sky. This piano figuration appears in different guises in a few pieces of mine, notably in the accompaniment to my thematically related song ‘Mysterious Night’ for bass and piano, set to a sonnet by Joseph Blanco White:
Thee from report divine, and knew thy name,
Did he not tremble for this lovely frame,
This glorious canopy of light and blue?
Yet, ‘neath a curtain of translucent dew,
Bathed in the rays of the great setting flame,
Hesperus with host of heaven came,
And lo! creation widened in man’s view!
Who could have thought such darkness lay concealed
Within thy beams, O sun, or who could find
Whilst leaf and insect stood revealed
That to such countless orbs you made us blind?
Then why do men shun death with anxious strife?
If light can thus deceive, wherefore not life?
Dirk is one incredible guy. His talent is beautiful to behold, talking about musical here. His talent and placing a guy into his sexual scenes is also incredible. Relay to him what a beautiful vital virile man he is to this writer.
Dirk always make beautiful music whether on a musical instrument OR in one of his sex scenes. Please tell him how much I enjoy all of his talents!!
I agree with Gerry and Tim. I admire Dirk’s intelligence and talent as a musician, too. The song set to a sonnet is very much appreciated although I don’t quite understand it. 🙁 Poetry is not a strong suit with me, but.thanks for sharing it with your readers at a time like now when we are struggling to cope with the result of the presidential election. I will have to Google search for some of the words(?) before I re-read it. How about a translation? 🙂
Remarkable score, the spectrum of emotions it elicits, the distinctive sound, the phrasing and the sinuous grace of the whole ensemble. I very much enjoyed this moment of grace.
Dirk is amazing! Thank you for sharing this with us, Jesse.
Thank you for sharing this. Dirk’s mastery of shorter forms as evidenced in the morceaux, eclogues, etudes and piano miniature is impressive. “Mysterious Night” sounds intriguing. Would love to be able to hear it along with any other vocal works. “The Good Morrow” is the only other piece in this genre that you have posted about and that is on his SoundCloud page. Also, has Dirk ever written any choral works? I imagine he might find an outlet among the GALA Choruses for such pieces. It would certainly be exciting to see a composition by Dirk Caber in the program of a gay men’s chorus!
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The scope of Dirk’s talent will never cease to amaze me….
I loved this piece. How could I get the scores?
You can find many of Dirk’s scores here, including all the morceaux: http://library.newmusicusa.org/JackParton … just switch to the Compositions tab. The morceaux are about halfway down. Note that Dirk (Jack) has made a couple of changes to the morceaux since he last uploaded them; he says he’s going to update the PDF later today. If you ever end up playing any of his pieces, please let us know!! 🙂