The PBS NewsHour ran another great piece by Rob Kapilow titled A contemporary composer considers the musical legacy of Johannes Brahms. The piece might easily be overlooked by a jazz musician but that would be a mistake. Kapilow explains how Brahms was able to write from the "heart" with "mathematical precision". Surely, this is the challenge for every composer and improviser.
The device Brahms used in this piece is what Kapilow calls "1, 2, up" and then "1, 2, leap" and then resolving to "1, 2, down". Here is the first four measures of the Brahms Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118, No. 2
You can listen to Arthur Rubinstein play the entire piece here (if you just let YouTube play you will hear different versions and even, possibly a Bill Evans piece--Listen). It is a beautiful, emotional piece of music built on a simple concept.
EXERCISE
1. Use the "1, 2, up, leap and down" device to write a simple modal piece in Am or a Im-IVm-V+ progression for eight measures or any chords in the key of Am. Concentrate on the melody (remember from my last post that the chords are arbitrary).
2. Next switch from Am to A major and continue with the modal piece or the I-IV-V structure.
3. Then start the keys descending from A-Gm-Fm-F-Ebm.
4. Do it all over again, this time looking for other lines around which entire new compositions can be built.
