Friday past my first two character pieces were played.
"Adrift"- the heavily revised edition of my first piece- went better than I expected. I really tried to simplify the first version, which worked much better. The class even remarked that it sounded good played out of time, so i should incoroprate instructions for tempos to reflect and imitate that (rubato, rit, etc.) to really capture the timeless element of the piece.
My second piece (which if I had had any extra time and sympathy on my performers I would not have made them sight read) went over similarly well. I think that the class may have been surprised by the blatant humour of the piece. I need to revise some notation to make it easier for the performers to read and also consider the trombone and piano crossing voices in a similar range. Altogether, a much more satisfactory feeling than my disappointing debut two weeks before.

Just a note on titles, it is sometimes difficult to come up with a good title for a piece- one that adequately describes what you're going for, does or doesn't provide programmatic information, rhymes/ alliterates with your other character pieces...so much to consider. It's almost as difficult as writing the piece (almost being the key word there). Dictionary.com helped me with "adrift". I feel a sense of searching in that piece and "adrift" not only captures that, but also adds a wonderful imagry to the piece. However, "audacious"-I learned- is not the same as "cheeky" so I'm still working on that one.

My final piece is proving to be very difficult for me to start. I want to create a dark, stormy, foreshadowing-something-bad, powerful character. I think the piano part i am envisioning may be beyond my abilities to score...and i'm finding it difficult to draft melodic material that suits the purpose. This will be a good challenge!