This past week I worked on the third Native American saying which is an Indian Blessing:
Let us walk softly on the Earth
with all living beings great and small
remembering as we go, that one Great Spirit
kind and wise created all.
My goal in this section was to create a prayer-like mood. The last note of the flute interlude sets up the a minor tonality for the voices at measure 57. It does not stay in a minor long as by measure 58, it is already moving to f minor which is the tonality that dominates this section. The texture is primarily harmophonic in the a cappella choir with only a few uses of percussion for color and rhythmic fill. At Measure 65, the flute enters with an obligatto while the choir becomes imitative for four measures before returning to a harmophonic style.
After I completed this section, I reviewed what I have composed thus far. My impression was that I needed some more variation, not so much in notes and texture, but in tempo and dynamics. This section is slightly faster than the previous section and crescendos and diminuendos were added. Sometimes I wait until I have all the notes written before adding much dynamics to give the piece its final shape. But in this instance, the shape is integral to my setting of the text.
Also during this week, we at Co-op Press reviewed our grant programs as the recession has created some challenges for us to continue these programs the way they were. We were able to come up with solutions that enable us to keep these programs going. If you are a performer and are interested in having a composition written for you, then I encourage you to look at what we have to offer.
From Nov. 2-6, I'll be in Grand Junction, CO at Mesa State College for a premiere of my Regal Variations for Flute and Clarinet by the Ballif Duo and to teach a 3 day composition seminar. I am looking forward to the experience.
To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.net/walk_in_balance_and_beauty_blog.html
Dr. B
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Walk In Balance and Beauty Part 2
Measure 30 begins my setting of words of wisdom from Crowfoot, Blackfoot. The words are:
What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
My goal is to make this section sound ethereal in contrast to the more bold opening. At measure 30, I use pyramids to ask the question "What is life?" The entrances are pianissimo and there are some major second clusters in the first entrance that expand to thirds in the second entrance. The second entrance occurs on beat two instead of beat one like the first entrance therefore shortening the rhythm. I feel these are subtle variations that enhance the listening experience. I originally used ties on the repeated pitches so that each part sang one word, but changed it so that each part is doing the same words to help the text come through clearer. In measures 34 and 35, the pyramids are in a different pattern than the rising pyramids preceding it. You might observe that I vary the texture a lot in this section from one part up to four parts, from unison to harmony, and from homophonic to imitative. I also have sharp changes in dynamics. All this adds to the ethereal quality.
The percussion add color and fill in rhythmic dead spots. The flute does some word painting like being a firefly in measures 36 and 38. It also has a short interlude between measures 41 and 45. At measure 46, the choir has a short imitative section and then repeats the phrase "runs across the grass" with some lush harmony. I noticed when I typed the poem here that I omitted the word "little" in my setting. I tried to put it back in but I like what I wrote too much to change it and I think the meaning of the text is there without the word. I guess I am exerting my artistic license. In measures 54-57, the flute expands upon the syncopated idea in measure 53 to play an interlude that leads to the 3rd saying. The setting of the next section will be prayer-like.
To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.net/walk_in_balance_and_beauty_blog.html
Dr. B
What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
My goal is to make this section sound ethereal in contrast to the more bold opening. At measure 30, I use pyramids to ask the question "What is life?" The entrances are pianissimo and there are some major second clusters in the first entrance that expand to thirds in the second entrance. The second entrance occurs on beat two instead of beat one like the first entrance therefore shortening the rhythm. I feel these are subtle variations that enhance the listening experience. I originally used ties on the repeated pitches so that each part sang one word, but changed it so that each part is doing the same words to help the text come through clearer. In measures 34 and 35, the pyramids are in a different pattern than the rising pyramids preceding it. You might observe that I vary the texture a lot in this section from one part up to four parts, from unison to harmony, and from homophonic to imitative. I also have sharp changes in dynamics. All this adds to the ethereal quality.
The percussion add color and fill in rhythmic dead spots. The flute does some word painting like being a firefly in measures 36 and 38. It also has a short interlude between measures 41 and 45. At measure 46, the choir has a short imitative section and then repeats the phrase "runs across the grass" with some lush harmony. I noticed when I typed the poem here that I omitted the word "little" in my setting. I tried to put it back in but I like what I wrote too much to change it and I think the meaning of the text is there without the word. I guess I am exerting my artistic license. In measures 54-57, the flute expands upon the syncopated idea in measure 53 to play an interlude that leads to the 3rd saying. The setting of the next section will be prayer-like.
To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.net/walk_in_balance_and_beauty_blog.html
Dr. B
Friday, October 3, 2008
Walk In Balance and Beauty Part 1
I have completed setting the first Native American saying and I am ready to move on to the second saying. I will begin my discussion at measure 14. The setting of the text here is like sung speech. I fill the silences between the text first with tom-toms then with a flute motif added. The flute motif varies each time as I try to recap the previous harmony while setting up the new harmony using the five note arpeggiated idea. At measure 20, the voices become more lyrical as they sing the title line. I repeat the first phrase three times leading to a F climax. The harmony is interesting in this section. It starts out triadic with moving parts in the inner voices and as it reaches toward the climax, the harmony is in fourths. This produces both a rich sound and an openness that suggests nature. After the climax, the harmony becomes more triadic. I was very careful with voice leading in this section as it is not clearly in one tonality. The tom-toms and rattle add color and keep the section moving forward. At measure 26, the flute and percussion both recapitulate part of the introduction and also transitions to the more ethereal setting of the second saying. Since the choir ended in Bb minor, returning the flute to the G minor tonality was a little too abrupt. I solved that problem by turning the G double dotted quarter note into a appogiatura G quarter note that resolves to F. This ideas is used again in measure 29 to help set up the new tonal center when the choir enters at measure 30.
To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.net/walk_in_balance_and_beauty_blog.html
Dr. B
To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.net/walk_in_balance_and_beauty_blog.html
Dr. B
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
New Piece for Choir
Hello everyone,
Well I have started composing again after a very long break. The break was caused by a lot of house projects that I was doing, my involvement with the Friends of the Kreutz Creek Library, and my work on promoting two recording projects. Be sure to visit the Co-op Press homepage to listen to examples from our latest two releases "Collage" and "Mosaic".
I found that I have really missed composing. I don't know how the rest of you feel, but I feel like a part of me is missing when I am not writing music. I am excited about this piece for mixed chorus, flute, tom-toms, and rattle. When my wife and I were traveling this May and June we stopped at a rest area in Eagle, CO off of Interstate 70. There was a globe at the rest area that was covered with Native American Wisdom regarding living in harmony with the Earth and I photographed the sayings to use in a composition. I have selected four of the sayings, the first being:
Honor the sacred.
Honor the Earth, our Mother.
Honor the elders.
Honor all with whom we share the Earth:
Four-leggeds, two-leggeds,
Winged ones,
Swimmers, crawlers,
Plant and rock people.
Walk in balance and beauty.
Lakota Instructions for Living
The last line has become the title of the piece. I expect to use the other three sayings to create a one-movement composition and will share them as the piece develops.
I began the piece with a seven measure dialogue between flute and percussion prior to bringing the choir in. This sets the mood of the piece by using a lyrical modal flute idea alternating with more staccato sounds of nature. The percussion adds color and a Native American flavor. When the choir enters, it builds on the modal quality of the flute ideas. In my other choral works, I have been told that I write too instrumentally. No one has really explained what they mean by that, but I conclude it is that I write too independently for the voices. I am being careful to keep the choir in rhythmic unison more than I have in the past. As always, I am being very careful with voice leading to make sure the parts are reasonably easy to sing. There are a few chromatic chords and one use of a passing tone. The men are beginning the section that names the beings that share the Earth. This section is different than most choral writing in that it tries to capture inflections of Native American speaking. I expect to come back to more typical, lyrical choral writing on the last line.
Another unusual aspect of composing this piece is that I am not writing it for a specific group. I am thinking of approaching the new choral conductor at Millersville University where I used to teach to see if he is interested in doing the premiere.
To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.net/walk_in_balance_and_beauty_blog.html
Dr. B
Well I have started composing again after a very long break. The break was caused by a lot of house projects that I was doing, my involvement with the Friends of the Kreutz Creek Library, and my work on promoting two recording projects. Be sure to visit the Co-op Press homepage to listen to examples from our latest two releases "Collage" and "Mosaic".
I found that I have really missed composing. I don't know how the rest of you feel, but I feel like a part of me is missing when I am not writing music. I am excited about this piece for mixed chorus, flute, tom-toms, and rattle. When my wife and I were traveling this May and June we stopped at a rest area in Eagle, CO off of Interstate 70. There was a globe at the rest area that was covered with Native American Wisdom regarding living in harmony with the Earth and I photographed the sayings to use in a composition. I have selected four of the sayings, the first being:
Honor the sacred.
Honor the Earth, our Mother.
Honor the elders.
Honor all with whom we share the Earth:
Four-leggeds, two-leggeds,
Winged ones,
Swimmers, crawlers,
Plant and rock people.
Walk in balance and beauty.
Lakota Instructions for Living
The last line has become the title of the piece. I expect to use the other three sayings to create a one-movement composition and will share them as the piece develops.
I began the piece with a seven measure dialogue between flute and percussion prior to bringing the choir in. This sets the mood of the piece by using a lyrical modal flute idea alternating with more staccato sounds of nature. The percussion adds color and a Native American flavor. When the choir enters, it builds on the modal quality of the flute ideas. In my other choral works, I have been told that I write too instrumentally. No one has really explained what they mean by that, but I conclude it is that I write too independently for the voices. I am being careful to keep the choir in rhythmic unison more than I have in the past. As always, I am being very careful with voice leading to make sure the parts are reasonably easy to sing. There are a few chromatic chords and one use of a passing tone. The men are beginning the section that names the beings that share the Earth. This section is different than most choral writing in that it tries to capture inflections of Native American speaking. I expect to come back to more typical, lyrical choral writing on the last line.
Another unusual aspect of composing this piece is that I am not writing it for a specific group. I am thinking of approaching the new choral conductor at Millersville University where I used to teach to see if he is interested in doing the premiere.
To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.net/walk_in_balance_and_beauty_blog.html
Dr. B
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Developing Win-win Projects
When I was in graduate school and just beginning my composing career, I became aware of the limited publishing opportunities for contemporary composers and on a whim, started my own publishing company called Manuscript Publications. The idea was to have print-on-demand publishing so that no stock was involved. After putting an announcement in several composer publications, we began to represent about a dozen composers. We did mass mailings to college and university professors and we were off and running. This benefited me as it gave legitimacy to my publishing company by representing several better-known composers than myself and it also benefited the composers I represented as they had an opportunity to get their music heard.
As a result of starting the publishing company and selling some of my music, I was approached by James Houlik, a well-known tenor saxophone soloist, about writing him a piece on a “performance commission”. The performance commission is where a composer writes a piece for a musician and instead of receiving money, the composer is guaranteed several performances. This is a win-win situation as the performer receives a composition written especially for him/her and has the premiere rights. The composer receives several fine performances of the composition in important venues as well as a fine recording.
I ran Manuscript Publications for over ten years and participated in several more performance commissions, all of which were very beneficial. Manuscript Publications became too big and too time consuming to run, but it served its purpose as a win-win opportunity for myself and other composers and performers.
In 1983, I started Co-op Press, my current publishing company, this time publishing only my music. The intent of Co-op Press is to offer my music to the public at reasonable prices and to use those profits to support more win-win opportunities. When we were fortunate to receive some funding from an anonymous donor, we started the Co-op Press Fund which offers grants to performers to enable them to commission me to write them a piece. The purpose of the grant is for the performer to experience the excitement of working directly with a composer. A residency is also a requirement of the grant so that both the composer and performer are trying to create audience interest and excitement about contemporary music. This competitive program whose applicants are evaluated by a committee of judges has been very successful, resulting in approximately 30 compositions composed, premiered and recorded over an eight-year period. The performer and audience feedback has been very positive as well.
In 2005, we expanded the grant program to include a recording grant. This competitive program is a collaboration between the performers and Emeritus Recordings, the CD arm of Co-op Press. The performers provide high quality digital recordings and Emeritus does the artwork, licensing, manufacturer, and promotion of the CD. Profits from sales are split between Emeritus and the performer. Ten grants have been awarded to date with our latest release of Cristina Ledford on piccolo and Michael McGhee on piano coming out by September 1. This win-win project enables the artists to produce a CD that includes many compositions not previously recorded including about 15 minutes of my music. Sharing the cost and profits makes this win-win as well.
In 2003, we began our annual recording competition for recordings of my music. This competition that is judged by a panel of musicians has resulted many fine recordings of my music. Cash prizes and a CD release of the winning recordings are awarded to the winners. In order to fill some of the CDs, we have often put a call out to composers to submit their fine recordings of their music. We have released two recordings that contain my music along with other composers. We do not charge the composer anything for being on the CD and pay the composer mechanical license fees based on the number of units sold. This win-win project provides prestige to competition winners, prestige to the composers included on the CDs, and is another vehicle for getting my music heard. Airplay over classical music stations, retail sales and music downloads has been very favorable.
Our August release of Collage that contains performances of my chamber music by Cincinnati’s premiere chamber music ensemble, Conundrum as well as the winners of the 2007 Co-op Press Recording Competition is an example of this win-win project. Details and samples from this CD and our other recording projects as well as our grant programs can be found at http://www.cooppress.net
I hope that this article will inspire both performers and composers to come up with win-win projects of their own. The internet and advances in technology makes all this possible in this ever-changing music industry.
Dr. B
As a result of starting the publishing company and selling some of my music, I was approached by James Houlik, a well-known tenor saxophone soloist, about writing him a piece on a “performance commission”. The performance commission is where a composer writes a piece for a musician and instead of receiving money, the composer is guaranteed several performances. This is a win-win situation as the performer receives a composition written especially for him/her and has the premiere rights. The composer receives several fine performances of the composition in important venues as well as a fine recording.
I ran Manuscript Publications for over ten years and participated in several more performance commissions, all of which were very beneficial. Manuscript Publications became too big and too time consuming to run, but it served its purpose as a win-win opportunity for myself and other composers and performers.
In 1983, I started Co-op Press, my current publishing company, this time publishing only my music. The intent of Co-op Press is to offer my music to the public at reasonable prices and to use those profits to support more win-win opportunities. When we were fortunate to receive some funding from an anonymous donor, we started the Co-op Press Fund which offers grants to performers to enable them to commission me to write them a piece. The purpose of the grant is for the performer to experience the excitement of working directly with a composer. A residency is also a requirement of the grant so that both the composer and performer are trying to create audience interest and excitement about contemporary music. This competitive program whose applicants are evaluated by a committee of judges has been very successful, resulting in approximately 30 compositions composed, premiered and recorded over an eight-year period. The performer and audience feedback has been very positive as well.
In 2005, we expanded the grant program to include a recording grant. This competitive program is a collaboration between the performers and Emeritus Recordings, the CD arm of Co-op Press. The performers provide high quality digital recordings and Emeritus does the artwork, licensing, manufacturer, and promotion of the CD. Profits from sales are split between Emeritus and the performer. Ten grants have been awarded to date with our latest release of Cristina Ledford on piccolo and Michael McGhee on piano coming out by September 1. This win-win project enables the artists to produce a CD that includes many compositions not previously recorded including about 15 minutes of my music. Sharing the cost and profits makes this win-win as well.
In 2003, we began our annual recording competition for recordings of my music. This competition that is judged by a panel of musicians has resulted many fine recordings of my music. Cash prizes and a CD release of the winning recordings are awarded to the winners. In order to fill some of the CDs, we have often put a call out to composers to submit their fine recordings of their music. We have released two recordings that contain my music along with other composers. We do not charge the composer anything for being on the CD and pay the composer mechanical license fees based on the number of units sold. This win-win project provides prestige to competition winners, prestige to the composers included on the CDs, and is another vehicle for getting my music heard. Airplay over classical music stations, retail sales and music downloads has been very favorable.
Our August release of Collage that contains performances of my chamber music by Cincinnati’s premiere chamber music ensemble, Conundrum as well as the winners of the 2007 Co-op Press Recording Competition is an example of this win-win project. Details and samples from this CD and our other recording projects as well as our grant programs can be found at http://www.cooppress.net
I hope that this article will inspire both performers and composers to come up with win-win projects of their own. The internet and advances in technology makes all this possible in this ever-changing music industry.
Dr. B
Friday, August 15, 2008
My Recent Activities
When I first conceived this blog, I intended it to be a daily posting of my compositional activities. Recently, I have realized that daily posts are too time consuming and not all that interesting. There are also times where composing takes a back seat to other activities. Therefore my posts will be less frequent.
Lately,I have been transcribing a piece I wrote for flute, clarinet and piano for woodwind quintet at the request of John Rush, who was part of the group that originally commissioned the piece. John now holds the principal flute position in many of Tulsa's professional music organizations. The transcription of "Scenes from Tom Sawyer" is going well. I have been mainly able to put the piano part in the oboe, horn and bassoon, but there are times where I have needed to re-orchestrate the music to achieve the desired sound. It is challenging to give a piece new life in a different instrumentation because of the idiomatic writing one tries to incorporate while composing. Piano lines do not always transcribe easily for single line wind instruments without some tweaking. It also creates some balance and register issues that also need to be addressed. So while this is not as challenging as creating a new piece, it is still time consuming.
The other project I have been working on is the release of the CD "Collage" which contains two pieces of mine performed by Cincinnati's premiere chamber music ensemble, Conundrum along with the three winners of the 2007 Co-op Press Recording Competition. The Co-op Press Recording Competition is an annual event for recorded performances of my music. We have a fine panel of judges that select the winners from many worthy entries and we award cash prizes and a CD release to the winners. The 2007 winners were a trio from the New World Symphony, a duo from the Hartt School of Music, and a duo who freelances and teaches in the central Pennsylvania area. One of the pieces recorded by Conundrum is the "Scenes from Tom Sawyer" mentioned above in its original instrumentation.
For more information about the CD, you can go to http://www.cooppress.net/page18/page19/page19.html
Dr. B
Lately,I have been transcribing a piece I wrote for flute, clarinet and piano for woodwind quintet at the request of John Rush, who was part of the group that originally commissioned the piece. John now holds the principal flute position in many of Tulsa's professional music organizations. The transcription of "Scenes from Tom Sawyer" is going well. I have been mainly able to put the piano part in the oboe, horn and bassoon, but there are times where I have needed to re-orchestrate the music to achieve the desired sound. It is challenging to give a piece new life in a different instrumentation because of the idiomatic writing one tries to incorporate while composing. Piano lines do not always transcribe easily for single line wind instruments without some tweaking. It also creates some balance and register issues that also need to be addressed. So while this is not as challenging as creating a new piece, it is still time consuming.
The other project I have been working on is the release of the CD "Collage" which contains two pieces of mine performed by Cincinnati's premiere chamber music ensemble, Conundrum along with the three winners of the 2007 Co-op Press Recording Competition. The Co-op Press Recording Competition is an annual event for recorded performances of my music. We have a fine panel of judges that select the winners from many worthy entries and we award cash prizes and a CD release to the winners. The 2007 winners were a trio from the New World Symphony, a duo from the Hartt School of Music, and a duo who freelances and teaches in the central Pennsylvania area. One of the pieces recorded by Conundrum is the "Scenes from Tom Sawyer" mentioned above in its original instrumentation.
For more information about the CD, you can go to http://www.cooppress.net/page18/page19/page19.html
Dr. B
Inspiration and Developing Ideas
I received a very nice comment from a Carlton who asked about where does a composer get ideas and how does he/she develop them. Composers have many different ways of going about this and this is a very common question from developing composers as well as from audiences. My blog addresses these questions through my discussions of the pieces I am creating, but I have also written a book, "A Composer's Guide to Understanding Music" to help composers develop their technique. But this book also helps listeners learn how to listen to music and it also helps performers and conductors with interpreting music. To answer the part of Carlton's question dealing with getting ideas, I have reproduced below the chapter from this book on inspiration. The rest of the book would help Carlton learn how to develop his ideas.
The book is available from http://www.lulu.com/content/446374 as either a printed hard copy or as a download. There is also a free download of the musical examples that accompany the book and purchase of the book entitles the reader to join a free discussion group about the ideas presented in the text.
Here is the chapter on Inspiration:
One of the most frequently asked questions of composers is “where do you get your ideas?” Inspiration can come from many sources, both musical and extra-musical. The concept that a composition comes to a composer in a moment of divine inspiration is true only on rare occasions. Most of the time, composing is a laborious process where initial ideas come slowly and much time is spent developing and reworking the ideas until a finished product is achieved.
Any of the components of music that were discussed in previous chapters can be the source of an idea. For example, timbre was the source of inspiration in my composition “Echoes” for double euphonium choir. Faced with the challenge of creating timbral variety when writing for a group consisting of the same instruments, I thought of the possibility of dividing the group into two choirs and placing them on opposite sides of the stage. This would enable the timbres to have spatial variety with one choir imitating the other in the manner of double choir compositions from the Renaissance. I then expanded upon the imitation by having imitation occur within each choir as well as between choirs. This gave rise to the idea of echoes, which is imitation, that gradual gets softer through the course of several repetitions. The challenge of creating variety with homogeneous timbres enabled me to come up with a title as well as a blueprint for developing the musical material.
Literature, art, poetry, national causes, and environment can provide some of the extra-musical inspirations for composers. The challenge for composers working with extra-musical inspiration is to find a method of allowing the music to convey extra-musical ideas while at the same time, remaining cohesive from the purely musical perspective. Program notes, visuals, narration, and sung text can assist in conveying the extra-musical idea. Because music emphasizes repetition (unity) and drama emphasizes development (variety), the composer is faced with reconciling the different characteristics of the two art forms. Richard Wagner’s concept of leit motifs is an effective solution that composers still use today. The leit motif is a short musical idea that represents a person, event, place, or emotion. As these extra-musical elements develop, the leit motif also develops, therefore creating musical unity and variety without interfering with the plot development.
In my “Scenes from a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” for brass quintet, Mark Twain’s social satire was the source of inspiration. The piece contains detailed program notes to help the listener understand the relationship between the story and the music. The piece can also be performed with a narrator in order for the musical representations of the story to coincide. When working with large literary works as a source of inspiration, an additional challenge is deciding what to include and exclude. Much of the detail of literature does not translate well into music. Length is also an issue that must be addressed.
Inspiration does not always occur in the order that it appears in the finished product. A composer’s initial idea, while having potential, may not be best for the beginning of the piece. It is important for composers to save all ideas, as they may be used later in the piece or even in another composition. An example would be my inspiration for my “Celebration Overture”. This piece was composed as an entry in a composition competition sponsored by WITF-FM to celebrate their 25th anniversary. The competition gave rise to the title and general nature of the piece. The first section I composed was something I really liked, but I had difficulty moving on from that point. After stepping back for a short period of time, I realized that what I had written was too complex for the beginning of the piece, but was perfect for the end. I then created a simpler version of the material and the remainder of the piece developed more easily. “In my end is my beginning” said T.S. Eliot. That is exactly what happened when composing my “Celebration Overture”.
Dr. B
The book is available from http://www.lulu.com/content/446374 as either a printed hard copy or as a download. There is also a free download of the musical examples that accompany the book and purchase of the book entitles the reader to join a free discussion group about the ideas presented in the text.
Here is the chapter on Inspiration:
One of the most frequently asked questions of composers is “where do you get your ideas?” Inspiration can come from many sources, both musical and extra-musical. The concept that a composition comes to a composer in a moment of divine inspiration is true only on rare occasions. Most of the time, composing is a laborious process where initial ideas come slowly and much time is spent developing and reworking the ideas until a finished product is achieved.
Any of the components of music that were discussed in previous chapters can be the source of an idea. For example, timbre was the source of inspiration in my composition “Echoes” for double euphonium choir. Faced with the challenge of creating timbral variety when writing for a group consisting of the same instruments, I thought of the possibility of dividing the group into two choirs and placing them on opposite sides of the stage. This would enable the timbres to have spatial variety with one choir imitating the other in the manner of double choir compositions from the Renaissance. I then expanded upon the imitation by having imitation occur within each choir as well as between choirs. This gave rise to the idea of echoes, which is imitation, that gradual gets softer through the course of several repetitions. The challenge of creating variety with homogeneous timbres enabled me to come up with a title as well as a blueprint for developing the musical material.
Literature, art, poetry, national causes, and environment can provide some of the extra-musical inspirations for composers. The challenge for composers working with extra-musical inspiration is to find a method of allowing the music to convey extra-musical ideas while at the same time, remaining cohesive from the purely musical perspective. Program notes, visuals, narration, and sung text can assist in conveying the extra-musical idea. Because music emphasizes repetition (unity) and drama emphasizes development (variety), the composer is faced with reconciling the different characteristics of the two art forms. Richard Wagner’s concept of leit motifs is an effective solution that composers still use today. The leit motif is a short musical idea that represents a person, event, place, or emotion. As these extra-musical elements develop, the leit motif also develops, therefore creating musical unity and variety without interfering with the plot development.
In my “Scenes from a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” for brass quintet, Mark Twain’s social satire was the source of inspiration. The piece contains detailed program notes to help the listener understand the relationship between the story and the music. The piece can also be performed with a narrator in order for the musical representations of the story to coincide. When working with large literary works as a source of inspiration, an additional challenge is deciding what to include and exclude. Much of the detail of literature does not translate well into music. Length is also an issue that must be addressed.
Inspiration does not always occur in the order that it appears in the finished product. A composer’s initial idea, while having potential, may not be best for the beginning of the piece. It is important for composers to save all ideas, as they may be used later in the piece or even in another composition. An example would be my inspiration for my “Celebration Overture”. This piece was composed as an entry in a composition competition sponsored by WITF-FM to celebrate their 25th anniversary. The competition gave rise to the title and general nature of the piece. The first section I composed was something I really liked, but I had difficulty moving on from that point. After stepping back for a short period of time, I realized that what I had written was too complex for the beginning of the piece, but was perfect for the end. I then created a simpler version of the material and the remainder of the piece developed more easily. “In my end is my beginning” said T.S. Eliot. That is exactly what happened when composing my “Celebration Overture”.
Dr. B
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