I’ve really been struggling with some projects recently. Sometimes pieces come quickly, but more often than not, it’s thankless work- coming up with idea after idea that’s lousy…coming up with an idea that seems great late at night, but is clearly drivel when revisited the following morning…feeling stale and looking for inspiration but not finding much…
But then I’m encouraged when I hear that any composer worth his/her salt struggles, the same way. Jim Barnes says, “I HATE composing!” Eric Whitacre recently admitted his difficulty in writing, to the point of banging his head on the piano when trying to write. And Morten Lauridsen talks about agony, obsession, and lost sleep when trying to set a text. Look, folks- it’s no ivory tower!
I wholeheartedly subscribe to the theory that composers compose by ingesting tons of music, and then somehow (?!) recycling those raw materials in their own unique way. My hypothesis, then, is that in order to recycle all that input into anything truly creative or unique, a composer must sweat, cry, and bleed for a substantial amount of time, wading through the swamps of cliched ideas that come easily, looking for that one precious idea that makes a piece come alive. (Frank Ticheli talks about a time with each piece when his ideas are fragile and he’s grouchy; my wife will attest that he’s not the only one!) Yes, some truly creative pieces just “happen”…but any composer trying to write piece after piece that still is creative, and not “re-hash” of his own work or others’, has to work long and hard- and it’s painful.
Eric Whitacre says that he keeps trying until it happens, though, because eventually the pain of not composing the piece becomes greater than the pain of trying to composer the piece. I’ll have to give that some thought. For me, I write “for the joy set before me”- looking forward to the thrill of hearing the performance of a piece that finally “happened”. It’s those brief but exhilarating highs that drive me on through the long lows of trying to compose.
Just finished the previous post, but this new info is worth its own post:
Hinshaw Music will be publishing:
…Where Go The Boats…
…and…
…In Paradisum (premiered at BJU’s Commencement Concert a month ago)…
…AND…
…DE PROFUNDIS, my 40-minute doctoral dissertation for chorus, soloists, and orchestra. (!!!)
Now THAT’S amazing. I’m thrilled beyond words. I poured more time, energy, tears, and guts into De Profundis than anything else I’ve ever written. Yet, as I wrote it, I really wanted it to be performable and publishable. But doctoral dissertations usually aren’t like that. They usually gather dust on the top shelf of their libraries’ archives!
Right now, De Profundis still awaits its premiere, and I didn’t have any official word on its publication, so I’ve always sort of wondered about it. With it going into print, though, a premiere should be imminent, Lord willing, and hopefully many other performances as well!
De Profundis will be one of the largest-scale pieces in the entire Hinshaw catalog- so this is a huge commitment from them, for which I’m immensely thankful!
Can’t believe how fast the first month of summer break has gone. I’ve gotten good things done, though, musically and around my house. I’ll only list the music side of things, here…
- Two of my three anthem premieres have taken place by now: First Baptist of Lapeer, MI commissioned a a setting of a great old hymn text which we entitled “Prayer of Devotion”. I wrote them a hymn by that name, and also arranged an anthem on my new hymn, which they premiered recently. The commission was in honor of the church’s 150th anniversary, and we hope that the hymn will remain a monument for them, for a long time to come. Hal Leonard is publishing this anthem, later this year. (In fact, the demo was recorded yesterday, I think!)
- Also, Anchor Baptist Church of Millersville, MD commissioned an anthem in honor of their pastor’s 15th anniversary. (It was a surprise for him, so I had to keep it quiet lest word somehow get back to him!) I wrote them a setting of Scripture passages that speak to servanthood, for choir, piano, and oboe or flute. It was premiered a few weeks ago.
- I do still have one more commission being premiered later this summer, but again, it’s a surprise for the honoree so I can’t talk about it yet…
- I also cranked out two other anthems, late this spring through a couple weeks ago, which are off at publishers for review. “Here Is Love” was commissioned by a church in Colorado at the last minute. It’s not the existing “Here Is Love” which has become popular; rather, it’s an older Welsh hymn that deserved a new arrangement. (I may have to give it a different title to distinguish from the other Here Is Love).
- The fifth, and most recent, anthem is an Eileen Berry text that’s simpler and more direct than many of her others. It still spoke beautifully, though, and suggested a more simple musical setting to me.
- Apart from anthem-writing, I’m prepping for a little bit of summer school teaching, and planning a couple new classes for the fall: Fourth semester theory, and Theory Review (for grad students).
- I’m trying to catch up on some reading this summer, including some music writing- Julian Johnson’s “Who Needs Classical Music?”, R.G. Collingwood’s “The Principles Of Art”, and Miguel Roig-Francoli’s FABULOUS book on post-tonal music, “Understanding Post-Tonal Music”.
- The next Soundforth CD is now in the planning stages (much earlier than last year’s, thankfully!) so I’m starting to get involved with that a little bit…
- I have a couple pieces that I think have been accepted by Hinshaw Music, but I’m awaiting official word, so I won’t elaborate yet.
- I’m doing some work for my church, this summer, writing some music, orchestrating a bit, and helping put together a small songbook for our congregation’s use.
- Amidst all these things, I’ve been remodelling in our house, landscaping a good bit outside, and enjoying summer with my family (including the pool!). I’m richly blessed!
