Tag Archives: Scripture

Adjustments, more lyrics discovered

Today ends up being a lot of different things. I start working on the hymn arrangement for Thanksgiving, go on to the wind symphony project, and finish on the Return of the King song project.

At choir practice yesterday, one of my earlier suggestions was revisited, and therefore there were some adjustments to make today. I’m writing in a verse of a different hymn in the middle of the song, and a small instrumental intro to that right after the first verse.

I’m taking a couple of risks here. I don’t know if the guitarist and/or cellist will struggle with the high notes, because I haven’t given them notes this high before, and I figure it could be a challenge – it is on many instruments. The violinist says she can do either octave from the part I sent her, so I will have us test it out on Sunday to hear how well it sounds at the high register.

The middle hymn is more subdued, and it’s in SSA instead of SATB format. So I don’t have all the instruments accompanying that verse, only coming in at times, and counting rests part of the time. I’ll want to have the choir test part of it a cappella, and have the piano optional for the entire song.

No key changes within the piece because I don’t want it this time. Some transposing had to happen to have both hymns in the same key, but it’s totally doable for the sopranos to go up to an F, so I don’t worry about that.

Because it’s fun to work on a big piece, I look in my folder for “Wind symphony,” and discover that I had started a score for the second movement months ago. I listen through the first movement, just over 3 minutes long, and I still like it. That’s good. I think it could go a little bit faster, but I like the themes, and the ideas and the development. It’s obviously needing the next movements though! So I guess I’ll get to that in the next little while.

Well, that song I worked on last week? I look at it, and it seems I’m missing something. I go back to the scriptures, and decide to include some more lyrics. Maybe I won’t need to repeat the lyrics, just melodic material, to make a more catchy song. It sure is superior to work with lyrics that are poetic (and these are definitely poetic). I add in what kind of amounts to a second verse of the “aria” if you can talk about this piece that way. I’m pretty excited. I think I’d like to sing this song some time.

Before quitting for the day, I add in the rest of the song (melody/vocal line). Its running time is five minutes now. Time to deliver the parts for the Thanksgiving song and maybe get dinner on the table.

Create something each day

I give out two parts this morning from yesterday’s work. I have never actually written for guitar before, and I’m uncertain how it’s going to go over with the guitarist.

It turns out he’s been reading TAB notation, but that is something I am completely unfamiliar with. I’ve written it on a normal staff, and he reassures me that he can translate into the format he knows better.

I get to my computer, and I’m kind of dragging my feet today. That song I started working on earlier this week is itching at me, but I don’t know what I’m doing with it. I decide to just do something. I write in the right hand of the piano to accompany the melody line I wrote a couple of days ago. I find that adding in one more voice actually does a lot to inform the way the song will go – harmonic changes, interplay between voices, and in turn, the bass line, if that isn’t one of the first two.

Yesterday I did a scripture hunt for the word “Perfect.” I don’t know who will be wanting to play it, but I have this idea for a three-movement piece for wind symphony. I wrote the first movement some time ago, but I never got it performed, and I kind of lost heart and didn’t write the second and third movements yet. But I had found my notebook with my ideas for the second movement, and yesterday I worked on the ideas for the third.

It’s easy to just go on being busy without creating something. But I made a goal to create something each day, even if it’s small. One thing it has done for me is appreciate the Sabbath more. I’m kind of spent after trying to create something for six days straight, and it gives me a better rest.

Last year, I was practicing my viola so much all the time, that I started to feel an inflammation develop in my arms. After starting to observe a Sabbath rest one day a week from practicing, my inflammation went away, and I don’t have that problem anymore.

Another thing I notice is that when I play music, I am happier. So when I feel heaviness lowering down on me, it’s usually a good cue to go play some music.

I write some more of the piano accompaniment. Last night, I also listened to Arnold Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht. It is not quite as esoteric as his later works, and I felt it was very moving. Somehow, as I’m writing today, I find that his harmonies are still ringing in my head.

And I fill in the rest of the accompaniment to how far I’ve written. I’ve long looked up to Franz Schubert, who cranked out hundreds of Lieder in his short life. Or Charles Ives, who wrote lots of cool songs, which I was first exposed to from a piano teacher at Södra Latin. Maybe that is how it is: once you find the harmonic/melodic language you favor, it’s much easier to put out a lot of music quickly, if you just show up and keep doing it, a little each day.

After getting in a good practice on my viola, I feel very happy. I’m back working on writing the song, and I find the melody flowing to me easily. Suddenly I’m out of lyrics. Is this the end?

Unlikely. It feels like it needs some repetition. So I’ll figure that out, sometime soon, but not today. I add in the right hand of the piano accompaniment for the next 41 measures, and I’m starting to feel tired. I’ll leave it for tonight, and get back another day to this song.

Adding a title

Having just finished two projects – one that took six months, another that took a couple of days, I’m thinking of how to start the next few projects. I guess it’s easier to have several running at once, so that if inspiration is low on one piece, you can always work on a different piece.

I resolve to just start a score, and I’m met with numerous choices. I’d decided on what instruments to include, so that was easy. Next, time signature, ok I decide on 3/4 because I worked in 4/4 last and I want some variety – key signature (I often pick atonal because I like to work with accidentals independent of the regular tonal modes) – title! Yikes, I don’t know what to call my piece. I think I’ll go help my son with his math and get back to figure out what to call my new piece a little later.

I go back to the computer, and my mind is blank. I find an article online that talks about how to choose a song title. And I see that Espie Estrella among many other things suggests turning to books that inspire you. I guess I’m listening to Return of the King, and decide to go for a working title, even though I have no lyrics. I have no idea what the piece will be yet. I’ll go watch the boys climb for a few hours and see if my mind churns up any ideas.

While they climb, I open up my Orchestration book (Samuel Adler, I’ve kept this one from my studies – it’s a treasure!) and I’m thinking of reading about the brass, as I want to write some brass pieces again soon. However, I am drawn to a section that talks more about scoring for orchestra, and transcribing one setting to a different one. I see an example on Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet, and I decide I want to listen to the piece. I keep listening to a few different piano quintets, and I am thinking about how a piece really doesn’t need much to get started. A simple theme that can be varied in so many ways is enough. It’s the variation that is the most interesting part of the craft, although a compelling melody helps.

As I reflect on this process, it strikes me that writing a piece of music can be kind of like a hunt. You’re looking for a spot that’s a little warmer than complete blank. One thing leads to another, and eventually you find something that helps you continue creating. Last night, I made a playlist for the music my orchestra is playing for our next concert. I’m excited about the Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves, because he seems to favor the violas, and I guess I kind of do too. This is not necessarily leading to anything tangible for my composition (this time I’m not including any violas), but I’m hoping I’ll be better prepared for rehearsal on Thursday.

I turn to scripture, a reliable source for inspiration. Return of the King is obviously a work of fantasy, but some of the images invoked in the story remind me of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I decide to do a search for scriptures about the return of the Lord, and I feel like I’ve struck gold. I listen to a conference talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson and I put some of the scriptures quoted into a document to prepare for making the song I want to write.

Back at the computer, I start working on an intro. I’m hoping that I can play out a melody to the lyrics I’ve started putting together, maybe tonight.