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Composers Forum |
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Question #6 - What inspires you to write a piece of music? MSB - M. Susan Brown; SH - Steve Hahn; TK - Tim Krueger; TS - Terry Schlenker |
| MSB - Ideas, texts, commissions, thankfulness, love, prayers. SH - It can be the sound of a musical group, the sound of an effect. Sometimes it’s the result of experimenting with chords, different voicings. The sound of playing trumpet and singing an overtone can lead to a composition. Often, I’ll be improvising with an effect that generates a sound, which then inspires a composition. Sometimes it can be as simple as thinking about different combinations of modes and developing ideas from that. TK - I should probably say at the outset that, for me, composing is secondary to my other musical endeavors. I enjoy it, but don’t feel compelled to do it, as I imagine some other composers do. Thus, as I mentioned earlier, I am a functional composer. My “muse” is probably predominantly necessity. When I took the position at St. Andrew’s, I wanted some different liturgical music, so I started composing descants for hymns. I have also written introits, a Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis, Preces and Responses, and a setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah. I would like to write a Passion, something that is not grand and can actually be used in a smaller setting with limited resources. (I have started and scrapped a Passion already.) Almost all of my compositions are liturgically based. I just wrote a new piece, however, that was inspired by the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, which happens to be another passion of mine. It is the first piece I have written that was not for St. Andrew’s. Another inspiration for me is my good friend, Ernest Priest, who has told me that he believes I have the talent to compose. TS - Since I find music to be a deep emotional or spiritual expression, I am often inspired by my deepest emotions. In the moment, they may not be the most pleasant emotions. I have written in times of deep sadness and anguish. Often, the emotions will lift after I have expressed them musically. I consider these pieces of music to be a great gift from God, a gift of healing and of peace. I am also inspired by texts. I often coincidentally discover poetry that seems to express exactly what I am experiencing and feeling at that time in my life. |