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How I compose: Step 2 – Instrumentation
A couple of weeks ago I shared how I start composing each of the pieces in my composition quest. It seemed to be a popular post! So after I’ve read the psalm, understood its meaning through commentary, and established the structure for my piece, the next step in composing music for me is choosing the instrumentation. Instrumentation. The purpose of this quest is to improve my composing skills. One of my dream goals is to finish the quest by writing a piece of music based on Psalm 33 for large chorus and full orchestra. That’s a lot of people and parts, and like an Olympic Triathlete or Astronaut, there is a…
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Composing E: The Final Product
What a journey this has been! I do hope you’ve enjoyed it. Well, our piece of music Sonata for Chamber Orchestra is complete. Probably. Like most things in life, there’s always room for a little change here and there but at the moment, I don’t forsee any such needs. OH! Tweetable 🙂 Click it to tweet it: What we create is rarely fully complete – there’s always room for little changes! @Stephen_P_Brown I wrote the introduction and added a fun little coda (remember Dudley Moore’s numerous types of Endings?), and just tweaked a couple of passages here and there. So, we have a result. Five and a half minutes of…
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Composing B: And so it begins…
Following last week’s post about how to start a composition, well… how I am starting this composition… a few decisions have been made. Whilst looking around for a compositional structure I came across several main elements: Variation Twelve-tone Sonata form Rondo Tone poem and my favorite: Minimalism Each have their own special qualities and after a little thought, I thought it would be nice to try Sonata form. I don’t remember the last time I wrote something in Sonata form (and stuck to it) so here’s an opportunity. At the moment, Sonata form will form the dominating format, although during the creative process unexpected twists and turns can often lead compositions into…
