This is a chronological overview and discussion of all (attempted) compositions I wrote. Here you find my thoughts on my compositions, what worked well, what didn’t and what learning objectives I want to bring to my next composition. What I learned from ‘Willem de Zwijger’ I wanted to learn how to write a piece from… Continue reading Lessons learned from compositions
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Lay-out of scores and parts
The design of the score will tell you a lot about what the composer thinks about choirs and orchestration. Design your own score-paper for the piece in particular. Never use the standard set up while composing. Because it signals the way you want to organise the choirs, what you want to be choirs for the… Continue reading Lay-out of scores and parts
Form: The necklace and the State of the building
The analogy of the necklace Until this moment you have been working vertically to understand voicing and instrumentation. Now it is time to learn about sound in time and work horizontally. Until now I used ‘Forms of story-telling structures to write music‘ over time, but that ended up in chaos. So I made up the… Continue reading Form: The necklace and the State of the building
Developing and teaching your harmonic language
Harmonic language (2019: Summary of studying a week with Stephen Melillo) Invent your own harmonic language. Books on harmony and harmonic progression teach what we have liked until now. These theories are summaries of all the work we composed and heard until today. They do not prescribe the future. These schemes work, but beware that… Continue reading Developing and teaching your harmonic language
Orchestration: Learning and remarks
Thaleia: Learning the sound of choir combinations and conductors. Thaleia is a heroic piece about the muse of comedy. Thaleia means the ‘blossoming happiness’. I wrote this piece as a summary of all I learned about the craft in 2018/2019. There are also experiments to learn how I can improve my work next year: We… Continue reading Orchestration: Learning and remarks
Instrumentation: Learning and remarks
If you want to learn an instrument, borrow it somewhere and take a few lessons. Playing all the instruments a little is very helpfull for a composer. I found that Stephen and I share this experience. Where everybody else is thinking I am crazy, he understands the importance of being able to undersatnd what the… Continue reading Instrumentation: Learning and remarks
The art of sound in space
Music in space Great composers create space to fill it with sound. Great composers make room for all instruments, so musicians can enjoy each others voice. Music is the 3D development of the sound in the space we vibrate. It’s the vibrating air that makes the difference. Music needs space. When music is played right,… Continue reading The art of sound in space
The art of sound in time
Music in time Composing during your lifetime: Working from your first piece onwards towards a repertoire build from a few golden bricks (Eric Withacre) works best for composing over a lifetime. It also makes your work recognisable for others, gives it a unique sound. (Thomas Trachsel, Stephen Melillo) I tested if people would recognize my… Continue reading The art of sound in time
Stephen Melillo on composing and FC
Summer 2019 I studied a week with Stephen Melillo. His work ‘David’ was a life changing composition for me. It was the first time in years that I wasn’t bored with a composition. It was new, fresh, different, interesting, challenging. Playing David was the first moment I realized that music was is not a dead… Continue reading Stephen Melillo on composing and FC
Music and the human body
This post consists of a list of questions and remarks on how the body produces and recieves musik. I will rewrite passages when I find new insights. For remarks on the brain read “Music as a memory game” The ear Physiology of the ear: what frequencies do we hear well, and why? Read the book… Continue reading Music and the human body