Moving to Quarterly Updates
March and April have been crazy so far! Between several performances and some life complications I haven’t had as much time as I would like to compose and write these updates, plus not much has changed since the last one. Moving forward, the plan is to post an update quarterly (every 3 months or so) that way I actually have something to write about.
Project Updates
The Lonely Machine
The only update here is that I finalized copyediting and did the part extractions (where I generate and copyedit individual parts from the full score). I also finished the cover design, and in my non-artistic opinion I think it turned out rather nicely (check out the cover image!).
Still planning on a premier in May, but no details yet.
Summary: Draft 4 finished, parts generated, ready for printing and performance.
The Lost Star Princess
I was able to sit down with the director of the brass band I perform with and get some valuable feedback on the piece. He saw a lot of things that I had been missing, and after incorporating his feedback the piece really came to life! Unfortunately, due to our performance schedule for the remainder of the season we won’t be able to premiere it until next season sometime (I’m hoping for in the Fall sometime), but he did offer to have the group read through it once during one of our rehearsals in May.
I also put together a cover design for this piece that also turned out pretty well, but I’ll save that until we get a premiere date set.
Summary: Feedback incorporated for Draft 4, cover design finished
Ukrainian Orchestral Piece (Working Title)
No updates here, still waiting for the symphony board to sit down and discuss repertoire for the next season.
Symphony E (Working Title)
I started work on a large-scale piece for full symphony orchestra and SATB choir, and it’s been tremendously enjoyable! The core conceit for this project is one that I’ve had on the backburner for several years, but never started developing because I didn’t consider myself “ready” to write it. I hit a point last month where I began asking myself when that would happen, and came to the conclusion that I would never feel “ready”; so I decided to plunge into things, and so far it’s been coming together very nicely.
Here's a quick snapshot of my composition process! I’m approaching this piece the same way I do for most projects, but with a few modifications due to the scope. I typically start with pencil and paper at the piano and draft the main theme(s) and chord developments, as this allows me to experiment with melodic shaping and chord movement in a way that doesn’t tie me down to a specific set of frequencies and/or tempos. I then start doing a very rough draft of the piece where I figure out the road map and pacing of the piece, as well as various moments and climaxes that I’d like to hit. I usually do this with a “score” that has multiple piano parts and a couple percussion parts, that way I can focus on how the piece moves rather than having to figure out orchestrations at the same time. For Symphony E, I’m still working through the “piano draft” to get the road map and resolve some pacing issues, but I’ve allowed myself the luxury of writing in orchestration notes as I go (orchestrating is my favorite part of the process!). After I finish drafting and doing some smaller-scale revisions, I then start orchestrating out the piano draft, while allowing myself the flexibility to change and modify the road map as I go (this usually means developing an orchestral idea a little more, but sometimes I cut out portions that just aren’t working). This then leads into the refinement process, feedback from outside eyes, revisions, programming, and a slew of other miscellaneous things that I’ll hopefully get to in a future post.
Due to the in-flux nature and scope of this project, I’ll be a little skimpy on the premise and “story” of the piece here (since it’s still under heavy development and will likely change a dozen times), but expect further updates next quarter when things begin to coalesce and come into focus.
Summary: Piano Draft in-progress, premise still under development
Final Musing
I’m at a place professionally where I don’t have a pressing need to market and monetize my compositions, so I decided that rather than stress about writing the music that others want I’ll write the music that I think is cool and then work from there. I will likely change my approach in the future at some point (indeed, to “make it” as a composer one certainly has to have a desire to “please the masses”), but for now I feel it’s important to engage with composition in a way that feels authentic and exciting to me. After all, I want people to hire me because of the music I want to write, not the music they think I want to write.
Until next time,
J.M. Whitchurch
April 7, 2023
