Musical Offerings-September 2010

 There is nothing greater than the joy of composing something oneself and then listening to it.  ~  Clara Schumann

 I have been composing music since I was in high school.  I am no genius, I think composing is just something all musicians can and should learn to do.  One of the first pieces I wrote was a simple ten measure canon, well actually it was just five measures, but I realized that if I used every measure twice in a row, my little piece became much more satisfying and coherent.  I get to hear it regularly performed by my orchestra students and it gives me a real tingle to see how they respond when they play it.  Especially when I tell them I wrote it when I was a    student.  I had an idea a couple of weeks ago: I decided to write a canon every day for a year. It's not a highly original thought.  After I had it, I even found a blogger who tried to do it,  although it looked like he lost interest about six months into the project.  For me it'll be like keeping a musical journal- I am not planning to make it a public event.

 Writing canons are somewhat like doing a puzzle. For those that don't know, a canon in music is a piece which uses imitation to construct harmony parts for two or more voices. Two famous examples of canons are Row, Row, Row Your Boat and Frére Jacques. Canons have been written by musicians for hundreds of years. The word canon has been handed down to English from old French, Latin and Greek. Its general meaning (outside of music) is "an accepted rule," which makes sense because the canon as a form or technique in music means that the accompaniment must strictly follow the melody. The 14th century Italians wrote canons called caccia, which means "chase" because the voices literally chased each other through the melody. It sounds like an easy way to create two or more parts, but it's a bit like fitting the right matrix of numbers into a Sudoku grid.

 People compose for many reasons: to become immortal; because the pianoforte happens to be open; because they want to become a millionaire; because of the praise of friends; because they have looked into a pair of beautiful eyes; for no reason whatsoever.  ~  Robert Schumann

 I have drawn from a wide variety of inspirations for the canons I have written so far. I have created some of them  by quoting from other pieces: The Emperor Waltz and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Others have started with a specific key, time signature or technique of canon writing in mind. Some have been motivated with an idea or style of music such as the blues or a tango. Sometimes I begin from nothing and just watch as they unfold. Since it is so early in the project I am sure I will find new ways to become inspired.

 My canons are of uneven quality. I like some more or less than others, but we all have our good and bad days, the memorable and the forgettable. I have revisited and revised a few to make them better. I have yet to write one that is more than a page long. This seems fitting because this is a daily practice and I only have less than an hour to devote to it. One thing I have noticed is how each is a reflection of something that happened to me each day. There is personal meaning in each daily opus that is artistically and spiritually satisfying. It is a joy to be able to write music that sounds an echo of my soul.

 Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind. ~  Johannes Brahms