Beginning Composition

Beginning Composition

This topic has little directly to do with the organ, but is still an important part of the Associate and Fellow exams for the AGO. This is another skill that takes a great deal of time to cultivate, and a lifetime to master, so it's best to get started as soon as possible. I've done some composition from time to time, mostly in connection with my church employment, but always at the last minute and quite rushed. A deadline makes for great motivation to write something even though it may not be exactly what you had in mind. If forces ideas to come out. However, I can sense the lack of a good fundamental understanding of writing music, so I'm trying to work from the ground up.

There are those that say that you cannot learn composition or improvisation, that it is something you are born with; either you have it or you don't. I want to assert my opinion that those assumptions are simply not true. The concept of originality, on the other hand is up to debate. It seems that Chopin was the only one who could have written Chopin's music because it is so individual and unlike anything else. It bears his stamp of originality in a way that very few have equaled. Perhaps you've noticed how some composers write music that is striking in its originality regardless of the medium in which they compose. There are other composers that write music of the highest quality, but lack the quality of originality. This is the first lesson for today:

We cannot learn how to be original, how to be a rare and unique snowflake. If you can learn this quality of originality, then I know of no method to increase it. What we can learn is the craft of composition, and constantly improve our ability to present our ideas (original or not) in whatever medium is desired. The skilled invention of well crafted music based on mediocre ideas sounds much better than a great idea which is expressed in a very poor and unskilled way. Just imagine what Schubert could have done if he had taken counterpoint lessons...

A final example is that of the Spanish language hymnal we use at our services (I won't mention the name of the collection). I have seen a great many examples of poor presentation in this hymnal. So many good ideas are presented in very rough fashion, so much so that the original idea gets lost in the poor presentation. Uncertainty of harmonization, accidentally irregular phrasing... there are a lot of problems. Even one at my skill level can see that these musical 'rules' are being broken through accident and omission rather than expressive purpose. 

The Plan

The process for practicing composition will be basically a three step process:

1. Copy
2. Imitate
3. Compose

In musical composition, as well as in painting, a time honored tradition is to study and emulate the works of the masters to learn about the process, adding to your mass of conscious and unconscious knowledge of creating. I've found that some people forget about the first step above, that of not just imitating a composer's work, but copying it directly.

Now, I agree that mindless copying of a piece, one note after the other, is a pretty fruitless exercise, although it will improve your penmanship. What I'm actually endorsing is attempting to co-compose a piece with Bach, or Mendelssohn, or Sorabji. Enter into apprenticeship with that composer and let him guide you to his successful realization of a musical thought. 

For instance, I'm beginning with the Bach Harmonized Chorales. Each one is a little study in harmonization and simple voice leading. I try to copy them out by hand in the manner that it was probably composed. We begin with a melody in the soprano and then we seek to harmonize it. We write in a complementary bass line, with the use of inversions to help us smooth it out, establishing cadences at the end of each phrase, and decorating the line a little more with non-chord tones of passing, neighboring, or suspension dissonance and consonance. Then we fill in the middle voices, filling out the background tread of chords and smoothing the leading with expressive lines. 

Of course, I doubt Bach had to take the trouble to compose each part completely before attempting another; I'm sure he could plan out and execute most of the chorale completely in his head before putting pen to paper. However, this is the basic process I am using since I am still a mere mortal. Along the way, I try to anticipate what he will do; what kind of motives will he juggle between voices? will there be an expressive voice crossing between inner parts to highlight the final cadence? will this tenor voice be so active that it will steal the activity of the alto? Often times I'm correct in my assumption; many times I'm wrong and his answer is much more artistic. 

The point is to try to comprehend all that you see while copying, and copy in the same way that you will later imitate and compose.

After copying enough that you feel somewhat secure in the basis of his style, then we try to write our own chorales in the style of Bach. Now we're on more uncertain ground and have to think, What would Bach do? 

...

These exercises will actually train us indirectly in our free compositions in our own style. We don't then compose our own style of chorales, because it's most likely that we have no reason to compose a chorale. We aren't of the Protestant Reformation generation and it serves no practical purpose, unless you just really like them. We will more likely be composing pieces to fit our own purposes, which are only faintly related to these old compositions. However, our study of style and our cultivated awareness of the elements of composition and how they work together means that when we require a section of music of a more harmonically balanced, rhythmically regular nature, we will be well prepared to execute our realization with good construction and presentation. 

Long story short, I'm copying Bach Chorales to see how they work. I've copied out 5. After 5 more, I'll try writing new chorales in his style. This is my first step in rigorous composition training. 

Good work!