Looking back at this past semester, I think I have come a long way in how I think about composing music. In September, I hadn't composed much of anything at all, so all of this has been a new and unfamiliar world. When we were assigned the first project, I honestly had no idea how to go about any of it, especially since it was supposed to be atonal with no tonal inflections or ANYTHING. It was like jumping in uncomfortable water. I started a couple of ideas that eventually went nowhere, but finally settled on an idea of a programmatic piece about creation, life, and destruction. It soon started to become more natural and the ideas seemed to come to me more often and it was easier to put my ideas onto music.
The second project but me into even more unknown waters. I had no idea how to set a poem to music or write for a vocalist. This, and the added instruments, really put more pressure on me, but I started out with a solid idea for the music, and was able to start writing effectively right away. I wanted to write a piece with a fast tempo, which was fine and dandy, but I soon realized that in order to write a piece that is supposed to be 3-5 minutes, you must write a lot more music then, say, a slow piece with the same time limit. So I found myself spending many hours in the wee morning trying to write page after page. It only turned out to be 17 pages, but that seemed like a lot for a schmuck like me who is so new to this composing thing. In the end, I was able to write some pretty amusing and interesting moments, and I was very pleased with the end result.
I now understand why we were bound by the world of atonality for these two projects. Had we been given the option of using standard tonality, I think that most of us would have ended up taking that road. But by limiting yourself just to tonality, which all of us should understand, and are quite comfortable with, we would not have given our self the opportunity to experiment with atonality. So by forcing ourselves to use only atonality we, or at least I, have now developed a new opinion, or appreciation to writing in that style, and I will continue to do so, which I probably would not had I not done it for these two projects.
I've really become a much more confident and inspired composer and now have even more drive and ambition to continue experimenting down that road. (I know that sounds corny)
I also think that everyone in the class has improved a lot as well! It's crazy to see how they've grown and developed with their compositions, and it's only been one semester!
I had a lot of fun this semester! A lot of work, definitely my busiest course, but the most satisfying.