source file: m1379.txt Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 10:02:24 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: Composing begins with . . . ? From: Paul Hahn On Wed, 8 Apr 1998, Bill Schottstaedt wrote: > > Composing begins with form. > > Not that it's relevant to this forum, but this > has never been the case for me. In my case, > it starts with an itch that gets magnified > by some curious sound. I've never known > a composer who started from a form, though > this may be standard procedure outside Lotus-Land. The creative process, in my experience, is highly unpredictable. Some works begin with a fascination with a particular chord or progression. Others with melody that comes to you and won't go away. Others still with a concept which in turn dictates form, then you construct themes, and so on in good, anal-retentive top-down fashion. (Not very often, though.) Sometimes several unconnected fragments float around in your mind, then one day you suddenly realize they go together. You just never can tell how it's going to happen. Well, I can't, anyway. --pH http://library.wustl.edu/~manynote O /\ "You just ran nine racks but you won't give me a spot?" -\-\-- o "I can't; I haven't seen you shoot yet." NOTE: dehyphenate node to remove spamblock. <*>