My favorite musical instrument is the instrument I'm most familiar with: the piano. But what do I think the most beautiful musical instrument in the world is? That would be the human voice.
From time to time, I browse the literature in the public domain in search of something that inspires me to want to put music to it. Earlier in the week, I stumbled upon a poem by Amy Lowell that I got a kick out of.
by
Amy Lowell
(1874-1925)
I have painted a picture of a ghost
Upon my kite,
And hung it on a tree.
Later, when I loose the string
And let it fly,
The people will cower
And hide their heads,
For fear of the God
Swimming in the clouds.
I decided I wanted to put it to music. While parsing the text and considering all the possibilities, it occurred to me what a fun and productive exercise this could be for budding and experienced composers alike.
The goal of this exercise is simple: compose a musical piece around text that doesn't exceed one minute.
You can choose any text you want, whether it be a poem, a quote, a sentence or two, or whatever. The vocal part(s) can either be a capella or accompanied by any musical instrument(s) that you want in your composition.
Not only is this exercise fun, but it encourages some critical thinking when it comes to compositional decisions:
- Does the text have a rhythm or flow to it? If not, how do you score it?
- What musical instruments will you be using and why?
- Will instrumentation be utilized to (1) mimic sounds in the natural world, or (2) set the mood or atmosphere of the piece, or (3) manipulate the emotions of the listener? If any of the above apply, how will you go about implementing it?
- How will you effectively communicate to the listener what it is you want to communicate given the one minute maximum time constraint?
The attached video is an example implementation of this exercise. Out of countless options that I could have chosen from, it demonstrates one realization that I decided to move forward with.
Happy composing!
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