Rediscovery: Balance

I took a long hiatus from writing. Not because I wanted to or needed to - it just seemed to happen. The last thing I wrote was a song for my wedding, which I was only moderately pleased with. So, with pencil and paper and a project that I have been meaning to work on for a while, I recently restarted the journey I began as a child. Strangely, and somewhat poetically, because I need to and want to.

To work! I have begun with a choral piece on text by William Blake. I originally attempted to use this text to write an a cappella choral piece back when I was still in school - oh, about 10 years ago! That incarnation made it all the way to printed-score with some edits still needing to be made. So what was wrong with that piece? Why was the text still haunting me? I pulled it out from the file that keeps all of the "children" (completed pieces, sketches, snippets, et al) and played through it. . .

WOW!

THIS SUCKS!

OK - maybe an overstatement. But I can now see why my composition teacher had reservations about it. Although it has some nice moments, it wanders like a lost child. It was also WAAAAY to overwritten - it needed to be simplified. It was, at most times, 4 (or more!) lines that were too similar to distinguish from on another. And the balance/relationship between the text and the music didn't seem to make sense. And. . . . . and. . . . . .and. . . . . . . . . . . .

And. . . . . . . . . . .

Well, I can do MUCH better than this!

So I am beginning to rewrite. I originally planned a light revision, basically taking the vocal lines and spreading them out and adding some piano. I'm now several days into it, and it's fixing to be a much more extensive overhaul. I completed a few days ago and, after I took a little time away from the project, I jumped back in and played through it, ironing out some of the "wrinkly" parts. But I found once again (to my astonishment) that I picked up right where I left off five years ago - I have started to include things that complicate the piece, not accentuate it!

Ugh. . . . . . . will I ever learn?

So I continue the process of rediscovery through rewriting this piece, taking things out more than putting things in. And push forward slowly, being very careful not to overdo it, using the process I learned many years ago.

In music, as in life, balance cannot be ignored. Explore as many options as present themselves. But in the end, only choose what is absolutely necessary. There is no need to include things that only serve to complicate "the piece."

Wheels within wheels in a spiral array
A pattern so grand and complex
Time after time we lose sight of the way
Our causes can't see their effects

from "Natural Science, 1. Tide Pools", Rush