My Beginning (Pt. 2): Why Compose?

Around eighth grade I began dabbling in writing sheet music. The Cincinnati Boychoir had a small a capella ensemble called The Beauxties comprised of tenors and basses that commonly performed arrangements of popular pieces. It was a running joke among the group to sing the song "Deep In the Heart of Texas," and so I wanted to arrange it for the group. This expanded to more arrangements, from Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up"(I was quite a jokester as a kid), and a jazzy arrangement Fum Fum Fum.

These first few works didn't have much of a chance to be performed, but I soon would write one that did: "Istanbul Not Constantinople" arranged by They Might Be Giants. I discussed with the head of the Beauxties and he was onboard with giving it a look, workshopping it, and having it added to our repetoire. I was ecstatic! I had a passion and drive for music stronger than any performance had ever given me. The idea that something I had created could be shown to the world excited me.

Unfortunately, this piece was never performed. In fact, it no longer exists.

As I was close to finishing the piece, my old Windows 7 Computer strangely reverted to an earlier version of itself, deleting all of my Musescore files. All of my previous arrangements were gone, as well as "Istanbul Not Constantinople." Dejected, I informed my director, and the idea was scrapped. This discouraged me heavily. I did not arrange much at all after this happened, out of fear of it happening again. It's a good lesson in backing up your files!

The idea of composing didn't occur to me again until I was deciding what career to pursue as a sophomore in high school. I began getting interested in writing my own electronic music, starting with a work I wrote for an English assignment focused on identity. My piece was a mashup of several sounds, styles, and melodies from pieces of media I liked at the time. It was a messy cavalcade of all things me, and it was not the easiest listen. But I loved it to death. And I still love it for what it represents. I wrote more and more, sometimes an original work, sometimes for small fan-projects, sometimes humorous mashups of two completely different pieces of video game music. It didn't matter if it was good, it mattered that it was me. The spark that died with my sheet music arrangements was revitalized by my electronic work. To the point where I was ready to start arranging and even composing sheet music again. And it far surpassed any spark I had for performing or teaching.

As sophomore year began to end, it was time to seriously consider what I wanted to do. And I finally knew:

I wanted to be a composer

Stay Composed,

VD