Just finished a new choral piece, and it’s rather different from my usual choral writing.  Though I have to be cryptic about it for now, this piece has a very important purpose.  Hopefully, once it’s achieved its goal, I’ll post an mp3 here.

In the midst of frantically completing the above-mentioned – and, of course, plugging away at my usual workload of short stories, plays, and electroacoustic works – I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of creativity.  I’ve recently come to the realization that most of my best works (specifically musical compositions, but also prose and poetry) are created quickly, sometimes in one sitting.  Many of these were created so quickly due to an impending deadline, of course, but some of them were simply born fully-formed in a sheer burst of inspiration.

The realization that most of my works were created quickly came as a massive surprise to me; I’ve always thought of myself as a slow, methodical artist, spending months or even years on a single work.  (One year for Death!, one year for Eight Songs from ‘Jelly Belly’, four years for Walking the Labyrinth…)  Granted, I always have multiple works on the go at a time, but still, I feel like it takes me forever to finish anything.  Apparently I was wrong.

So why were many of my most significant works created quickly?  How is it that I’m able to dash off a piece of music at 6am on the day it’s due and have it *not* sound like crap?  Is my unconscious mind simply a much more capable composer than my conscious mind?  Honestly, when I’m composing quickly, it often feels like I’m randomly throwing notes onto the page, yet somehow it comes out sounding good, bearing a coherent structure, showing motivic unity, etc.

How does this happen?  And how can I make it happen more often?  I wish I knew.  I could probably discuss this topic for hours, but considering that it’s now 1:45am, I think I’ll call it a day and resume another time.

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