June 2010 news:
Process of composing... Listening to sound

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Listening to sound

“And our whisper is like the breeze in the leaves

and the birdsong that pauses you in its pausing”

from ‘Angel Whisper’ - JAY RAMSAY

I'm teaching composition to a 9 year old student. Today she added an accidental (a note not in the key) to her composition, and carefully played it again, listening with intent. She said how important it is to 'like' the note she was choosing. The simplicity of this event was touching and it was a lovely moment to see her discriminate and 'choose' the sound she wanted.

To me it's a question of finding the notes that match an inner ‘sound’, feeling or intention. Sometimes these notes arrive in a natural flow like conversation, and sometimes they drop in 'by accident', that surprise me, but I think, yes that's exactly the right sound I need! Over the years I've found my own language of notes has developed, and my own choices have created a particular sound.

Recently I've been thinking more about the sounds I like, their meanings and feelings they invoke. A blackbird has just become a regular visitor to my garden and is inspiring me with his song. I’ve noticed how thoughtful his singing is. I’m particularly touched with how he is obviously listening before he sings and how sweet and pure his tone is. Then he pauses, listens again, then presents the next part of his joyous song.

With the English Summer here,  I’ve been noticing the sounds of nature generally. I don't try to copy them into my composition, but they remind me of the connection we all have to sound in our lives, how they can enrich and color our day, a walk, create feelings, connections and uplift us. Sounds we love create a soundtrack to our lives, and my love of streams and water, has definitely come through in my music. People often comment on hearing the sounds of water in my compositions. An obvious example is the series of piano pieces I have written called 'Streams'. To listen please click on the links below:

Streams I -  Streams II -  Streams III -  Streams IV

....to read more about ‘Streams’ please click here

....to read the full version of this article please click here

Thank you for visiting this site, and I do hope you will browse the other pages and listen to some of my music.  To read more about my piano music please visit scores

Rosemary

Process of Composing - more articles:

A thread so fine...

I've been writing more piano compositions recently, one of which is a short piano piece called "A thread so fine...." The title touches on a feeling I have with all of my compositions. read more.....

My process of composing

People often ask me about my composing process... read more.....

Recording ‘Angel Whisper’

Recording has started on the choral piece ‘Angel Whisper’ for a new CD by the Kingfisher Chorale. Details will follow later....

Recording engineer Alan Hames (above) and conductor David Fisher (below).