Composing "Fanfare for a broken world" pt 1

I´m terrified, happy, anxious, excited and so much more……

Since I started writing music, I have always done it with a sense of amateurism… not that I didn’t like my own compositions, but I’ve always sought knowledge in the works of the masters.

When Brahms, Beethoven, Coltrane, Mingus, Darcy, Shostakovich are what you compare yourself to, its very difficult not to feel like an amateur no matter how hard you try….. So I learned to do it differently…

I´ve come to terms with the fact that I have to obtain alot of expertise in the art of composition, and from there move in my own direction. The more I can fuse my sources of inspiration into one combined chunk, the more I can have a personal output.

My perception of my own skills has adapted along with my gathering of knowledge, taste and experience throughout the years, and if I dig deep enough, I think I can find the courage to embark on the adventure that lies before me….. I’m writing for the symphony!!!!!!!

I’ve been commissioned to write a 25 minute suite for the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra…. AND feature as a soloist with them. 25 minutes may not sound like a lot, but for me….. its like climbing Mount Everest….. without oxygen…. or clothes….. upside down….. with 1 hand only…… at night…… you get the point… Its a lot!

In these blog posts I´ll share my thoughts, worries, processes and overall courses of action when dealing with composition.

Part 1:

I decided to spend December and January writing the music…. and as soon as December hit…. I was diagnosed with Covid.
That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I was isolated in a hotel room for 5 days with my keyboard, my scores and a view to the city.
I needed an emotional link to my composition, and in my hotel solitude I decided that I wanted to (how obvious that might be) write music that shines a light on the world before and after corona.

Sitting in my hotel room watching people stressing by, while CNN was blasting sad news through the tv speakers and with a slight feeling of being hit by something potentially dangerous… It suddenly came to me…. I want to compose a piece of music that reflect these years, and the ones to come.

While that may sound like a huge endeavor and something that a 37 year old privileged danish man, may not be fit for, its important to say that emotional content in music is subjective to the listener, and for me it serves a huge inspiration and also a necessity for my performance.

So…. where do I start….? I spend a lot of time listening through music of all sorts, to find inspiration…. I’ve sketched out forms, and I’ve put time stamps on the empty bars… It helps me alot to create obstacles for myself when being creative.

I´m in the very beginning of the composing process, but I’ve already decided that the first part should be a form of fanfare…. but an ambiguous one…. towards the dark side…. but still two faced.

For these first few minutes of the piece I want to combine the darkness of the opening of Brahms requiem and John Williams Jurassic Park theme…. That may be a weird mix, but in my mind it makes total sense…. Something very epic, and something very dark makes a perfect fanfare for a broken world..

Of course that’s just sources of inspiration and in reality it might sound completely different, but at least it gets me going, and I´m looking forward to developing my ideas tomorrow morning…..

Thank you so much for reading this….. I will post more tomorrow, and I´ll try to record snippets of the music <3

All the best, K