I am not a natural composer. I have never been the kind of person who can come up with a melody on the spot. Every musical idea that comes out of my brain seems to relate back to a piece of music I already know. Because of this, I have always respected, and almost envied, people who can compose. I think back to composers like Bach and Haydn who had to create new music all the time for church services, parties, major events, and more. The constant output is staggering, and I wonder how anyone manages it. I have also been lucky to know talented contemporary composers, whose innovative ideas breathe new life into the Classical genre. How can there still be more to say with 12 pitches? How is it that Chappell Roan’s album sounds different from all the pop albums I’ve heard before? Do composers dream of musical sheep?
When I was in college, I took a songwriting class in an attempt to cure myself of this inability to compose. The final project was to write an original song, and even after a semester of classes, I had no clue where to start. So, I did what generations of college students have done - I cheated. Sorry, Dr. Root. I took the melody from a Bo Burnham song, created some lyrics about a personal memory, and went from there. But something strange happened: as the lyrics came together, and the verses were set to music, the song was transformed. By the time I played the final piece, it was unrecognizable. I had started with another musician’s idea and transformed it into something totally new.
I was in good company with my compositional method. Composers have been taking musical quotations for hundreds of years. Schubert famously includes Beethoven’sOde to Joy in his Symphony No. 9. Bartok creates a musical parody of Shostakovich’s Leningrad March in his Concerto for Orchestra. And countless composers have taken inspiration from predecessors like Mozart and Bach. These quotations can be parodies, references, or displays of admiration, depending on the context.
Next time you tune in to BTPM Classical, see if you can catch a musical quotation! Or even better, let a great piece of music lead you to create something in your own way. Creativity requires inspiration, and I cannot think of a better place to get inspired than BTPM Classical.
