What Piece Have You Always Wanted To Write?

Is there an idea for a composition that's been bouncing around your head for a while now? An opera you want to write, a text you want to set, a symphony to compose, a chamber work to flesh out? What's the greatest work you've never composed, only dreamed about? And why haven't you started on it?

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For me, I've always wanted to write a series of Bolero-like variations on a minor version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic", as a kind of anti-war message. I never start it because I always feel it's too good to waste on my meager skill set and don't want to mess it up.

Also, I'm toying with the idea of setting Shakespeare directly into chamber operas, but I'm still not sure how I feel about interpreting the bard that much.

Anyways, what say you, forum?

For a while now I've had an idea of writing an 8-bit song that sounds like it's from a NES game, and then gradually over time changing the sounds to sound more realistic so that by the end it's a full high quality orchestral piece.

I'm going to do more thinking on the best way to slowly transfmorm the sounds throughout the piece before I start it.

Well, I started a "Dixit Dominus" a while back, and haven't touched it in 6 months.  Does that count?  MAJOR project...  (:

Whatever thing that would make me rich.

Whatever thing that would make me rich.

Same here

This piece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zqwqeciKEI

Unfortunately i was beaten to it by a couple of centuries :/

For me, I've always wanted to write something epic for symphony orchestra.  I don't really care whether it's a soundtrack or a stand-alone piece.  Something that I could be able to give to my former high school music director to rehearse so I can hear it and bask in its epicness.

Something that I can listen to over and over again, where I don't see all the flaws and mistakes so clearly. 

My own funeral march.

A series of pieces for solo instruments. 

An opera cycle consisting of three operas with plots derived from the Bible. The first detailing Lucifer's rebellion, the creation, and the fall. The second depicting the nation of Israel and all of humanity sliding back and forth between righteousness and sin. The third one being about Christ's birth, crucifixion, and resurrection. Although I started it, I haven't even gotten close to finishing it at all because I'm just not good enough to pull it off. The vision is too grand for me to try and accomplish yet.

Tchaikovsky beated me to virtually everything I would have loved to write. Then John Williams beated me to what was left :P .

Anyway, while reading this thread I felt like I could have said "most of the above". And of course, I've still got plenty of unfulfilled dreams:

1) Something worth ripping off.

2) A large-scale symphony (perhaps not Mahler-sized, but close enough in terms of orchestration and scope). I dream of it as being my Sixth or Seventh, but what's blocking my way to it is that I must finish my Third, Fourth and Fifth before even getting there :cool: .

3) A full ballet with a charming, yet not ridiculous plot.

4) At least one opera (yes, I would like to write that someday).

5) Scores to match my favorite novels, good enough to become associated with them forever.

6) Scores to match my own novels.

7) At least one piano concerto.

Quite a tall order for a non-full-time composer who actually is on a break :dunno: ...

Something garbage truck worthy, but Tekla and Elise are hard contenders:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8G45uCa0Ic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhMMVhYP3rc

I also want one of those power ranger outfits to wear when I take out my trash :P

Tchaikovsky beated me to virtually everything I would have loved to write. Then John Williams beated me to what was left :P .

 

Anyway, while reading this thread I felt like I could have said "most of the above". And of course, I've still got plenty of unfulfilled dreams:

 

1) Something worth ripping off.

2) A large-scale symphony (perhaps not Mahler-sized, but close enough in terms of orchestration and scope). I dream of it as being my Sixth or Seventh, but what's blocking my way to it is that I must finish my Third, Fourth and Fifth before even getting there :cool: .

3) A full ballet with a charming, yet not ridiculous plot.

4) At least one opera (yes, I would like to write that someday).

5) Scores to match my favorite novels, good enough to become associated with them forever.

6) Scores to match my own novels.

7) At least one piano concerto.

 

Quite a tall order for a non-full-time composer who actually is on a break :dunno: ...

Tchaikovsky beated me to virtually everything I would have loved to write. Then John Williams beated me to what was left :P .

 

6) Scores to match my own novels.

 

Quite a tall order for a non-full-time composer who actually is on a break :dunno: ...

Novels?  Novel--sssssss?  Whoa!  You threw out your TV ten years ago and never looked back, right?  (:

6) Scores to match my own novels.

Dude, you're a writer? I finished writing the rough draft of a novel myself, which took...you know...two years...for just the rough draft...

...

You should link me some of your work so I can pick up a copy. 

You should link me some of your work so I can pick up a copy. 

Me too! I'd love to read your works. I used to be a section editor for my college paper, btw. If you ever want something to be edited through, I'd be glad to do it.

Here's a couple. None of these are really fleshed out or explained well, but whatever.

1- something good

2- a musical collage composed entirely of quotations, interacting in a way to create a texture completly different from any of its constituent elements, akin to certain pieces of Xenakis or Atmosphères, but with a completely different effect

3- music based on the natural rhythms and movements of the human body, in a way that is perceptible

4- a metatextual dramatic scene incorporating pastiche and irony, musicology, history, theory, etc. directly into the music (something along the lines of Pale Fire, for instance). For instance an operetta based on the fortepiano duel between mozart and clementi

5- serial(ish) music based on more advanced mathematical structures than has been done so far (interesting finite groups, combinatorial block designs, and so on) (working on it!)

6- something with functional harmony with microtonal scales

7- something really loud

8- 'generative' music (produced by computer)

9- electronic music which pays close attention to rhythm AND timbre

10- something that makes me rich or popular

11- something that will actually get performed

12- a bunch of songs (underway)

13- renaissance style mass

14- piece for really large orchestra

15- piano etudes (planning)

16- a pop song + a progrockish 'chiptune'

17- a 'fractal' electronic piece with detail all the way down to the sample level (more than just granular synthesis)

My, I didn't expect such an interest...

Novels?  Novel--sssssss?  Whoa!  You threw out your TV ten years ago and never looked back, right?  (:

Essentially true. I was never a TV freak, but I rarely watch anything now. There's only so much spare time available for composing and writing :p ...

Dude, you're a writer?

...

You should link me some of your work so I can pick up a copy. 

I'm unpublished as of yet :( . But I'll work at it (bear in mind, since my first language is NOT English, I must translate them).

Me too! I'd love to read your works. I used to be a section editor for my college paper, btw. If you ever want something to be edited through, I'd be glad to do it.

Great to hear that! I'd love to have some editing help, so as soon as I'm done with translations I will most likely ask for it.

I finished writing the rough draft of a novel myself, which took...you know...two years...for just the rough draft...

Don't worry, I'm not a faster worker. Seriously, I would like to read what you have (I'm guessing English to be your language, so I have no problem with that). And I'm in fact really pleased and surprised to find another major interest shared besides composition :thumbsup: !

BTW, sorry about the off-topic posting :p ...

Here are my "dreams":

- A requiem

- A set o 6 solo pieces for each instrument (started already)

- A conerto for each solo instrument (maybe an impossible desire...)

- 24 preludes and fugues (starded already)

- Symphonies

Some of them are still waiting for my skills to get improved. I've never composed something for orchestra, so it's really a far achievement... =/

Hey everybody! I'm pretty new here (I've only ever posted one other thing before, and that was just a question about harmony/theory. But anyway, I've got several very big pieces that I'd love to write. I already have several ideas for what I want them to sound like (as you can see) but usually I just get frustrated because I can't figure out how to write down what I hear in my mind.
If I ever do figure it out (hopefully sooner, rather than later) I'm definitely going to write these pieces, for sure, as well one more which I hadn't written down yet, which would be a tone poem based on Charles Dicken's "David Copperfield".

Nocturne in Blue and Gold: The Old Battersea Bridge For Viola, Harp, and Celeste

   Originally I'd intended to use violin instead of viola, but the piece needs to match the mood of the painting, and I think violin is too harsh a sound. It should start slow, like the world is falling asleep, and then suddenly, fireworks! And one grand old party! But only in the distance, leaving the good ol' Thames to flow on in harmony, and settle slowly into a peaceful night's sleep. Whistler's thoughts on the painting: "A nocturne is an arrangement of line, form and colour first " 'I did not intend to paint a portrait of the bridge, but only a painting of a moonlight scene...My whole scheme was only to bring about a certain harmony of colour'   

   Actually, musical compositions for as many of Whistler's paintings as possible. Especially all the "symphonies" and a number of the "nocturnes". And one special one for the portrait of Lady Meux: Harmony in Pink and Grey.

Oh! For the Beauty of the Earth

   A symphony of sight and sound. Showing all the glory of creation, from thunderstorms and galaxies, to tiny grains of sand. People, cities, trees, mountains. Everything, or at least as much as I can fit into one symphony. If it all doesn't fit, I'll just have to write two.

A Symphony of Clouds   

   Depicting the beauty of the heavens through music, and of course, complete with a thunderstorm.

A Sea Symphony

   In some form of 3 or 6, most likely 6/4 since that is a nice "rolling" time signature (the one RK uses in Sheherazade...haha...). I want people to FEEL the waves, I want people to get sea sick! jk...lol :P The sound should be very "briny", bright, open, sparkling, with a twinge of rage. The ocean is beautiful, but unmercifully violent; I suppose it has much in common with the souls of men....anyway....Gulls (in the form of the solo violin/ woodwinds) cry. Waves crash (ascending and descending runs in the strings and woodwinds, ending with the crash of the cymbals and/or other various percussion instruments).  After some "waves", perhaps a reprieve (like the twinkling foam that gathers after the landing of a wave), the tinkling of a celeste, the calling of the mews. This phrase of the celeste should not always be allowed to finish, but should be broken up by the "waves", and when it is allowed to finish, should be lost in the rush of the ocean. The creaking of an old sailing vessel should be felt, moving along with the 6/4 metre. 

A piece for trumpet and orchestra, because it still must be done.

   I. Cloudy with a chance of Mahler

   II......I'm not sure yet....

   III. Love's Finale

   Because Love (God) truly does triumph over all :)

A viola sonata with the crazy title: A long and hilarious dissertation on things singularly unique.

The Octet Rule

 An octet of course. A very nerdy octet :P 

A fugue... Or something with heavy counterpoint. I'm actually taking counterpoint this semseter so hopefully that will get my feet wet in that regard. I also plan on reading Fux's The Study of Counterpoint, then hopefully jump to Taneyev's Convertible Counterpoint in the Strict Style. Something about heavy counterpoint is very appealing to me. I think I like the complexity it can have.

Also I guess a piano sonata or a piano concerto would be cool to compose. My school has an annual piano concerto competition and it'd be cool if I could be the composer and pianist in a concerto. However I don't know the rules or whatever so it might not be possible.

 

Hey everybody! I'm pretty new here (I've only ever posted one other thing before, and that was just a question about harmony/theory. But anyway, I've got several very big pieces that I'd love to write. I already have several ideas for what I want them to sound like (as you can see) but usually I just get frustrated because I can't figure out how to write down what I hear in my mind.

If I ever do figure it out (hopefully sooner, rather than later) I'm definitely going to write these pieces, for sure, as well one more which I hadn't written down yet, which would be a tone poem based on Charles Dicken's "David Copperfield".

 

 

Nocturne in Blue and Gold: The Old Battersea Bridge For Viola, Harp, and Celeste

 

   Originally I'd intended to use violin instead of viola, but the piece needs to match the mood of the painting, and I think violin is too harsh a sound. It should start slow, like the world is falling asleep, and then suddenly, fireworks! And one grand old party! But only in the distance, leaving the good ol' Thames to flow on in harmony, and settle slowly into a peaceful night's sleep. Whistler's thoughts on the painting: "A nocturne is an arrangement of line, form and colour first " 'I did not intend to paint a portrait of the bridge, but only a painting of a moonlight scene...My whole scheme was only to bring about a certain harmony of colour'   

 

   Actually, musical compositions for as many of Whistler's paintings as possible. Especially all the "symphonies" and a number of the "nocturnes". And one special one for the portrait of Lady Meux: Harmony in Pink and Grey.

 

Oh! For the Beauty of the Earth

 

   A symphony of sight and sound. Showing all the glory of creation, from thunderstorms and galaxies, to tiny grains of sand. People, cities, trees, mountains. Everything, or at least as much as I can fit into one symphony. If it all doesn't fit, I'll just have to write two.

 

A Symphony of Clouds   

 

   Depicting the beauty of the heavens through music, and of course, complete with a thunderstorm.

 

A Sea Symphony

   In some form of 3 or 6, most likely 6/4 since that is a nice "rolling" time signature (the one RK uses in Sheherazade...haha...). I want people to FEEL the waves, I want people to get sea sick! jk...lol :P The sound should be very "briny", bright, open, sparkling, with a twinge of rage. The ocean is beautiful, but unmercifully violent; I suppose it has much in common with the souls of men....anyway....Gulls (in the form of the solo violin/ woodwinds) cry. Waves crash (ascending and descending runs in the strings and woodwinds, ending with the crash of the cymbals and/or other various percussion instruments).  After some "waves", perhaps a reprieve (like the twinkling foam that gathers after the landing of a wave), the tinkling of a celeste, the calling of the mews. This phrase of the celeste should not always be allowed to finish, but should be broken up by the "waves", and when it is allowed to finish, should be lost in the rush of the ocean. The creaking of an old sailing vessel should be felt, moving along with the 6/4 metre. 

 

Some of these are really nice ideas, and it's cool to see another composer who thinks imagistically here. Whistler's paintings have always struck me as having a lot of musical potential, but I've never quite been able to get his stuff to mesh with my style.

I have a long text document on my computer full of verbal ideas (usually programmatic) for pieces I want to write... most of them I never get around to. Recently, I've been thinking about doing a whole collection of student-level piano pieces based on the monsters in H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon. This would be a really fun and quirky project, and I think it's about time the world had some Lovecraft-inspired music that isn't heavy metal. :D

Some of these are really nice ideas, and it's cool to see another composer who thinks imagistically here. Whistler's paintings have always struck me as having a lot of musical potential, but I've never quite been able to get his stuff to mesh with my style.

I have a long text document on my computer full of verbal ideas (usually programmatic) for pieces I want to write... most of them I never get around to. Recently, I've been thinking about doing a whole collection of student-level piano pieces based on the monsters in H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon. This would be a really fun and quirky project, and I think it's about time the world had some Lovecraft-inspired music that isn't heavy metal. :D

Thanks...  Yeah, Whistler is pretty inspirational, isn't he? It's always fascinated me how he named so many of his paintings as if they were musical compositions, and I've always thought it was about time they had music to go with them.

Thinking imagistically comes quite naturally since I'm also a visual artist (I painted my profile pic  :D  ). There are so many parallels between music and painting.

And your Necronomicon idea intrigues me, it sounds like a good one.

I think it is a symphony, not sure though. Just letting it brew.

A massive quadruple fugue that I know I can't possibly write ever.