Hello! It's been quite a while since I last posted. As you may recall, two weeks ago I promised to talk about the music in the next chapter in the history of KATB. I had actually intended to make this post last week, but I was in the process of revising the music, and it didn't seem very prudent to talk about composing the music while I was still composing that music. But now things are more or less done, and so I felt the time was right for the (hopefully not highly technical) description of the compositional process....
While Vacation Bible School was going on, I was occupied simultaneously with writing the songs for the play. The intent was never to turn
The King and the Bride into a musical. Instead, the story was to be supplemented at certain intervals by songs. It wasn't my idea; it began, in fact, with Deacon Dave (my dad) suggesting outlines for songs in the play. I ended up writing three: One for Lucy, and two for Sam and Lucy together.
The second song (one for Sam and Lucy) was the one created first. I used a majestic theme from Italian opera as the main framework, and, later on, interjected hints of earlier music to aid in continuity. The lyrics were written in one big rush, the sort of creative explosion that makes one wonder, "Did I do that?" (In this case, I'm gonna say "No.")
The next piece of music written is from scene 4. A delicate little duet, it came to me after I went on a West Side Story binge. It bears nothing in common to Leonard Bernstein's classic musical, but I think it just helped me get in the mood. The main theme is based on a falling interval that conjures up a sense of yearning or longing, eventually transformed into a majestic reprise. Again, this piece was more or less written in one swift burst, with everything falling into place at once.
The exact opposite was true about the final piece written, Lucy's song. Interestingly, it proved much more difficult to write music and words for a despairing piece as opposed to the love songs later on. Can't imagine why. Ahem.
The project was plagued by obstacles from the very start. First of all, I couldn't decide on a main theme. Next, when I finally stumbled upon something that I thought might work, I quickly found out that it was next to impossible to write lyrics to fit its odd rhythms. I nearly gave up on the song multiple times. Instead, I asked my dad if he had any ideas. Actually, I put it to him like this: "This melody is impossible. I can't write lyrics to it. Bah humbug."
Of course, he took one look at it and said, "Oh, that's easy!" and sketched out the first verse on the spot. Suddenly, it was totally clear how it worked. It was like someone took of a blindfold I had on. I instantly saw how the rest of the song could work, and I wrote down a rough draft.
There was just one problem: It was way too long, and in some parts, impossible to sing. Then began the painful, humbling process 0f trimming off material. Having bashed my head against my own brick wall for so long while trying to compose it, I was very reluctant to let any music go. After a ton of revisions (which Casey, our Lucy, has so far taken extremely well), the piece was more or less finished (and I had learned a thing or two about editing!!)
I understand that the story above could come across like "I composed this piece, I breathed life into it, etc. etc. Well, I didn't. The whole undertaking has been one big God-powered process. When I could bear to "be still and know", it was literally like watching a puzzle solve itself. Typically, whatever I tried to add to the piece either clashed magnificently or was cut out at some point in time. So while I suppose I had more of a hand in the music then anyone else, I don't feel like I can take credit for it. Because I honestly don't know where most of it came from if it didn't come from God.
One final word: You might remember that at the beginning of this posting, I mentioned lyrics and sketches of songs my dad had written for the play? Well, I had glanced over them once or twice before writing the music, but I never set out to consciously set them to music. The other day, I went back and looked at the old lyric sheets, and some passages are nearly word-for-word what's in the music today. It's kind of scary, in a way.
I hope this description hasn't been too technical. I had to refrain from saying things like "In measure 32, the melody contains an appoggiatura, which lends a certain nostalgia to the words, augmented by the deep bass arpeggio in the relative minor...." If it has, then I promise, it'll only hurt for a minute. (It's why we have Wikipedia, after all!)
Thanks for reading, and one day soon, listening!
–William
