Birthdays, especially as they begin to mount up, can make you a bit introspective. That can be a good thing if your life has been one of steady progress toward success and happiness. However, if you’ve spent forty of your years wandering in the wilderness, it can be a bit disconcerting.
While doing some introspecting recently I discovered that Friday, October 21st, 1949 was a pretty slow news day. My research didn’t turn up much of significance in the newspapers. There were a few headlines about some “reds” being sentenced to jail but most of the rest was pretty mundane stuff. As that was the day I was born, seventy years ago today, you would think there would have been some mention of my natal appearance, especially since so little else was happening. However, I evidently didn’t show much promise at the time. (Actually, there are folks who are still waiting for me to show some sign of potential, and the word on the street is that my time is getting short.)
The plain fact is that I was not a child prodigy like the toddler Mozart, who churned out a string of big hits beginning when he was still in diapers and continuing until his death at the very end of his life. My career as a composer started much more slowly. In fact by the time I composed anything of significance, little Mozart had been dead for two hundred years! It was not until 1991 that my Big Hit hit big, and Mozart had completely died in 1791. You can look it up. In fairness to myself, I would like to point out that during the period between 1791 and 1991 the Mozart kid had written absolutely nothing. That makes me feel a little better.
I have decided that my 70th birthday will mark the beginning of my Second Great Creative Period. I considered doing a Second Childhood, but nearly everyone is doing that these days even without realizing it. Besides, with the increased life expectancies we are experiencing, people are having to undertake third and fourth childhoods just to keep themselves busy. I will admit that I am relieved that Second Childhood was not a thing when baby Mozart was around. Considering all the hits he had during his first childhood, can you imagine what he would have done with another one? The mind joggles.
I am planning for my SGCP to include many more choral works, of course, since I have largely made my reputation as a composer of vocal music, but I would also like to expand into instrumental areas which I have not yet explored. Currently, for example, I’m working on some preliminary sketches for a set of 24 Preludes and Fugues for Castanet Quartet. Hardly anyone writes chamber music for castanet ensembles, so it seems an area ripe for exploration.
I will blog about these experiments as they develop. Watch for further introspecting soon!
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