I've been mulling over, for months now, writing a piece of music to this fantastic sonnet I came across last fall.

It's finally taking shape.  I mostly composed it this evening after I got home from work.  I am much relieved that it's finally here. 

The composing process isn't particularly magic or mysterious, or at least it doesn't seem that way to me now.  It used to -- that was before I started composing! 

 (Slight digression:  I first wrote "composting" just now, which is funny because composing is almost like composting... when I write choral music, I have to chew and chew and work my way around a text, almost like digesting it the way worms do newspaper -- and only after the words have lived inside me for a while does the musical part take shape.   My wife and I gave my mom one of those worm-composting bins for Christmas last year, and it does work.)

The poem in question is by Mark Jarman, a fabulous poet who lives and works in Nashville at Vanderbilt.  About ten years ago he published a poetry collection called "Questions for Ecclesiastes," and in that book is a collection of 20 "Unholy Sonnets."  The one that really struck me has the first line as follows:  "Half asleep in prayer I said the right thing" -- and because of copyright law you'll have to buy the poetry book to see the whole piece, until you come to the Chicago a cappella "Abundance" concert in February 2009 and hear it, by which time the poem will be in the program notes!

What I love about the poem is the way it evokes the almost accidental nature of grace.  I say "almost accidental" because I do believe that you can cultivate your soul to a place where grace is more possible -- or at least more palpable -- than when your soul is anxious or angry or out of whack, in which case grace is difficult to come by.   So at some point there is not so much of an accident involved, but those special moments do come as a very pleasant surprise, which is what this poem seems to be attempting to describe.

The music itself is mostly chordal, declamatory, getting all the words out at the same time.  However, I did put in some imitative passages when that seemed called for.  This piece has more key changes than most of my works;  this time I composed at the piano, which I don't usually do.  I decided it was worth a try, since the one other time I composed at the piano I got the piece published!

Once the rhythm of the words starts to take hold, the rest follows.  I don't think I'm the world's greatest tunesmith -- my pieces are known for their "whole package" nature, and I do think I write lines that fit the voice well -- but you won't hear people humming my songs very often.  That's okay with me.

I don't have formal degrees in composing, but that's not stopping me, fortunately.  Watch this space for more when the piece is done.

Have a good week.