One Day Wonder #189

For 1 horn, 1 trumpet, 2 trombones and tuba.

The Finale dilemma is on the back burner for the moment. I’ve got music to write. This absurd project ain't gonna finish itself - although I kind of wish it would at times. This time around, my intent was to dash off something in the neo-renaissance vein. For me, that means a lot of cadences and some transitional weirdness. When that went sour, it became yet another salvage operation. Yeah, I’m struggling a little at the moment. But in the past, struggles have generally been indications that great things will soon be happening. Just look at #100. It was ghastly; but there have been many, many good pieces between that and this. Experience has taught me to remain calm and keep writing music. Bad tunes used to make me think that the world was ending. When I was writing Mackris v. O’Reilly, I would often have to kill off whole days of work. That was like the end of the world times ten. I'd get all mopey, move on and cheer up. So I’m not too happy with what’s going on here. I had a particular type of music in mind for today’s work. It didn’t happen. One of two things took place: 1) I didn’t try hard enough to get what I was thinking on paper; or, 2) What I was thinking was wrong. It might be mixture of both – with an emphasis on the former. There’s nothing catastrophically wrong with what I did today. It’s just that it sounded much better in my head. I just couldn’t get it out for some reason. You know, there are days – like, for instance, the day I wrote #74 – when I have vague notions that become something very special. And then there are days like today. This piece doesn’t bother me much. It’s unrealistic to suppose that every piece will be an instant classic. It’s also a bit cynical to suppose that I don’t get upset when, after some concentrated and dedicated work, any piece isn’t an instant classic. But today was about finding what works. This idea didn’t and here’s your proof. Enjoy.