I wrote a piece several years ago for trumpet choir. I called it “Ozarks Festival Prelude”, and it was premiered at the International Trumpet Guild conference in 2001 by the Southwest Missouri State University Trumpet Ensemble, conducted by my former trumpet teacher, Dr. Grant Peters.
But I was never satisfied with the piece.
The first section was exciting with some interesting harmonies and progressions. The last section had great moments and a decent ending. And the middle section was… well… interesting.
The fact is, I really liked some of the things happening in the middle section. It was dramatic and a bit dark. But it didn’t fit with the piece. It was like force-fitting a puzzle piece that doesn’t quite belong.
Yet I was reluctant to “throw away” material that I thought was pretty good. So I ignored that nagging sensation when I adapted the piece for full brass band a couple years later.
And guess what? Adding more parts didn’t solve the problem. Neither did having the incredible musicians of the L.A. Metropolitan Brass Band read it.
The piece was flawed, but I was still reluctant to let go of the middle section. That brings me to an important composition lesson:
Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the good of the piece. That’s where the art of composition comes into play. You’ve got to know what to keep and what to throw away. Anyone can create an interesting groove, texture, chord progression, etc. It takes an artist to mold that in a complete, unifying work of art.
I faced a similar problem as I was finishing up my “Easter Variations”. I had to cut one of my favorite variations. It just didn’t fit within the structure of the piece. There was no place for it to “go”, so I had to cut it out.
Painful. But necessary.
Anyway, I’ve been working on “Ozarks Festival Prelude” again. I’m rewriting it for wind ensemble, scrapping the middle section, creating a new one, and renaming the piece “Midwest Celebration”…
And the piece will be MUCH better because of it. Instead of the original dark and dramatic middle section, I’ve created a slower “Americana” style melody. Something to make a nice reprieve from the more upbeat, festive outer sections.
“Midwest Celebration” will make a great concert opener when it’s ready. And I’m hoping the artistic sensitivity will finally show through.
