The experience of composition

“I am not suited to ‘writing music’. All has to be experienced.”

-Jean Sibelius

Cited in:Goss, Glenda (2009) “Sibelius”. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, p. 6.


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Tchaikovsky on Don Giovanni
Tchaikovsky, later in his life, reflected on hearing Mozart's Don Giovanni as a boy: The music of Don Giovanni was the first to conquer me completely.  It awoke an ecstasy in me of which the consequences are known.  It gave me the key to the spheres of pure beauty in which the greatest geniuses soar.  […]
Environmental soundscapes
In the 1960s, the Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer founded the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University.  The research group explored the sonic environment.  Later projects would include  The Vancouver Soundscapes of Canada (1973), European Sound Diary, and Five Village Soundscapes.  In his book on the subject, The Tuning of the World, Schafer wrote […]
Intermezzo, op. 118, no. 2 (Brahms)
Title: Intermezzo, op. 118, no. 2Composer: Johannes BrahmsArranger: Greg SmithInstrumentation: Cello and pianoProduct medium: PDF score and part  
Bach’s wedding
Johann Sebastian Bach married Anna Magdelena, 3rd December 1721. They married at home, by command of the Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels. It was Bach’s second marriage. Bach purchased a 264 quarts (about 250 litres) of wine, worth 84 thalers and 16 groschen (about one fifth of his annual salary). Siblin, Eric (2009) The Cello Suites.  Crows […]
Lord,When Your Glory Appears (Setting II) – Psalm 16 (17)
Title: Lord, when your glory appears (Setting II) Text: Psalm 16 (17): 1, 5-6, 8, 15 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Liszt’s account of a performance by Chopin
Franz Liszt described one of Chopin’s concerts in the Gazette musicale, May 2 1841. Last Monday, at eight o’clock in the evening, M. Pleyel’s rooms were brilliantly lighted up; numerous carriages brought incessantly to the foot of a staircase covered with carpet and perfumed with flowers the most elegant women, the most fashionable young men, […]
Easy Street
Title: Easy Street (Silent film soundtrack) Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: PDF score     Related products:     – MP3 soundtrack BACKGROUND: FILM:     Written by: Charles Chaplin, Vincent Bryan & Maverick Terrell     Starring: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance & Eric Campbell     Directed by: Charles Chaplin & Edward Brewer     Released: 1917 SAMPLE:
Abstraction XIII
Title: Abstraction XIII Composer: Greg Smith Performer: Greg Smith Product medium: MP3     Related products:     – Abstraction XIII (PDF score) Sample:
The James Bond theme
John Barry did not get the chance to see any footage and he had not read any of Ian Fleming’s books when he was called in to work on the music for the first James Bond film, Dr No (1962), for which Monty Norman had originally been commissioned to write the score.  “I was just […]
Prayer of Thanksgiving to the Trinity
Title: Prayer of Thanksgiving to the Trinity Text: St. Catherine’s Dialogue on Divine Providence Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano (easy)     Related products:     – Prayer of Thanksgiving to the Trinity