... a month in London

During the month of October, I have had the great pleasure to live and work in London as a composer. It has been an extraordinary experience to collaborate with well-respected British musicians and actors in presenting a workshop of our show Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, A Musical to the theater industry in London.

What I found is that a British approach to material and musical expression is very different from the approach the American takes. Very simply, the Brit starts with the head and ends up at the heart; the American starts at the heart and works their way to the head analyzing emotional expression. It is astonishing ... they end up with at the same end ... a fully realized understanding of their process. .

Preserving an Old Hymn - "Softly and Tenderly"

A couple of weeks ago, my pastor asked us to sing "Softly and Tenderly" to compliment her sermon. Almost every Sunday, I arrange an old hymn off the top of my head by improvising arrangements for the singers and I play the keyboard. The arrangement is usually sung at the offertory.

I enjoy the challenges each week because I never know who will be there, or what hymn I will be arranging. I really don't mind because I like finding a way to make music with what and whom I am given.

"Softly and Tenderly" is a very old hymn, written in 1880 by Will L. Thomp­son, published in collection called Spark­ling Gems, Nos. 1 and 2, by J. Cal­vin Bush­ey (Chi­ca­go, Ill­i­nois: Will L. Thomp­son & Com­pa­ny)

Whenever I create a particularly successful arrangement, I am always tempted to write it down. Alas ... for many years, I have not, until this week ... and so today, I deliver "Softly and Tenderly" to my "List of Works".

From several sites, I have gathered information about both the hymn and the composer. Will Thompson was a prolific composer and wrote many gospel hymns. "Softly and Tenderly" has lived for over 100 years and some of the interesting facts include:

In 1968, it was performed at a memorial service for Amer­i­can ci­vil rights lead­er Mar­tin Lu­ther King, at the Eb­e­ne­zer Bap­tist Church, At­lan­ta, Georg­ia. More recently in 1985, it was used in the Acad­e­my Award win­ning mo­vie Trip to Boun­ti­ful .

It's a great feeling to complete something like this ... because this hymn, and my attempts to preserve it another way, now makes me a part of its history. It's been a good day!

You Are Better Than Your Average ...

On the desk in my office sits a Rochester Red Wings baseball. It came from a game I attended at Frontier Field a couple of years ago and has significant meaning.

Lindsay and her family had invited me to attend a game with them and we were sitting behind home plate next to a man who knew a lot about the team players--their statistics and batting averages, etc. So, it was great fun.

Late in the game, a player came up to bat. The man next to us said, "Oh, boy! This isn't good for the Red Wings. He has a terrible batting average ..."

Lindsay and I looked at each other ... thinking the same thing--and then Lindsay turned out to the baseball field and yelled, "Come on, Sean! You are better than your average!!!"

We roared with laughter and in the next pitch or so, darned if Sean didn't hit a home run! We laughed even more ...

As we left the game, we were talking about the fantastic home run and what a wonderful time we had had --even though the Red Wings lost --and when I looked down, my eyes went along the fence line, and lo and behold, there was the baseball!!! --right at the fence line. It was INCREDIBLE to have found it and even more incredible that I could actually picked it up and bring it home.

And yet, there it is ... the baseball ... sitting on my desk.

Sometimes, as I am listening to the playback of an orchestration, or thinking about my work, I will pick the baseball up and examine it. Every time I do, it inspires me. It encourages me because it reminds me that if I try, remembering that people believe in me, I can always be better than my average!

New Journeys

Today is a special day because my writing partner, Lindsay Baker, embarked on a two-month research/music education trip to Ghana. It has always been a dream of hers to go to Africa and I am thrilled for her to have this opportunity.

Last night when I was saying "Bon voyage!" I couldn't help but feel a little sad because I will really miss her even though I am excited about her adventures ahead. It feels so strange to know that she won't be popping in through my front door after working at Eastman so that we can get to work on one of our projects. (The list is long.)

For the next two months while she is gone, my projects are solo and I have to admit that Iam not accustomed to that. With that realization, I recognize today as a new day and realize that a new journey awaits me too ... not as exciting as an African adventure, but when I think about it, there is still a lot to keep me busy ... and happy and fulfilled as a creative artist.

Here's what's on tap:

1. SSAA composition of "When I Go Fishin'"
June 1st is a deadline for an SSAA original choral work. The criteria for the work is a light-hearted song about fishing. I have been working on the poem for about a month, and posted the poem on my facebook page. I'll post it below ...

2. SATB arrangements of the "Mass for the Living" and orchestrations.
This is the project I started this year and recorded in March for the Sacred Arts Foundation Sacred Music Competition. I am fulfilling the promise to write a Mass in honor of my mother. (She died ten years ago.) Nancia D'Alimonte will be programming it for the December 11th Concert with the NIH Philharmonic in Washington, D.C.

3. Film scoring school in Seattle, WA.
I will be doing an 'Intensive' with Hummie Mann. One of my dreams is to score a movie.

Hopefully, I will be so busy I won't notice that I am lonely ... but then again, maybe everyone really does need that time alone like the poem described ...

WHEN I GO FISHIN’


Oh! Let me grab my fishin’ pole
and skedaddle to the fishin’ hole.
The sun's already risen
and the birds are calling me.

I'm puttin' on my lucky hat
and leavin' a note where I’ll be at ...
with tackle box and lunch,
I like it quite a bunch
when I go fishin’.

I’ll feed the fish a tasty treat--
maggots, worms or bugs to eat
and if they do not take the bait
then I will sit and wait .... and wait … and wait

I’ll find the perfect skipping stone ...
plop, plop, plop, plop, plop ...
take a nap, or be alone ...

Oh! Let me grab my fishing pole
and skedaddle to the fishing hole.
The sun's already risen
and the birds are calling me.

I’m puttin' on my lucky hat
and leavin’ a note where I’ll be at ...
in my favorite spot.
Don’t care if it’s hot
when I go fishin’.

When I’m sitting by the pond
it's like I’ve waved a magic wand
and like a song from yesterday
my troubles start to fade away.

When peace of mind is what I’ve got
then why should I care if i catch a lot?

Oh! Let me grab my fishing pole
and skedaddle to the fishing hole ...
The sun's already risen
and the birds are calling me.

I'm puttin' on my lucky hat
and leavin' a note where I’ll be at ...
I love the way I feel
with my rod and reel--
when I go fishin’!!

Working on the Website - A World of Possibility

 

Today has been a lot of fun! The pictures in the collage are only a few scenes from my life as a composer/playwright. They include Lindsay working in the libary, an evening after seeing "Kung Fu Panda" with my daughter, working in my office ... and an opening night ...

I have been experimenting with building collages and slideshows from all the tools that google makes available. I was thrilled when I was able to post two slide shows to our "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE" website.

Seven years ago, Lindsay and I embarked on a three-week journey that changed our lives forever. We each packed our backpacks with Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" and proceeded to visit all the places mentioned in the novel and all the places where Jane Austen wrote it.

As a result, we were inspired beyond our wildest imaginations to create our musical. Today we have a beautiful show that is ready for the world.

Some of our pictures from that monumental trip are on the website. It was a joyful process to gather the information and transport it to the web ... and in the process, to transport myself to a wonderful place I experienced.

Ah!! The possibilities!

What Kind of Artist Do I Want to Be?

Over the past several weeks, Lindsay and I have been preparing music for the upcoming recording of a new demo for our work "Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, A Musical". In the slow and careful process of reconciling our new libretto with the existing scores, we examine our work in a completely different way as we look to improve the graphic quality of our printed materials for the eventual musical interpretation of our work by very, VERY talented performing artists.

During this examination process, it is amazing to us how we still laugh at the awesome wit of Jane Austen's writing. She was SO smart... so funny! Even in the editing of the abridged dramatic moments we pulled from her novel, we recognize her genius!

Yes! Jane Austen was a genius! ... Whenever Lindsay and I have one of these moments, it always leads us to discussion about an aspect of Jane Austen. Yesterday, it was about what kind of creative artist Jane Austen might have been, and when we look at her work, it tells us.

We know Austen wasn't a prolific writer because she only completed six novels. By today's standards, that isn't very much writing. She did write a lot of letters, but the life she describes tells us that she wasn't part of a writer's circle, or mentored by a contemporary published writer, or editor, or even an English teacher.

What we know is that she was the daughter of a preacher who lived most of her life in the country. Her opportunities were limited ... and yet ... as a lone creative artist, she wrote one of the most beloved love stories OF ALL TIMES in the novel we know as "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE".

Wow! After 200 years, her story endures ... and her process as a writer wasn't defined by anyone but herself. Isn't that amazing?


Thousands of thousands of people write and have written articles, essays and papers about her life, her novels and her minor works. Many of these writers develop a passion for all things JANE AUSTEN, and become life-long enthusiasts and/or scholars. These fans often become active in Jane Austen Societies throughout the world working to promote her work and continue this extraordinary legacy.

... And then there are creative artists like Lindsay and me who create derivative works from the characters and ideas born in Jane Austen's imagination, collaborating with her 200 years later, extending the possibilities of what she created.


While her writing wasn't prolific, the derivative works, scholarly work, and publishing of her work are unexampled. Was that what she was thinking about when she wrote it?

I don't think so. I think she just wanted people to enjoy it, to read it, and she dreamed of making a living as a creative artist doing what she loved--writing!!

She was the kind of creative artist who paid attention to her work --not how long it took to create it, or how much she created, or what might happen when it was created. She understood that when it comes down to it, the joy of being a creative artist was two-fold.

Now THAT!!! is the kind of creative artist I want to be--

the kind who finds as much or more joy in the PROCESS of creating, than the BY-PRODUCT of what I have created. Experience teaches me that my work is always better when I concentrate on the process of the creation. My artisitc struggles occur when I think beyond to what could happen, or when I fret about whether someone may or may not like it.

I do think Austen enjoyed the by-product of what she created every time her work was enjoyed and read by others. However, I think she must have enjoyed her creative process far more than its outcome because she created something that matters to the world NOW.

If we create something that matters, it comes from honouring our own process, from the heart ... our own heart ... not anybody else's ... and isn't THAT the kind of artist to be?

Doing It "ALL"

Life is the time we are given to do what we are called to do. In every breath we take, we have the opportunity to create, to think, or to do.

When I was younger, much of my life was a struggle because I was always trying to be just 'one thing'. I still struggle, but back then, I struggled with the thought that I was supposed to be "just a pianist", because I didn't have the wisdom to recognize that I was much more. I could sing ...and compose ... and write ... and draw ... And when I finally accepted the fact that I was multi-dimensional in my capacity to create, that was the day when found I could be happy.

All the Arts complete me. I cannot breathe without doing. I love music. I love making music. I love words. I love creating with words. I love imagery ... Simply put: I love to create beauty. I cannot "be" without creation or creating.

Now I don't have any time to waste doubting who I am or what I can do anymore. I must do it all -- whatever the "all" is that calls me to create.

I must show up.
I must do the work.