Shaking the rust off

It has been a while since I have composed anything.  Actually, it has been since April (this year, of course).  The last piece I composed was a solo cello piece for my wife for our wedding on May 24, 2008.  I have not thought much about composing since then.  My life has been crazy since the beginning of May.  Now that things are finally getting settled, I want to compose.

So I sat down today to compose.  The beginning of a new work is always exciting.  However this time it is even more exciting.  I have a completely blank slate.  I do not have a specific piece that I need to write.  I do not have an unfinished composition that I feel compelled to finish.  This time I can do what I want.  As exciting as this is, it makes me a little more indecisive.  I tend to bounce back and forth between instruments and ensembles for which to compose.  

After about 10-15 minutes of being indecisive, I decided to look at my file folder filled with old sketches and pieces that never happened.  I did this for no other reason then to start thinking about music.  I started to play through some of these sketches and I tried improvising and expanding some musical ideas that caught my ear.  I actually played some things that I really liked and of course there were some really bad things.

I got some things sketched out, without any specific instruments and then I ran out of time.  I had to go to work.  Thinking about the sketches I played with today, I do have some thoughts about instrumentation, but nothing I want to mention yet.  Except this piece will include flute.  Some of the sketches and ideas just seem to be well suited for the flute.

I really was not worried about output today.  I wanted to ease myself back into composing.  I want to enjoy the process.  I do not want to pressure myself into writing a certain piece or rush into making decisions.  Today was all about shaking the rust off.