Hello. My name is George Marshall and I am the founder of Any Old Music. I am a composer with over 10-years of experience, having completed work on 50+ projects for video-games, films and the concert hall. In 2020, I completed my doctorate in Music Composition. My PhD was on constraint and how it emerges in creative projects. For example, team discussions in video-game projects. If a video-game team presented a mood-board and certain briefs, these constrain and challenge the composer to compose in a particular way or style. Less quantifiable than, say, the application of serialism, but probably just as (if not more) constraining and creatively directing. It was during my PhD that I realised that there would only be two outcomes for me as a composer: I became a professional composer who needed to compose lots of music in not enough time. I became an amateur/hobbyist or semi-professional composer who needed to compose less music but still with not enough time. With this in mind I eventually opted for something more along the lines of semi-professional, but with an ambition of setting up Any Old Music as a means of helping similarly time strapped music makers. Particularly those in the second group, the hobbyists and semi-professionals, whose composing competes much more for time against other aspects of life. Composition is incredibly rewarding. You never stop learning and developing as a composer. Furthermore, many of us boast renegade autodidactic personalities to a certain extent. My hope is that Any Old Music’s self-paced composition courses can help composers to continue growing, by learning through creating and doing so in their own time.
Composition Breakdown #1 - Grieg's "Morning Mood" and preparing to get stuck in!
Starting today, we're embarking on a new approach to provide you with practical and engaging music composition lessons and insights.
Say goodbye to the "Term of the Week" newsletter. Instead, I'll be sharing in-depth analyses of compositions, meticulously breaking them down to provide you with insightful observations. Don't worry, I'll keep them concise and free from excessive images and links, making them perfect for your Monday work break or an evening read.
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Anyway, let us begin.
Morning Mood (Peer Gynt) - Grieg
A composition student of mine was struggling with time, and they wanted to look at Edvard Grieg's "Morning Mood" (link to score video, YouTube) from the Peer Gynt suite.
With that in mind, I thought, "What a great place for us to start," as I know at least one of you will be thrilled to see this email! Moreover, "Morning Mood" is a fantastic orchestral composition for us to begin with, as it is a well-known piece of music that is incredibly beautiful, despite also being a composition that I would describe as "neat and tidy."
In other words, Grieg does simple things but does them incredibly well. He not only creates a beautiful piece of music, but he does so in a manner that is not baffling. I think as composers, especially those who have been through academia (like me), we tend to believe that complicated music is the way to go when, in fact, listeners revel in that which they can comprehend but could not express themselves.
Now, of course, there are many audiences out there with different tastes. However, we don't read books in languages we cannot comprehend, but we read and reread those books that teach us something about ourselves and our lives. Grieg's "Peer Gynt" and "Morning Mood" specifically do this.
Pentatonic and exuding Scandinavian folk qualities, the music actually underscores a morning scene in Morocco. Peace, tranquility, warmth, and beauty are subjective experiences. Whether in Morocco, Norway, East, or West, the place may be different, but you remain you. Of course, you grow and your personality is in flux, but the rate of change is steady. I could find the same peace and tranquility in Norway as I could in Morocco.
My point is that the music Grieg creates, although very Norwegian or Western, taps into a sense of peace and tranquility that is pretty ubiquitous, at least within the Western culture and zeitgeist that Grieg resided in. Therefore, "Morning Mood," as this YouTube commenter attests (see below), taps not into the beauty of Morocco but into our experience of tranquility.
Pre-Analysis
Anyway, that took an unexpected turn. Some pretty deep stuff, right? Now, let's kick off our analysis by gathering the necessary resources. While we can't foresee every single thing we'll need, experience has taught me the essentials and what will be useful to have in one place for efficiency. These resources include:
- Main Score
- Reduction/piano score (if available, preferably by the composer)
- Background sources
- Other analyses of the composition
We might not use all of these resources but by having them at hand, we'll be well-equipped to dive into our analysis more readily.
Here is a link to a document where I have compiled the above resources.
Copying out the score
Depending on the available time and the complexity of the piece I'm studying, I occasionally enjoy transcribing the entire score. Although this might be a possibility for me this time with Morning Mood, it is something I like to do.
I highly recommend copying out scores as an integral part of the analysis and learning process. I've discovered that this practice uncovers connections and ideas within the music that simply reading the score alone does not reveal.
Next Week: Beginning the Analysis
Next Monday, after completing our preparations this week, we will embark on the analysis of Grieg's Morning Mood. My preferred approach is to move from the broader aspects to the finer details. Therefore, we will begin by conducting a thorough score read and annotation, aiming to identify the sections and larger-scale units within the composition.
Our focus, next week, will be on determining where groups of ideas begin and end. Subsequently, we will delve into examining the individual ideas, their treatment, and the counterpoints within each group. This process will unfold over the course of the following weeks as we gradually unravel the composition and unpick what Grieg has to teach us about composition.
I hope you have a great week and will join me next week for more adventures into Grieg's Morning Mood.
As always, any questions, thoughts, or feedback: please get in touch by replying to this email!
All the best,
George
P.S. The 50% pre-enrolment sale on Introduction to Orchestration ends today at 7 pm BST. If you'd like to enroll, please do so via the link below. Or, if you're having trouble with the link or anything else, please get in touch via email (click reply or email to george@anyoldmusic.com).
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Any Old Music
Hello. My name is George Marshall and I am the founder of Any Old Music. I am a composer with over 10-years of experience, having completed work on 50+ projects for video-games, films and the concert hall. In 2020, I completed my doctorate in Music Composition. My PhD was on constraint and how it emerges in creative projects. For example, team discussions in video-game projects. If a video-game team presented a mood-board and certain briefs, these constrain and challenge the composer to compose in a particular way or style. Less quantifiable than, say, the application of serialism, but probably just as (if not more) constraining and creatively directing. It was during my PhD that I realised that there would only be two outcomes for me as a composer: I became a professional composer who needed to compose lots of music in not enough time. I became an amateur/hobbyist or semi-professional composer who needed to compose less music but still with not enough time. With this in mind I eventually opted for something more along the lines of semi-professional, but with an ambition of setting up Any Old Music as a means of helping similarly time strapped music makers. Particularly those in the second group, the hobbyists and semi-professionals, whose composing competes much more for time against other aspects of life. Composition is incredibly rewarding. You never stop learning and developing as a composer. Furthermore, many of us boast renegade autodidactic personalities to a certain extent. My hope is that Any Old Music’s self-paced composition courses can help composers to continue growing, by learning through creating and doing so in their own time.
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