Blog Post: Commissioning New Music

The art of collaboration is one of the best tools available to a musician. In this instance, the art of collaborating with composers. Another question I often get asked is, “How do you commission a new piece of music from a composer?”.......The simple response would be, you ask a composers to write for you. But I know nothing but the most detailed response would suffice.

When I commission a new piece of music the work begins before I even approach a composer, I write a short brief encapsulating what I envisage the finished result to be like, I often base my planning on a story, series of thoughts or inspirations. For example ‘In Gardens of Peace’ (Philip Harper, August 2015) was written about my Great-Grandfather Henry Nichols and the emotions of being in a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery on the old Somme Battlefields. Also included in this brief are technical limitations, time limits and a basic profile about myself as a musician.

I have found that submitting a brief to a composer helps them focus on what you as the commissionaire finds important. Often there is a period of emails often ending in an agreed theme and date of delivery of the commission. The process is different in each case, often you will receive various draft copies to comment on. It is always exciting when the big day arrives and you find a brand new piece of music sitting in your mailbox.

This is a very exciting period; you have a brand new piece of music, which no other musician in the world has currently got, which is quite a unique feeling. Directly after receiving a piece of music there can be a time for transition where little details can be changed, but usually it is a time where you fully get to know this very special piece of music.

The date of the premiere is often a daunting experience; you have rehearsed for many hours and know the music inside out. Often you will question if this is the right time and venue to premiere the piece and if people will appreciate the music, even crazy thought's about if you are rehearsed the right musical interpretation. More often than not there is an air of excitement about revealing a project which is an accumulation of many months of hard work and often on a project which is years in the making.

So why commission new music? New music, especially on an instrument like the Euphonium, first and foremost expands any given instruments repertoire. New music is often fun to play and on especially difficult solos, pushes the boundaries of that given instrument. In simplified terms an instrument which is attractive to play in terms of technique and sound attracts more individuals to play the instrument, not to mention composers writing for the instrument, but this is a very simplified explanation.

To round up commissioning music keeps the instruments repertoire fresh, its provides a focus and goal for an individual musician commissioning a piece. But most importantly commissioning music keeps the bonds between instrumentalists and composers alive. Without this inter-collaboration there would be a very large disconnect between the quality of composers writing and the standard of instrumentalists performances. Composers and Musicians in a simplified sentence provide a realistic connect between the writing and performance of music.