A thought from a veteran

Noted composer Don Grantham mentioned something the other night that got me thinking. It seems a perpetual question for composers: Who are you writing for? (And before you get all grammarnazi on me, it was a single 19th-century English writer who proclaimed the "never end with a preposition" rule, and everyone just went along with it. It is not holy writ!) Anyway, do you write for yourself, for your own artistic expression? Do you write for the audience, to give them an enjoyable experience? Do you write to challenge your audience, to make them uncomfortable?

Don is a practical guy. He said that, really, a composer needs to write for three groups: The person or organization commisioning the work, the musicians who will be performing the work, and the audience who will be (hopefully) supporting the work by their attendance and enthusiasm. And, of course, this all has to be done while satisfying the composer's artistic needs as well.

It always seems to come back to balance. Whether balancing work and family, good food and good for you food (back off!), or the needs of the various components of the artistic endeavor, it comes back to balance. The Middle Way. Some times we do better than others, but we always keep trying.

It's almost like we have to keep working at this our entire lives! What's up with that? :-)