Andy, what is your usual modus operandi when you receive a commission? Walk us through your process.
AB: My usual process is to first talk with the commissioning party about what they are looking for in the piece. More than anything, I want whatever I write to be meaningful to the people I am writing for. Once I have those ideas and any information about the specific players in the group, I start working. I actually find that these limitations are not inhibiting. Instead, they force me to think about each project in a new way.
I start by considering the overall effect of the work.“ What am I trying to say with this piece?” From this I begin to develop the form of the work, trying to create a structure that supports what I want to say. The actual notes tend to come after that, which seems kind of funny to say. And often I start that part of the process by noodling around on the piano until I find a certain melody or even just a chord that makes sense for the piece. Then I try to create everything else in the piece from that initial material. That was the case with“ The Murderer and the Architect,” since all the material for both characters was drawn from the same place.
What conducting challenges does“ The Murderer” present?
TL: Andy, let me jump in on this one. The biggest challenge was the aleatoric nature of the writing. I had conducted aleatoric music before, including some of Andy’ s, but each piece in this style is its own adventure. The body of the piece is in traditional notation and is very accessible, but the aleatoric material-- which contributes substantially to the drama of the piece-- really stretched us.
The“ Holmes theme” seemed it could have been in 5 1 / 2 / 4 or 7 1 / 2 / 4. We tried a million different ways. It was making my head explode. The kids were great. I said to them,“ Be patient. I’ m learning to do this right along with you.”
Andy came in to rehearse the band and fixed the problem in two seconds. He started the band, then orchestrated the events with a flick of the finger. It was humbling, and I’ m sure he was amused with my efforts.
It was so worth it. All of us were uncomfortable at times, but there is no better way to grow. To be working with a composer who was supportive and understanding made a huge difference. The audience loved the piece so much that we repeated it in the next concert. An ancillary benefit was that a student composer last year wrote a piece for us based on another Chicago architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.