These are certainly strange times to be a composer who uses live human beings as part of the composition process.  It doesn’t seem especially safe, or wise, to be recording winds, choir and brass.  The Oxford study showed that the flute is the super spreader of the orchestra. If you think about it, it makes sense as the barrel of the flute is not dissimilar for the barrel of a carbine.  Regardless of what the future holds, its time to just keep writing. I hear lots of stories about players getting a once in a lifetime opportunity to change embouchures or re-learn a technique.

Most of the concert music I’ve been writing of late isn’t being performed due to the uncertainty of Covid-19, but alas I am writing anyway.  It seems like a really great time to write some music purely for one’s own satisfaction.  At first it seems pretty unsatisfactory to put so much effort into a piece that may never be heard in a studio or concert hall, but for composers who enjoy the process there is only a small net loss.

“I don’t like composing, I like having composed.”

I remember hearing that mentioned by a composer on some documentary.  It is always stood out as a queer thought to me, I am fortunate to not feel the same way.