Words to somebody who thinks about becoming a composer
Dear XXX,
First of all you have to ask yourself the question: Do I really need to compose or is it just something I like to do?
There are two ways ahead of you – one is being an artist, and one is being somebody who composes. This is not the same – a true artist asks questions, goes roads that nobody has gone before and is non-conformist. Doing art is not about creating nice pieces or sounds – it is about asking very deep questions about the meaning of things, about society and changes therein, about love and emotions, about politics, about anxiety and fears. Art is not scared to confront difficult themes, and a true artist is fearless about the opinion of others because he has to compose (instead of just “liking to compose”).
So you have to look into yourself if you want to be a true artist, because this will also mean rejection and misunderstanding, there will be bad reviews, people who envy you and people who completely misunderstand what you are doing. If you are able to bear that, please go ahead, if not, please do something different.
Right now your pieces are very naïve and folkloristic, but you are young and this is in my opinion not a problem as you can still grow and learn.
If you really dare to go the uncompromising and daring way of an artist, you need to also find inspiration in the work of great composers who are not dead for 200 years. Look at what is composed today, or at least in the 20th century.
My advice would be: don’t limit yourself in your curiosity. Embrace all kinds of music, also the ones that you don’t like at first.
Moritz Eggert
Komponist