The topic of form came up while catching up with a friend yesterday, more specifically how music tends to develop after the initial theme or themes have been established. It’s literally called the development section in music theory textbooks. It got me thinking about the role of growth and development in our own lives and it’s parallels with composition.
For example, in every piece I write I like to start from a place of comfort, similar to how you might start a conversation with a hug, hello and checking in on how the other person is doing. Or in running how you might stretch first. Or in cooking a meal (what can I say I’m hungry at the moment) how you gather your ingredients and start cooking them together in their optimum order. Ultimately, we’re given a chance to take a risk, branch out – to develop – and create something new from what is familiar. A new topic; a new running path or refreshened perspective on the same old; a twist on how you cook your breakfast.
After this is done we return to where we came from; we hug our friend goodbye; return home from running; put the cooked food on the plate and start eating (ok now I really need to go make food) but we have somehow developed in doing so. In developing what we do we develop who we are.
