Composer/USA
Series IV, Vol. 3, No. 3
Spring 1997
Point of View
Al Benner
Who Has Time to Compose?
A few months ago I was in a conversation with other composers and the topic turned to whether or not being in academia or being independent of academia gave one more time to compose. Each side, in general, had the impression that the other had more time. The old adage that the grass is always greener certainly held true here.
After a rather vigorous discussion from representatives of both positions, Mickie Willis broke the stereotypical arguments by saying that we all have responsibilities and commitments and depending on where we are in respect to our individual careers and families, we all are fighting for time to compose. For me, this is certainly true. I would also add it depends on whether or not you have kids and how old they are!
I have been trying to write a new piece for the past several weeks. Unfortunately I decided to do this with a newborn (Nicholas) in the house. There is the crying (both the child and the parents--those of you who have experienced a newborn know what I mean), the feeding, the changing, the burping, the rocking, and all the other things that occupy a baby’s life. Now my wife, Lisa, does a Herculean task of doing most of these things, but there is also our two-year old (Albert). Some friends of mine compared having two kids to the raptors from the movie “Jurassic Park.” One distracts you while the other raises heck!
Both Albert and Nicholas have had bouts with illness in the past month. That means going to the doctor’s office. Of course they are sick at different times so that means double trips. It also means double the time and days to take care of them. A good investment tip for expecting parents--buy stock in a tissue and diaper company. You will be amazed how many of them you go through.
When I am not taking care of sick kids, I am taking care of well ones and that takes almost as much energy. Have you even tried to keep up with an energetic two-year old? Albert is a non-stop bundle of activity from the time he gets up until he thankfully goes down for a nap or for the evening. Nicholas wants to be held, and that alone means so does Albert. Ever tried to compose holding a kid in your arms? Or have a two-year old banging chord clusters at one end of the keyboard while you are trying to concentrate on developing a melody at the other? How about leaving sketches of ideas on staff paper and returning later to find someone has added aleatoric notes throughout? Hmm, maybe the start of a new trend in music.
How Bach did it with all those children is beyond my comprehension--and I only have two. I also see why many of our better known composers never had children. Having been both in and out of academia--I am doing some teaching this semester at St. Norbert College, running a business, editing the NACUSA bulletin, trying to get performances and promote my own music, I say the argument about having time shouldn’t be who is within the academic environment and who is outside that environment but rather who has kids!
Wait a minute, Albert is pushing all sorts of buttons on the stereo and Nicholas wants to be fed. Gotta go. Maybe I’ll write that piece next month.