scaling compositional mountains

May 06, 2025

My dearest Tortured Composer,

What plagues so many musical souls on their creative journey is both devastatingly simple to identify and fiendishly difficult to overcome.

What is this culprit?

That overwhelming mountain of music theory knowledge one feels compelled to scale before writing a single note of worth.

This paralyzing burden leaves countless composers utterly stuck.

Their pens hovering anxiously above blank staves.

Their minds clouded with uncertainty.

I've assembled three illuminating beacons to guide you through this theoretical fog:

The True Nature of Music Theory

The presenter of this video dispels the myth that music theory is some sacred text of unbreakable commandments. Rather, it's a system designed to help us understand musical ideas that already exist in the wild.

While maestros like Hans Zimmer claim limited formal training, they've mastered other aspects of their craft (and likely surrounded themselves with theory-proficient collaborators).

The most valuable skills to cultivate are relative pitch and sight-reading, but traditional rules should be viewed as guides rather than shackles.

From MIDI to Magic: Christian Henson's Orchestral Alchemy

Legendary composer Christian Henson, co-founder of Spitfire Audio, performs a kind of musical sorcery in this masterclass—transforming lifeless computer sequences into breathing orchestral expressions.

Using a deliberately simple string piece, he demonstrates the metamorphosis through four successive recordings with live musicians.

What begins as mere notes blossoms into something that samples could never capture—proving that even composers with rudimentary notation knowledge can collaborate with musicians to breathe soul into their music.

Sacred Simplicity: The Tintinnabuli of Arvo Pärt

I've long been mesmerized by Arvo Pärt's otherworldly compositions—music that somehow sounds both ancient and modern, simple yet deep.

This exploration reveals his distinctive "tintinnabuli" technique using two voice types: M-voices following melodic scale segments, and T-voices strictly adhering to the tonic triad.

Understanding Pärt's approach can transform how you hear all music—the presenter even recomposes Bach through Pärt's crystalline lens.

Pärt's own journey speaks volumes. After a creative crisis that silenced him for nearly eight years (1968-1976), he emerged as a new man. During this musical exile, he immersed himself in early music, particularly Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony.

When he returned, he brought with him the tintinnabuli style—a spiritual and musical rebirth reflecting his conversion to Orthodox Christianity.

Bach's Eternal Brilliance

I've been learning the English Suite No. III by Bach. This is just a score video with it. I find that playing it is incredibly helpful for my own composing. But if you don't play, or just don't feel like sightreading it, watching this score video will probably be illuminating nonetheless.

Nothing special in the video, just genius music that you can easily follow along with.

That's all for now. Take these videos in whenever you have a minute.

I hope they provide you with a little inspiration and make the week a little less tortured.

And do remember…

The world waits for your music,

Luke

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