MaeLyn's Musings

 If you were going to compose a piece of music to represent some aspect of fire, what aspect would you choose? Would it be a raging forest fire? A blazing bonfire? A crackling campfire? I admit I was a bit overwhelmed with the idea of composing a fire song. I wanted something that had some image of fire. It had to show fire's energy, complexity and spontaneity, but I also wanted it to be something I could play. So I chose the image of a small flickering candle, with its glowing flame dancing brightly in the dark.  Of the four elements I wrote songs for, this one was the most challenging for me. I came up with a basic melody only after much thought, but even then, figuring out where it would go from there was a challenge. More than once I scrapped everything I had besides that basic melody and started again. Here is what I have now.

Here is the third piece of music that I came up with in the last few months. When I first started working on "I Wish That I Could Fly", I called it my "air" song. "Listen to the River" started out as my "water" song. At about that point, I was asked if I planned to do songs for stone and fire, too. At first the idea seemed overwhelming, but when my first two pieces of music reached a certain point, I started considering what music for one of these other elements would sound like.  Stone is solid and strong. It provides a foundation; it is a support; it can give shelter. With these thoughts in mind, I composed "Tomorrow Will Be Better". A sub-title for this song might be "So Lean Upon the Rock". When the storms of life beat down and seem overwhelming, take shelter on the lee side of the rock when you must, but plant yourself on a firm foundation and you will gain the strength you need to carry on. (See Helaman 5:12 )

Shortly after I started composing "I Wish That I Could Fly", I began another song, which I call "Listen to the River". I found that working on two songs gave me a chance to alternate which I was working on. If I got frustrated with one, I could switch to the other, and when I came back to the first, I had a fresh perspective that helped me to move forward. The two songs had different time signatures, different keys and different moods that helped give me some variety as well. The image in my head for this song was of someone relaxing on the bank of a river watching the light reflect off the ripples. Sometimes the water rushes over waterfalls and rapids, and sometimes it slows down and drifts, but it is always progressing on its journey to the sea. Again, I am posting it here for your enjoyment, but I reserve the right to make changes in the future if I feel so inclined.😉

Some of you may know that I like music. For the last several years, I've been dabbling in music, arranging medleys of various songs, occasionally creating piano/viola duets that Hannah and I can play together, and just having fun. Some of these have included my Pioneer Medley , my Joseph Medley , and  A Londonderry Duet .   A few months ago, I challenged myself to compose some original music. I started with an idea, and then created the music around that idea. It has gone through many stages, growing and refining. I've put it aside for a while and worked on something else, but then I've come back to it and worked on it a bit more. I like where it is now enough to share it, but that doesn't mean that I might not change it in the future! It's called "I Wish That I Could Fly" and that was the idea I started with, imagining that I could soar up into the sky and leave all my trials and problems behind me on the ground. The thought crossed my mind to add words, ...