I always seem to end up at this point: where do I belong as a composer? My wife is sick and tired of me asking her this question, pointing out the fact that I’ve been here before. Regardless, I find myself here often. I think part of it is because composers today tend to fall into certain groups and categories, usually because of the kind of music they write or write for. John Williams is a ‘film’ composer; Mark Camphouse is a ‘band’ composer; John Rutter is a ‘church’ composer; etc. Whether composers try to put themselves in such categories, or if they are willingly or unwillingly placed there by the performers and listeners of their music, is what I’m trying to figure out.
Personally, I don’t want to get locked into one ‘kind’ or ‘type’ of composer. I want to be able to fluidly move in and through different types of music. Is this possible? Why don’t more composers seem to do it? Maybe they do, or try to, but they continue to be placed into certain categories by others. Perhaps it’s youth and naivite that have me thinking that I can transcend any labels in my composing.
Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about….
