View Cart
Commissions & more
To commission music is to pay a composer to write a particular composition for a specific purpose or event or performing group. That sounds simple and straightforward; however, the commissioning process is much more than a financial transaction.
Music can commemorate a joyous event, a tragic event or a personal milestone. Music can be a significant and powerful way to leave a legacy. Commissioning music is a chance to introduce new compositions for your instrument or your ensemble, an opportunity for a world premiere performance and, of course, some good publicity for you or your ensemble. Whatever your reason, music can express it and be shared by all.
Commissioning music is an opportunity to work creatively with the composer, revealing your hopes, dreams and fancies and then seeing them realized in the composer’s music. It involves both vision and trust. You, the commissioner, become a collaborator, working with the composer in the shaping of your musical vision. Commissioning music is all about communication, beginning with words and ending with a composition just for you.
All parameters must be discussed, including instrumentation, duration, level of difficulty, deadline and the fee and payment schedule. What style of piece do you want? Serious, humorous, sacred, secular, solo instrument with accompaniment – the list goes on and on.
In my many years writing educational music (music for concert bands from the elementary level to the United States Army Bands) I’ve had some interesting and often amusing requests stipulated as part of the commission. One band wanted to highlight a new set of four timpani. Another had only three bass instruments: a bari sax, a 32” timpani and an electric guitar, with the possibility of an 8th grader sitting in and playing tuba; thus my bass line had to accommodate those particular instruments. Another commission needed to feature a new vibe recently purchased by the band boosters.
The United States Army Band asked me to come to Washington, D.C. for a concert featuring all the performing groups that are under the umbrella of the US Army Band. After listening to the herald trumpets, the Army Chorus, the orchestra, the Army Blues, et al., I was told I could write for any group or combination that appealed to me. I chose the Concert Band (with harp) and the Chorus, a 28-voice male TTBB group, thus eliminating the marketability factor of the composition but giving my heart and my soul something meaningful to create.
My favorite commission was from Doug Tornquist, a professional tuba player in Los Angeles. We met on March 15, 2003, at a session recording all the new Queenwood/Kjos music for the coming year. I was conducting and when I heard him play it was as though he knew exactly what I had been thinking when writing his part. He seemed to play it better than I had written it; and he captured my imagination from that moment on. And each year we hired him to play, and each session ended with Doug saying “I love your music!” and my reply, “I love your playing!”
And so it continued until 2007 when he added “Will you write a piece for my CD?” Wow. I was so overwhelmed, but immediately agreed. The more I thought about it, the more I could hear an instrumentation that I don’t think anyone has ever written for prior to this piece – flute, clarinet, trumpet, horn and tuba. With all my experience in writing music for wind instruments, this combination made great musical sense to me. Fortunately Doug agreed with my choice of instruments, although he probably had some doubts along the way. The piece is “Feels Like Far” and is available only on this website. Following that, his next commission was for a trio and I chose clarinet, horn and tuba. Trios are very difficult to write as every part is so exposed, but the result was worth the frustration. That piece is titled “On The Out-Side” and yes, it’s only available on this website.
The collaboration with Doug has, fortunately, led to more commissions from other professional musicians. It is indeed an honor to acknowledge the fact that so many people enjoy my music and believe that I can and will write something especially for them.
Commissions can change your life. Friendships can develop that might never have happened if that first telephone call hadn’t been made or that first email sent – friendships that can and do last a lifetime. It is an opportunity to share creative thoughts. There are only 12 notes but when those notes are written especially for you, with your own unique sound and style in mind at all times, with a line above the title that says this one’s for you, something special happens. I can only hope that the music touches your heart, makes you really glad you’ve been practicing all these years, and that when you play it your soul will be an essential element of the composition.
Music can commemorate a joyous event, a tragic event or a personal milestone. Music can be a significant and powerful way to leave a legacy. Commissioning music is a chance to introduce new compositions for your instrument or your ensemble, an opportunity for a world premiere performance and, of course, some good publicity for you or your ensemble. Whatever your reason, music can express it and be shared by all.
Commissioning music is an opportunity to work creatively with the composer, revealing your hopes, dreams and fancies and then seeing them realized in the composer’s music. It involves both vision and trust. You, the commissioner, become a collaborator, working with the composer in the shaping of your musical vision. Commissioning music is all about communication, beginning with words and ending with a composition just for you.
All parameters must be discussed, including instrumentation, duration, level of difficulty, deadline and the fee and payment schedule. What style of piece do you want? Serious, humorous, sacred, secular, solo instrument with accompaniment – the list goes on and on.
In my many years writing educational music (music for concert bands from the elementary level to the United States Army Bands) I’ve had some interesting and often amusing requests stipulated as part of the commission. One band wanted to highlight a new set of four timpani. Another had only three bass instruments: a bari sax, a 32” timpani and an electric guitar, with the possibility of an 8th grader sitting in and playing tuba; thus my bass line had to accommodate those particular instruments. Another commission needed to feature a new vibe recently purchased by the band boosters.
The United States Army Band asked me to come to Washington, D.C. for a concert featuring all the performing groups that are under the umbrella of the US Army Band. After listening to the herald trumpets, the Army Chorus, the orchestra, the Army Blues, et al., I was told I could write for any group or combination that appealed to me. I chose the Concert Band (with harp) and the Chorus, a 28-voice male TTBB group, thus eliminating the marketability factor of the composition but giving my heart and my soul something meaningful to create.
My favorite commission was from Doug Tornquist, a professional tuba player in Los Angeles. We met on March 15, 2003, at a session recording all the new Queenwood/Kjos music for the coming year. I was conducting and when I heard him play it was as though he knew exactly what I had been thinking when writing his part. He seemed to play it better than I had written it; and he captured my imagination from that moment on. And each year we hired him to play, and each session ended with Doug saying “I love your music!” and my reply, “I love your playing!”
And so it continued until 2007 when he added “Will you write a piece for my CD?” Wow. I was so overwhelmed, but immediately agreed. The more I thought about it, the more I could hear an instrumentation that I don’t think anyone has ever written for prior to this piece – flute, clarinet, trumpet, horn and tuba. With all my experience in writing music for wind instruments, this combination made great musical sense to me. Fortunately Doug agreed with my choice of instruments, although he probably had some doubts along the way. The piece is “Feels Like Far” and is available only on this website. Following that, his next commission was for a trio and I chose clarinet, horn and tuba. Trios are very difficult to write as every part is so exposed, but the result was worth the frustration. That piece is titled “On The Out-Side” and yes, it’s only available on this website.
The collaboration with Doug has, fortunately, led to more commissions from other professional musicians. It is indeed an honor to acknowledge the fact that so many people enjoy my music and believe that I can and will write something especially for them.
Commissions can change your life. Friendships can develop that might never have happened if that first telephone call hadn’t been made or that first email sent – friendships that can and do last a lifetime. It is an opportunity to share creative thoughts. There are only 12 notes but when those notes are written especially for you, with your own unique sound and style in mind at all times, with a line above the title that says this one’s for you, something special happens. I can only hope that the music touches your heart, makes you really glad you’ve been practicing all these years, and that when you play it your soul will be an essential element of the composition.
– Anne McGinty
Privacy Policy
© 2008 by McGinty Music, LLC. All rights reserved.
© 2008 by McGinty Music, LLC. All rights reserved.