I like your stress-rest comments.

I think the proper word to use is when composition becomes “drudgery” — any task or work, no matter how beloved, will be onerous without some rest from it (hey, its true of married couples - they need little breaks from each other sometimes!). Composition and any other mental pursuits follow the same stress-rest cycle as physical activities/sports do - apply stress, rest/nuture, grow, reapply with greater stress, then a light period, start over. It is usually never that linear but the guidelines should be followed. Have you noticed that many composers NEED physical activity to regenerate their thoughts? (I think of the stories of Schoenberg and Gershwin playing tennis, or how some of my composer colleagues enjoy incorporating a few good runs, swims or weight training sessions into their weekly schedule.

Also, your entry implies “plumbing” is a trade without intellectual and technical depth, I would agree ONLY if the plumber assumed he knew everything there is to know after his first year in the trade.

I am not a hack. I get goose bumps, I cry, I dance, I move, I sing. I can’t help it.

But sometimes, especially after working on the same piece for almost a year, it’s like goin’ to work. I guess that is how I resonated with Hank’s comment. I have a job to do by golly, and I’m gonna do it.

We’ll leave “entertainment” for another day.

Good to hear from you.

I am the first to identify my composing as labour, as work (I even took May 1st off from composing to prove the point), but if composing is just a trade, without intellectual as well as technical depth — the sort that is well-explored in a liberal arts environment — then isn’t one basically giving in to the commercial entertainment system?