In the month or so since my last blog post, I can proudly say that I’ve overcome my writer’s block. FINALLY.
Yes, String Quartet No. 2 is coming along swimmingly! I’ve finished the third movement, I’m making final tweaks to the first movement, I’m about halfway finished writing the second movement, and I recently started writing the fourth movement. My goal for this piece is to have it at about 20 minutes in length. I was originally shooting for something closer to the half hour range, but as I’ve been writing it, 20 minutes seems more appropriate. While I don’t think I will hit my goal of being completely finished with the piece by November 1, I’m still going to get pretty darn close at this rate. Seriously, a month ago I only had light drafts for the first and third movements that I’d been chipping away at for two years, and as of tonight I have almost 15 minutes worth of music written.
Part of the reason why I had a bit of a slow-down in progress for the last week or so is because I’ve started a new full-time job! And while that is very exciting, and I love my job so far, it does mean that I have less time during the day to devote to composing. This is the main reason why I likely won’t be able to finish the whole piece by November 1, but I’m hoping that by the time NaNoWriMo rolls around again, I’ll have finished three of the four movements and just making little tweaks to the remaining one. (Why am I doing NaNo again? Well, apparently, playing three instruments, composing, dancing, cooking, and making elaborate Halloween costumes aren’t enough creative outlets for me…)
This last month has been so refreshing. There was one Thursday in the middle of September where I sipped a good German beer and spent over two hours working on this piece. I don’t think I’ve been able to have such a productive composing session like that since undergrad! Tonight I spent a little over an hour making some final tweaks to the third movement. I think I’m ready to call that one finished (I may add an articulation mark here and there or change a dynamic tomorrow). The third movement became a priority because it’s going to be performed later in November. I would give specifics, but I think I’ll wait until the official Facebook event goes out, probably in a week or so. Be on the lookout for invitations on the Facebook, to all of you Facebook friends. There will probably be some Twitter announcements, too.
So while I may not meet my initial deadline for String Quartet No. 2, I can gladly say that composer Katie is back in action. This double bar is going to be one of the most satisfying double bars of my career so far.
The Social Composer 