SOPP254: How to find people who are interested in your music?

Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.

Ausra: And Ausra.

V: Let’s start episode 254 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Gene, from http://generoberson.com and Steve from http://organbench.com. They want to know, “how to find people who are interested in your music.” That’s a difficult question, right, Ausra?

A: Yes, that’s a very difficult question.

V: Imagine, these organists are also composers, and of course, composers need to find organists who would be interested in their music to play,. So, it’s not enough to keep composing and hoping that people will find you, right Ausra?

A: Yes, because I think that will never happen if you just compose and let your music live on her own. I think there are so many compositions written for organ nowadays that my best suggestions would be that if you compose music for your own instrument, you need to perform it yourself, first of all.

V: That’s absolutely true. If you’re not playing it yourself, why should anyone else play it, right?

A: True.

V: You mentioned, Ausra, that new organ music composed today is having a difficult time to get noticed, right? What are some of the competitors for the attention of new compositions?

A: Actually, old compositions!

V: Classical music…

A: Classical music, that’s right!

V: So, when you are composing your own music, you’re competing with Bach, right?

A: True.

V: You are competing with Vierne, Franck, Mendelssohn, Messiaen, Langlais…

A: and all other great composers.

V: ...right. Of course, not everybody who loves Bach would enjoy playing modern music…. Right? ….composed today. And not everybody who enjoys modern music loves playing early music. But still, there is so much competition, and of course there are many many organists who are still composing today.

A: That’s right.

V: You’re competing with them, too. I also would add that you need to share more, in comparison to other organists. Look how people are creating. Somebody is creating music and then sharing the composition on social media, for example. I think that’s not necessarily the only way. If you are sharing the complete piece, then you are sharing the result. I think your future organists might be interested to see what your compositional process might be.

A: That’s a good point, I think.

V: What do you think about it, Ausra?

A: Yes, I think that’s a very good point. And I would like to ask you, what would force you to learn a new piece by a living composer. What would be your criteria?

V: Well, first of all, the piece has to be interesting—substantially high quality, because life is short, music is endless, so you have to choose wisely what to play and what not to play. And, if somebody is composing music, of course, I have to think about my own goals, not only that person’s goals of being noticed. So, a personal connection, of course, helps. When somebody knows me in person, then if they share this piece with me and share the process with me, for example, perhaps then I would become more interested to play it.

A: But would you play it if you don’t like it, only because the music is dedicated to you, for example?

V: I might play it once. You know? Just to try it out. Not necessarily in public, but as a sight reading, because I have to respect my listeners, too. If I would play low quality organ music, then it defeats the purpose, right Ausra?

A: That’s right. So, I hope that people who start to compose organ music don’t have very high expectations that everybody will be playing their music at their earliest convenience, because I think this is not a good reason to start composing organ music. I think you need to compose it if you have that inner feeling that you must compose it. But the result of somebody playing it should not be your goal. That’s what I think.

V: And also, Ausra, you have to think about the other thing. If you can not compose, then you should not compose. If you can live without composing, why bother then. Right?

A: True.

V: If you feel that it’s your destiny, like a calling, then go ahead compose, and actually, it will not matter to you if anyone notices you at first or not.

A: That’s right. That’s what I’m thinking about art in general.

V: And look at what painters, at what writers...writers usually start writing their novels and other works well before somebody notices them, and writes five, ten, or even twenty years before anyone sees them and decides to read them on a large scale. They might get published earlier than that. And today, you can self-publish your own organ music, too! You can sell your own organ music on your own website, for example, or on the Sheet Music Plus platform. They take a little bit of cut from your revenue, but they also provide some marketing tools, too, but you still have to find your audience, Ausra.

A: That’s right, and think about early ages, too. Right now, we only mention a few names, because they were the best of their time, like J. S. Bach, yes. And I don’t think his compositions were so popular when he was alive. I think all his fame came later on. But look at the other composers that surrounded Bach. Almost nobody knows their names. And the same with all the great composers.

V: You’re right Ausra, and look at Bach. If you really take his example, then we could behave in the same way, too. For example, when he was working in Leipzig, he kept composing his cantatas for five years in a row. It wasn’t like a published composition, it wasn’t distributed Europe wide to other musicians to perform, to other churches to perform. No, it was just in his circle. And you don’t need to compose cantatas, of course, but if you work in a church, if you are an organist and you keep composing, you could actually keep performing your own music on a weekly basis.

A: That’s right, that would be a very good idea, Vidas. And you could share your music every week, and if people would like it, if you would like it, later on maybe you could publish it because I think there are so many editors that would like to publish church music, service music, in the States especially.

V: That’s right, and don’t forget to record your own performances, and practices, too. It’s good to share your process, too—how you are learning piece. You could even talk about it, you can write a blog about your compositional process. You can even live cast or live stream videos of yourself composing on the screen. I’ve don’t that in the past.

A: Yes, I think, actually, that composing something is easier than to get your piece popular.

V: Yes. At first people don’t care at all. Then, they will start to notice you, but they might laugh at you at first. They don’t recognize the value of your composition. But, if you keep persistently composing and sharing your art, then they start noticing… sooner or later. It’s like an avalanche from the mountain. But that’s the trick. You have to go over that dip and persevere for several years, at least.

A: That’s right.

V: That’s the difficult part. Composing is more or less doable for everyone. But keep producing on a regular basis without being noticed—that’s the tricky part. Not everyone is capable. But I hope people who are listening to this and considering seriously can decide if this what they are born to do.

A: That’s right.

V: Thank you guys, this was Vidas,

A: And Ausra.

V: Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice,

A: miracles happen!

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