J. Lee Graham

This is for those of you who have already written a harmonisation, or for anyone else who may be interested. If you haven't yet written one and would like to try, don't listen to this just yet...I don't want it to affect your concept.

Would you like to know where this idea came from? It's one I've had bouncing around in my head for years that I didn't know what to do with. I finally just wrote it down, conceived in a symphonic context. What's troubling to me (if that's the right word to use) is that it's the most, umm, Romantic idea I've ever had.

This is a VERY rough sketch, and just the merest beginning of the movement. I don't know quite what to do with this yet, because I don't feel like I have the skills to fulfill its potential. I'm also scared to death, because I'm having more trouble these days with my long-held Classicism, and more progressive ideas are coming to me that don't fit with my technique - ironic, because I just had another argument with someone the other day who was trying to tell me that I "needed" to become more progressive. It seems to be happening gradually on its own...and I feel lost.

Anyway...here's the symphonic sketch this came from. Note that for this thread I truncated the melody, which is more expansive here. I welcome comments and criticisms. Thanks.

Note: if you must listen to the MIDI, go ahead, but it sounds like crap. The MP3 is relatively small, and its quality is worth the download.