The longer I write, the simpler I try to be.
There was a time that I wouldn’t think twice before adding divisi to an arrangement. I would think, “This six-note voicing sounds nice, so I’ll use it.” Now, I will take a long time to consider whether there’s a way to get the same effect with fewer notes. Can I keep it to four parts?
If I’ve established two-part writing, I will stay in two-part until the music demands more. I won’t arbitrarily switch.
This is true even as one of my favorite recent arrangements has 11-part divisi. But in that case, it was required for the texture I was building and I thought long and hard before I went there.
Always simpler. Clear away the unnecessary complexity, so the essential complexity is even more impactful. To my ears, even the most complex writing of Gene Puerling was always essential complexity.
It makes it frustrating to hear arrangements – my own or others – where needless complexity for its own sake is added. And it sets a clear path forward for my writing.