I’ve been thinking about an important step in my creative process that I sometimes forget to factor in. Polishing.
After I finish the arranging or composition work on a piece, my desire is to get it to the commissioning ensemble as soon as possible.
But first, there needs to be time set aside for polishing and fine-tuning the score. It’s a balance of copyist work and important compositional work. I try to ask specific questions of myself, and give myself enough time to answer them.
On the copying side:
- Is the score clean?
- Are the title, compositional information, dedication, etc. accurate?
- Are tempo markings sufficient and clear?
On the compositional side:
- Is every note necessary and accurate? (Can I simplify it without losing the meaning?)
- Are any divisi correctly placed for ease of singing/playing?
- Does each line sing comfortably? (That encompasses both, “Is the voice leading clear?” and “Does the alto line feel like an alto line?”)
- What would I trip over if I were conducting this with an ensemble?
I never fail to change details in the score at this stage. They might be tiny, and they might be significant, but it’s only in doing this final polishing step that I can really wrap up a project.