Professor Ch. H. Lloyd, when composing, generally proceeds on the
following lines:--
"If I am setting words to music," he writes, "I generally read them
over several times till they suggest appropriate music, and then
jot down my ideas on paper. If it is an abstract composition, it is
difficult to say what starts the machine. Ideas often come to me when
I am in the train, or at less convenient times. Whenever possible, I
write down a few bars before I forget them; but the main work is done
sitting at a table with some music paper before me. I seldom go to the
piano till I am well on with a composition, and I never seek for ideas
at it. I have no regular or fixed time for composing--more often in the
morning than at any other time; but sometimes I have not time to put a
note on paper for months together."
Unlike some other composers, Professor Lloyd believes most decidedly in
composers writing under compulsion "to a certain extent."
"For," he says, "if a composer knows that he _has_ to finish a
particular work by a certain time and for a certain purpose, why, I am
of opinion that he will accomplish it far better under pressure than
if he was working with no fixed object; at the same time, of course,
such pressure in excess is not a good thing, and if carried to a great
extent, actually detrimental to the production of good work."
Of his own works, Mr. Lloyd prefers his "Song of Balder," and this
composition in his opinion is the best written.
In conclusion the Professor says: "If there is no aptitude for
composition it can never be acquired; if, on the other hand, the
aptitude exists, but the energy to cultivate it with hard and serious
study be absent, it can never be brought to a successful issue."
The portion of particularly neat MS. is taken from his "Sonata for
Violin and Pianoforte."
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(_To be Continued._)
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