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Blue Corn Chip Blues
After I finished my piano concerto at the beginning of this year and it was performed in March I felt empty inside. It was one of the greatest creative events of my life and yet when it was done I just went into a kind of depression and didn’t want to write any more music.
I wish I could say that I felt that the concerto was the supreme expression of my art or some nonsense like that but it was more just like this incredible ennui like, I finished a great challenge and was pleased with it and all but really, did the challenge or the completing of the challenge really matter after all?
That’s a terrible frame of mind for a creative person to be in and it unfortunately lasted for several months, until just last week actually. I struggle a lot with finding meaning in the world. It seems to me that you can focus on the really big things, like the eventual death of the universe, or you can focus on really small things like what kind of salsa to buy for your blue corn chips.
I let myself get lost in the idea that it really doesn’t matter what kind of salsa you buy for your corn chips, or even if the chips are made of blue corn at all, considering that the entire universe will eventually implode. Nothing mundane matters in the face of this and everything is mundane. But it occurred to me last week that I’ve had this exactly backwards.
The truth is that if you find the right salsa for your corn chips then it really doesn’t matter that the universe will one day implode. A simple epiphany but it got me writing music again and I’m thankful for that. I’m writing small ensemble works but I think I know what my next big project will be too.
And I did find the right salsa for my blue corn chips and it’s so good.
- Written by: Seth Boustead
- On: September 1, 2017
News
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‘Reciprocity Failure’ Score at the Sound of Silent Film Festival in Chicago
My score for the short film Reciprocity Failure by Ben Westlake will be performed by Access Contemporary Music at the Read More
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‘Hardly Working’ Premiere by Black Oak Ensemble on March 29
A work I wrote inspired by Studs Terkel’s magnum opus Working will be premiered on March 29th at Symphony Space Read More
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‘Dream Ritual’ to be Premiered at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery on March 17
My brand spanking new piece Dream Ritual for string trio will be premiered on March 17 as part of Composers Read More
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‘Bricks, Beds and Sheepheads’ Performance at Westbeth on March 2nd
I wrote a new score for the fascinating film by Imelda O’Reilly Bricks, Beds and Sheepheads and it will be Read More
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‘Three Kings’ Performances on 1/13 and 1/14
My first performances of the year will be on January 13 and 14 when my new work Three Kings gets Read More
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‘The Sorcerer’ Premiere on December 2nd and 3rd
Last month I finished a new piece commissioned from Random Access Music for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, electric guitar and Read More
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