From Words to Music

Every composition begins with an idea. Sometimes that idea is a story, an image, a place, or an emotion. At other times, it begins with a single word or phrase whose meaning deserves to be reflected not only in the music’s expression, but in its very structure.

For selected works, I employ a compositional technique that transforms language into musical material. Individual letters are assigned corresponding pitches according to a predefined musical system, allowing words, names, or significant phrases to generate original melodic and harmonic ideas.

These resulting pitch sequences—and the intervallic relationships they contain—become the raw material from which themes, motives, harmonic progressions, and accompanying figures can develop. They may be expanded, inverted, fragmented, transposed, combined with other ideas, or woven into the larger musical architecture in ways that remain musically natural while preserving their symbolic origin.

This process can create an additional layer of meaning and cohesion beneath the surface of the music. Important people, places, historical events, or central ideas can become part of the composition itself—connections that listeners may never consciously recognize, yet which help shape the work’s identity.

Like any compositional technique, this approach is never used for its own sake. Musical expression always comes first. When the resulting material strengthens the artistic purpose of a piece, it becomes another means of telling its story through music.

For those who enjoy looking beneath the surface, these hidden connections offer another way to experience the music—revealing how language, symbolism, and musical structure can come together as part of a larger artistic narrative.

Example 1

Literal Use

In Lincoln, from the National Mall Suite, the name “Abe” generates the pitches A–B–E. After being foreshadowed in the opening measures, the motive appears directly in measure 6 and becomes part of the musical material that shapes the movement.

To view an annotated score showing this motif in use, click below.

View Annotated Score Excerpt

Example 2

Text Conversion

In Freedom’s Call, the word “sacrifice” becomes the nine-note sequence E–A–C–D–B–F–B–C–E. Unlike “Abe,” several of the letters in the word do not correspond directly to conventional musical pitch names. Using the predefined letter-to-pitch system, however, the complete word can be translated into a musical motive.

The resulting sequence is used directly in the composition, appearing in different parts of the ensemble as the music develops. In this way, the idea of sacrifice becomes more than part of the work’s story—it becomes part of its musical language.

To view an annotated score showing the motive in use, click below.

View Annotated Score Excerpt

Example 3

Harmonic Structure

In Reformation Day, the phrase “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”) generates a 24-note sequence. Here, however, the resulting pitches are not used primarily as a melodic motive. Instead, they provide the harmonic framework for a brass chorale.

As the phrase unfolds, each generated pitch becomes part of the underlying harmonic structure—appearing either as a note in the bass line or as the actual chord progression. In this way, the text shapes not simply a melody, but the harmonic architecture of an entire musical passage.

To view the brass chorale and see this process in context, click below.

View Annotated Score Excerpt

These examples represent just a few of the ways language can become part of the musical fabric. Whether expressed as a motive, developed from a longer text, or embedded within a harmonic progression, the technique remains subordinate to the expressive needs of the music. The goal is not for listeners to decode what they hear, but to give each work an additional layer of meaning, identity, and connection beneath the surface.