Contemplating Snow

We could hardly get up our driveway because of the packed snow and thick ice hiding underneath. We decided the trek to the music school would be too treacherous and decided to stay home. The girls played outside making snow forts while I watched out the window with Jordan and Benjamin from the computer room. Jordan and I surfed on our computers and listened to the squeals and laughter of the girls. Benjamin pulled books off the bottom two shelves of the bookcase and I didn't mind. I was looking at beautiful pictures of snow on Flickr and decided they needed a solo clarinet behind them to really accentuate what it feels like to be completely surrounded by white falling snow. It didn't hurt for me to spend a little time working on my orchestration skills either. Composing is perhaps my favourite thing to do when all my children are occupied and absorbed in what they are doing.

A Little Lesson:
My dad used to play the clarinet periodically when I was a little girl. I remember never really liking the sound of the clarinet because of its low and breathy sound. I did however like the instrument as it was the one my dad played. It has a special place in the composer's world, saved for reverent and meditative melodies that feel contemplative and philosophical.