Inspiration

I get inspiration in many different ways. I can sit by the piano and just start playing a melody, I can get an idea into my head out of the blue while doing other things, I can hear a snippet of a melody in movies, on radio or TV – it may be just two or three notes – that puts me on the trail of a new melody, or I can hear melodies in my dreams. Every now and then I wake up with a song in my head. This never happened before I started composing. It seems that if you're always on the lookout for new melodies, they will start coming to you. «Seek, and you shall find.» Other times, when inspiration does not come as unbidden, I'll try out many different melodic attempts until I finally find something usable.

I've always had an affinity for melancholy in music. In a way I can't explain, I find music that is melancholic and sentimental to be the music I like the most. I also like that the music is melodious and catchy, with a clear, distinct melody instead of being meandering and vague, without anything that sticks with you. Sometimes when I hear a melody like that, I'm thinking «Get to the point.»