Writing on Music

Is putting sound into words an act of transcription, interpretation, or improvisation?

I just started working on my MFA in Creative Writing. (This is my first full week of classes!) While I am mostly writing a novel, something I appreciate about this program is that we occasionally have to write and submit (and workshop) in all genres. So, I’ve been thinking about what, in the genre of creative non-fiction, I want to write about.

Of course my mind goes to music.

Readers may know that I’ve been dabbling in music journalism over the past twelve months. I have written about charli xcx’s landmark feminist (yes, feminist) album BRAT. I am now a regular contributing writer to VAN, a classical music magazine based in Germany that publishes some of the best classical music writing anywhere on the internet. I have written for them about Keith Jarrett’s Köln Concert; Wendy Carlos’ synthesizer music; and Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.” And last fall I wrote for Them about a traditional Appalachian music-playing friend who has become something of a banjo-wielding TikTok star.…