Question: How do you write music?

Goldsmith:    Piano has always been a really integral part of who I am, I think.  And… and I do most of my composing at the piano and I think of composing into 2 main categories because that’s really how I… the… sorry, let me just start over.  Piano has played a really integral part, I think, in who I am.  I love playing the piano, it’s very therapeutic to me, I think, sitting down and playing and so when I compose, I often compose at the piano and I think when I compose I composed 2 different kinds of styles of music, I write musical theater and do a lot of song writing as well and I also write instrumental music and concert music and so, I think my approach to composition is very different between the two.  Because often in musical theater, a song already has a purpose before it’s written, I like that feeling of having a purpose before I write a song because it really… I already have a grasp on what it is that the characters are trying to say and what it is that I’m trying to say in a song.  So when I sit down to write a song at the piano, I already know what the shape of the song needs to be and I know what the song needs to do in the context of the story.  Now, that’s very different than concert music where often it will come from a sort of inspiration, maybe it’s a little melody that I came up with or maybe it’s a painting I saw or something. That is really a very kind of different experience for me and I think they’re both very enjoyable.  I love the kind of creating something out of nothing that you really get with composing concert music but I also love that feeling of just like… I just get such a joy when I’m writing a song and I just suddenly come up with something and I’m just kind of like on a roll and it’s really, really a magical thing.

Question: What kind of environment cultures your creativity?

Goldsmith:    As far as composing, I really… I like to compose with a glass of water.  I’m kind of a compulsive water drinker, I think.  But besides that I’m really just… a lot of composition from me comes from sitting down and improvising.  I rarely go and sit down and say I know the core progression of I want for this song, I know what the lyrics are going to be.  And I have worked both as a composer and a lyricist myself and I’ve also worked with writing music to lyrics that have already been written and both are different experiences but I think as long as I know where a song is going or what a purpose it has, I… it… I just sit down at the piano and it kind of happens.

Question: What was the first piece of music you composed?

Goldsmith:    It was called “The Waltz of Colors”.  It’s something that I love to look back on now and think about but yeah, I happen to study with a piano teacher when I was younger, who also did a lot of Dalcroze in composition and she really encouraged me to start composing and I think from a young age, I knew it something that I was really into.

Question: How much do you practice?

Goldsmith:    I do a lot of things but I do try to spend a good amount of time everyday practicing, it’s something that I find, even if it’s just sitting down and playing through etudes is… or working on it is really important just so that I could keep my fingers going and keep my fingers in somewhat good shape.