I've written ad nauseum about how Jeremy Zuckerman, composer of the score for Avatar: The Last Airbender, is a huge reason I make music. To really cement the superfluous number of times I’ve recollected this, let me say again that it was his work alongside Howard Shore's for The Lord of the Rings movies that drew me in to orchestral and score music. As the cherry and icing on the cake, Jeremy responded to my messages and even let me interview him (online) for my end of high school viva voce. We used Skype. Wild times.
So, with Mr Zuckerman having such a profound impact on my journey, I knew I had to do something as my way of saying thanks. I wanted to write a piece of music in dedication to him. I knew that anything I wrote so early on in my venture wouldn't do justice. Nonetheless, as a starting point, I dedicated my first real musical composition to him, calling it Inspiration. The name came from Jeremy being my inspiration. Very sappy, yes, but that trait never let up in me, unfortunately.
Anyway, I wanted to do more, so I envisioned something for the future — a magnum opus, played by a real orchestra, integrating the core melody of ‘Inspiration’ into a much grander, better written piece. But overtime, I felt that I could never write my magnum opus, because I'll always be growing, learning, and improving... hopefully! As a result, I actually became paralysed, feeling hardly able to work on the piece at all, bar a small few attempts which had no confidence behind them and went nowhere. So, I'm modifying this dream a little — I've decided to not demand of myself “my best work ever” and instead simply think of it as my best effort. Funnily enough, I still haven't touched it.
I'm too scared to not do him justice.
Truthfully though, I haven't given up, and think it may well be one of my next big projects. I've got some stuff to wrap up right now, which is actually very exciting, but then... I think I may just dust off this old project and give it a whirl. Who knows, maybe I'll even get to record an orchestra to play it for real. I accept that this is wishful thinking, but I’ve got to aim big to get big. My most boyish pipe dream is to present the piece to him in-person with a live performance from the whole orchestra. In my eyes, he deserves it.
That sounded like a pretty good ending to me, but if anyone knows me at all, they know I don't shut up when I should. I wanted to add two final things:
1. I think Jeremy was only 26 when he created the score for Avatar. I'll be 26 soon (when writing this). Yikes. Comparisons are hardly ever a good thing, if at all, but that makes me feel... Behind. Ew.
2. Any time I make a big milestone as a composer - such as having my music played by real musicians for the first time at last year's Fringe Festival - I message Jeremy to tell him. And without fail I add some disgusting sappy crap about how it's all thanks to him. At this point, half the reason he deserves a piece written in his honour could be for all this melodramatic nonsense he's put up with from me. He consistently meets my gratuitous shambling with grace and encouragement. Poor guy.
Rest assured, if I ever finish the piece, I won’t just share it with him. It’ll be on this site, and/or streaming services etc.!