He explained to me he was a ghost, for, as a composer, he had died years before. He then described something of the trauma of his death.
It was good to discover I was not alone, that it could happen and one might really die to this creative life.
Shall I describe something of the trauma of my dying? I don’t think you’ll want to hear this, but I’ll tell you.
It’s been six months this dying; I’m not quite dead. I am still affected by music, though it’s no longer my own. If I think about this dying too much I become distressed. I can’t believe it’s happened.
The point is - if I try to compose I am overcome with fatigue. I can’t keep focused on the problem of a piece before fatigue sets in, interrupts.
I should place a line under what I’ve done. It’s no little achievement this body of work. Some days I like to imagine a monograph: Nigel Morgan Metanoia to Sounding the Deep (1988 – 2013).* And what is there to say? What aspect of musical invention will the writer investigate and critically present? I was once told I had an experimental edge. Well, what does it mean? I’ve mined that seam; I’ve been convinced; I’ve held the faith, believed in what I did, the way I did it. But faith has run its course and every day that passes the future retreats. There is no music waiting in the wings. I am tired, tired of it, tired with it all.