He says: "I have no particular rule when composing. In my opinion the art of composition is not at all to be learned, and yet must be learned; for it is impossible for a composer to write melodies correctly without a complete mastery of his art. Just as hopeless as for an illiterate person lacking the necessary knowledge of language to sit down to write a standard work."
He adds that as he has no favourite composer, all good composers are his favourites.
Of his many compositions, Grieg gives his preference to his famous sonata for the violin, "Op. 13," a few bars of which are here given.
Ch. H. Lloyd.
Professor Ch. H. Lloyd, when composing, generally proceeds on the following lines:—
"If I am setting words to music," he writes, "I generally read them over several times till they suggest appropriate music, and then jot down my ideas on paper. If it is an abstract composition, it is difficult to say what starts the machine. Ideas often come to me when I am in the train, or at less convenient times. Whenever possible, I write down a few bars before I forget them; but the main work is done sitting at a table with some music paper before me. I seldom go to the piano till I am well on with a composition, and I never seek for ideas at it. I have no regular or fixed time for composing—more often in the morning than at any other time; but sometimes I have not time to put a note on paper for months together."
Unlike some other composers, Professor Lloyd believes most decidedly in composers writing under compulsion "to a certain extent."
"For," he says, "if a composer knows that he has to finish a particular work by a certain time and for a certain purpose, why, I am of opinion that he will accomplish it far better under pressure than if he was working with no fixed object; at the same time, of course, such pressure in excess is not a good thing, and if carried to a great extent, actually detrimental to the production of good work."
Of his own works, Mr. Lloyd prefers his "Song of Balder," and this composition in his opinion is the best written.