Composition Titles

I recently discussed titles with Heidi, and read her blog entry which touches on that subject. Usually, my pieces (or these first 3 pieces did anyway) get their titles after I've finished them. Heidi alludes to the fact that there are many different sources from which your title can come: from your inspiration for the piece, from something actually in the piece, or many other areas. Im not really sure which one of these areas my titles come from. In fact, each title probably comes from a different area. Usually, I start with what I was thinking when I started writing the piece, or my motivation - a single feeling or adjective. Then I consult a thesaurus, looking for words which are more descriptive, accurate, or even just more acoustically pleasing. One problem with this is that I usually end up with one word titles, which I guess there is nothing wrong with, but it is sometimes good to have more than one word.

Specifically, I'm really happy with the title of my first piece: "Gustav". As I mentioned earlier, when I started writing the piece I was going for a heroic, adventurous character. When I ended, I felt that the character may have been a little more like a villian. It was also very chaotic and a bit of a blur. I eventually came up with the idea of a hurricane or tornado, which led to "Gustav", which I thought was an accurate description, tied it to a specific, emotional event, but wasn't too specific, inviting some deep thought about the title, which is always good. I guess the most important characteristic of a title is that it fits. I think when you find the right title, you just know.