Composers Forum is a daily web log that allows invited contemporary composers to share their thoughts and ideas on any topic that interests them--from the ethereal, like how new music gets created, music history, theory, performance, other composers, alive or dead, to the mundane, like getting works played and recorded and the joys of teaching. If you're a professional composer and would like to participate, send us an e-mail.
Composer Blogs@
Sequenza21.com
Lawrence Dillon
Elodie Lauten
Judith Lang Zaimont
Everette Minchew
Tom Myron
|
Latest Posts
thoughts on influence
Rodney Lister
influence
Lawrence Dillon
The (Non-)Anxiety of Influence
Tom Myron
The Ethics of an (Autocratic?) Education
Corey Dargel
Well, since you asked...
Rodney Lister
Words, Music, and Performance
Corey Dargel
what works have most influenced my music
Beth Anderson
Name That Tune
Jerry Bowles
Posted by [Dysfunctional]
Corey Dargel
Start Reading This Blog
Galen H. Brown
|
|
Record companies, artists and publicists are invited to submit CDs to be considered for review. Send to: Jerry Bowles, Editor, Sequenza 21, 340 W. 57th Street, 12B, New York, NY 10019
|
Archives
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Monday, January 03, 2005
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Friday, January 07, 2005
Monday, January 10, 2005
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Friday, January 14, 2005
Monday, January 17, 2005
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Friday, January 21, 2005
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Monday, January 24, 2005
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Friday, February 04, 2005
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Monday, February 14, 2005
Friday, February 18, 2005
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Monday, February 21, 2005
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Friday, February 25, 2005
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Monday, February 28, 2005
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
Monday, March 07, 2005
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Friday, March 11, 2005
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Monday, March 21, 2005
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Friday, March 25, 2005
Monday, March 28, 2005
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Monday, April 04, 2005
|
|
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
who's important?
In my view, the question of a composer's importance is of no meaning, bordering on the absurd. I may like music by Glass, Reich, Feldman, Bloch, Schoenberg, Bach, etc. and that's great. Someone else might like Strauss and Carter, both of whom I can't stand. But that's fine too. Music and other art forms are just too personal. That's why I think the entire concept of teaching composition and "winning" a composition contest is silly. How do you teach someone to write music, other than the mere technical aspects? I learned more from reading through 10 or more orchestral scores each week while in high school than I ever did from my composition teacher. Similarly, it makes no difference to me as a listener if someone's music won or lost a contest. Not to sound like the great (and late) physicist Richard Feynman, but such contests are silly. Ives, as an example, won the Pulitzer for his third symphony, which in my opinion pales before many of his other works. Others, such as Feldman, Reich, and numerous others who I like did not win prestigious awards. So what?
Whether or not someone is historically important is a matter of academics, best left to historians. If someone writes music that appeals to me, then that person is pretty important to me as a composer. Similarly, if someone who is "generally accepted" to be important writes music I can't stand, then he or she is irrelevant to me as an individual.
posted by David Toub
5:23 PM
|
|
