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
|
|
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Inspiration???
Regarding where I get my inspiration---I truly have no idea. If I knew, I'd be able to tap into it more frequently. Many times, I think I write just to prove to myself that I still can. Several times, I thought my last work really was going to be my last work. I do think that one is inspired by all the music one has listened to, both good and bad. But that isn't the complete answer. So I'd have to say it's idiopathic. It's also more entertaining that way.
posted by David Toub
11:22 PM
Inspiration: A Tiny Tale
Inspiration for me can come from anywhere.
The example I most often give: One day (while in grad school) I was vacuuming the living room rug and needed something to counterbalance such mindless activity. After 'tuning in' to the machine's electrical Bb, I began imagining a Mideastern drone instrument, and proceeded to write a florid wide-range soprano melody above, in looping draped phrases, using made-up nasals (since I speak no Mideast language).
From almost nothing, something.
posted by Judith Lang Zaimont
8:12 PM
inspiration
I was just reminded of a story Harold Shapero told me once: When he was young (and, I think, foolish) he asked Stravinsky what the secret of inspiration was. Stravinsky thought a minute and said, "I think it's the harmony."
posted by Rodney Lister
8:02 PM
Inspiring Tales
Let's talk about inspiration. What is it? Where does it come from? Most of you probably know the story of Harmonielehre, John Adams' breakthrough composition that allowed him to move beyond minimalism. He told Jonathan Cott in an interview, that in a dream he saw himself "driving across the...Bay Bridge, and looking out saw a huge tanker in the bay. It was an image of immense power and gravity and mass. And while I was observing the tanker, it suddenly took off like a rocket ship with an enormous force of levitation. As it rose out of the water, I could see a beautiful brownish-orange oxide on the bottom part of its hull. When I woke up the next morning, the image of those huge [E-minor chords with which the work begins] came to me, and the piece was off like an explosion." Most inspiring moments may be less exciting than that but I would be interested in hearing some stories about where ideas come from.
posted by Jerry Bowles
1:15 PM
Brian Sacawa
Brian Sacawa discusses, I think very compellingly, how a performer or composer develops or finds a personal "voice." Brian's description of how he went about developing his own voice rings true to me, and now I'm interested in thinking about what we mean by "voice" anyway.
"Voice" exists at an interesting confluence between Style and Technique. (As a composer it is easier for me to discuss this issue with regard to composition -- some of it may or may not apply to performance, and I would be interested to hear a performer discuss the issue.) Finding a personal voice tends to be seen a lot like going through a few different jobs before settling on a career -- maybe you are an admin assistant for a year or so, and then a pizza delivery person, and you try doing some acting, and then finally you realize that what you really want to do is go to law school, and you do, and then you're a "lawyer."
Bartok was, as I recall, a bit of a failure as a Romanticist, but he found his voice in doing weird things to folk music. Steve Reich was a frustrated grad-student, dutifully turning out "serialist" pieces until he heard Terry Reilly and discovered Phasing. I tried to be a Neo-romantic, and dabbled in high-energy post-serial atonality in college and finally found my "voice" in post-minimalism. All of these voice discoveries correspond to stylistic conversions, but obviously there's more going on than settling into a particular genre. After all, Stravinsky's late atonal work is still clearly Stravinsky. Did he change voices, or just genres? And why is it still Stravinsky? -- There must be some element of "voice" that carried over.
And so we arrive at "technique." By "technique" I mean a composer's personal strategies for dealing with the details of his/her material -- harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, etc. How long are my phrases likely to be? How do I like to mutate my motivic materials? Which kinds of chord changes do I gravitate toward? How do I write counterpoint? Certainly my strategies for all of those elements have remained relatively constant through my (admittedly short) career while I have gone through a few different Stylistic periods. I would guess that a careful analysis of Stravinsky would reveal similar consistancy.
So we might say that a big part of finding your "voice" is arriving at a place where you finally have your technique down AND you are writing in the genre that makes you happy. But in saying that I've snuck in a third component: skill. Can I say I've found my voice if my technique is bad? That seems open for debate. And what about uniqueness. If I'm brilliant at writing pieces that sound exactly like they were written by Beethoven, have I found my own voice? Again, I'm not sure.
posted by Galen H. Brown
1:13 PM
|
|
