NewMusicbox

Chatter - Read & React

A Problematic Diagnosis
By Frank J. Oteri

Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 9:45:18 AM

Recently I accompanied my mother to a medical check-up since she was seeing a new doctor. At some point, he and I struck up a conversation and inevitably the topic turned to music—it turns out that he's an amateur pianist. I tried to explain to him what NewMusicBox is, but he doesn't spend much time on the web, so it didn't quite click with him. But he did think he understood what I meant when I told him that I was also a composer.

"Oh, that unmelodic stuff," he quipped. "That's not for me."

Although a great deal of music being written right now is by no means unmelodic, including a fair amount of things I've done, there's still an assumption in certain quarters of the community that contemporary music equals gnarly music. If you're alive and you write music, it's bound to be a tough pill to swallow.

As a listener, I personally love a great deal of things that general audiences would probably find unpalatable: Stacks of minor seconds that never resolve? Stuff that sounds out of tune and downright wrong? Seemingly arhythmic angularity? Relentless repetition? Bring 'em on. As a composer, however, this is not always how I want to express myself and I sometimes feel stifled by perceptions of what music from our time is supposed to sound like, both from its practitioners as well as its detractors. And much as I'm attracted to the role model of the rebellious outsider, which is what got me excited about this stuff in the first place, always putting forward this image might ultimately not be in the best interest of new music. It's also far from representative at this point in time. And if a doctor who is otherwise seriously interested in music—to the point of practicing Chopin in his limited off-hours—assumes that the music I compose is off-putting and not for him just because I'm alive, then despite the seeming bounty of stylistically varied new music out there today, we still have a lot of work to do.

It does not matter what other people think
By barakperelman

Compose for yourself.

The idea that public perception should play a role in the compositional process is something people made up, this idea has nothing to do with composing.

You compose, you are an artist, you are on a journey, it does not matter what anyone else thinks.

Some of my music

barak

Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 1:06:04 AM

Don't Worry
By scottleee

You shouldn't have to worry about this problem too much, as most of the populace think people stopped writing music a hundred years ago. But for those people who are musically incline but whose tastes stop at Chopin, I think the best approach to inaugurating them was outlined by Dan Visconti a week ago. He suggested sharing your own first experiences with contemporary music, and describing to them how not everyone loves it the first time around. I think this lets them know that if they don't "get it" right away, it's not their fault. If they keep at it there might be something valuable they can discover.
--
Scott Lee
http://www.scottleemusic.info

Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 8:53:04 AM

By pgblu

Scott's (and by extension Dan's) views are seconded by me. I still remember vividly a time when the music of Scriabin was way too much for me, so I totally sympathize with listeners that find themselves turned off by Hindemith.

That said, the fact that someone loves the music of Chopin is no more reliable an indicator of their sensitivity, acumen, cultural breadth, taste, or sophistication than the fact that they love Def Leppard or the Pet Shop Boys. So much more of it has to do with breeding and inculcation than with inherent musicality.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 10:11:01 AM

By mthomas8

Is there not a sense of community attached to music or any artform? What good does it do to ignore the fact that someone will inevitably look at a painting or listen to a composition? Is composing entirely for yourself while ignoring what anyone else thinks the best way? In what way is this beneficial to the composer as opposed to the alternative goal of creating music which is palatable to a wide audience while still achieving personal compositional goals?

Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 11:01:57 AM

Melody?
By jaquick

Well, first, the only rational response to "You should write music THIS way" is "Step outside!" That said, melody is a positive value. It's not the only game in town, certainly; many great composers were lousy melodists (Bach, Beethoven). Copland is only really known by pieces for which he stole a good tune. But there's nothing wrong with being known for melody, and it's funny how many composers are embarrassed by the notion of "hooks". Given how hard it can be to get repeat performances, we should welcome music that plays itself back in the listeners' brain, even if that playback misses most of the detail we lovingly put into the piece. It's a takeaway that will bring them back. If the perception is that new music is unmelodic, it's because, as a generalization, it is. So is Renaissance sacred polyphony So is a lot of 19th-c piano music. Listen, or don't.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 6:39:52 PM

A Request from my mother
By maestro58

Around 6 months ago, I played a new piece for my mother (who is a retired piano teacher) over the telephone (she is afraid of computers at 83.) This piece has a vocabulary from 1842 (with some gnarly touches in the 2nd of 4 movements.) She didn't say much at the time, but recently she asked me to write a new piano piece for her, 19th century in character and not too difficult. She said, "your older work had too many climaxes in it." It turns out Mom wasn't as cosmopolitan as I thought she was. Lord knows what my father thought of my work (thank god he's dead so I don't need to find out.).

My point here is a) I write very different music from piece to piece, so this is no hardship for me to write something that pleases my mom (or the "general public"), b) when your own family can be can't tell you the truth about their reaction to your music, something is terribly wrong in the state of the world.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 9:45:24 PM

to mthomas8
By barakperelman

Composing ultimately is an act of the individual trying to remove themselves, their ego, and stick to the act of composing.

How does one remove the ego from the composition process ? As long as one is concerned with the idea of public and perception, one cannot.

Structure does not care if you want to write the greatest symphony or most amazing piece in a certain context that anyone has ever heard. Quality is there as much for the eye and thought as it is for the ear.

These are questions that the public answers clearly, quantity, not quality.

You choose which type of composer you want to be. A or B ?

-barak

Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 11:01:21 PM

A different View.
By philmusic

Doctors are by their profession hierarchical. So I am tempted to say that these comments have nothing to do with musical styles at all, you might have been all tonal all the time.

Rather these comments are dismissive and designed to keep you are arms length because of his/her preferred relationship with you. Doctor patient.

What I am also saying is that a composer, any composer, might be a person of reverence to them, and that won't happen by mere conversation. A famous surgeon on the other hand just might.

Phil Fried PhilFried.com

Wednesday, December 02, 2009, 12:30:28 PM

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