it was a snowy day, hevily overcast and not a ray of sunshine (hope) in sight. the year was 2001 and my music composition professor was very upset with myself and three of my classmates (the class was 4 people large.) we were obviously getting the assignment wrong, when he said write a piece for piano at least 30 minutes long, of course he meant a piece using only three notes (the 1, 3, and 7.) we got it wrong big time. the rest of the class that day was spent arguing the value of tonal vs. tone rows.
needless to say i took it really well and changed majors (for many reasons, but the professors beliefs not helping.) ever since leaving the music dept. and world i have regretted it. thus, i have decided to go back to school for music with the complete understanding that a professors teachings and a whole era of music are to be soaked in and not ignored or fought against.
i posted a response to herr vogler's Jerry Goldsmith post which reads, "why won't academic types lighten up on atonal? what am i missing about it that makes me NOT appreciate it? to me its more mathematics than music. also, i know i have a LOT to learn (including Schoenberg)...but help me connect the dots."
to which he responded with,"To me the biggest problem is that too many people emphasize the compositional means rather than the end. in the end the music is the only thing that matters. I very much consider myself an academic and there is much to be learned from the music of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern. But it has to appreciated first or else you'll never be able to learn from it. Also, as a composer, it's something that you absolutely should learn how to do regardless of whether you ever use it. To this end the greatest asset of any film composer is their ability to be flexible and speak as many musical languages as possible. Atonal music isn't about mathematics. Or at least it shouldn't be."
Very eloquent. in my time away from music school i have come to realize through other professors and music students that even though there may be something i do not like, understanding how and knowing what it means will only help me and my abilities to improve.
if you love something as much as i do, don't change because there is something there you don't like. grin and bear it.
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2 comments:
i keep having insights like that with my work, too. thanks for illustrating it so thoughtfully. :-)
I hope I was able to help Reed.
As a composer I've always thought it best to try to think of oneself as a sponge soaking up as much music and technique as you possibly can (this, of course, meant a lot of time spent in the library with scores and recordings).
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