tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569892606315203117.post7952749539620796021..comments2021-09-22T07:32:53.639-04:00Comments on Essays & Endnotes: Notes from the Pluriverse {1}stephen soderberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17300056962479866094noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569892606315203117.post-61176483625026406242015-01-17T03:41:18.355-05:002015-01-17T03:41:18.355-05:00Wonderful story. I am a composer who's intere...Wonderful story. I am a composer who's interest in theory is one of necessity - I investigate music and technique that interests my imagination and curiosity - isorhythmic motets, Monteverdi madrigals, Sonatas for Prepared Piano, Haydn piano sonatas, the works of Bach, Schoenberg, etc. Rather than fooling myself that I am capable of understanding the enormous complexity of contemporary music and language, I focus on composing music and theory is a learning tool for my creative comprehension and investigation. I have composed serial music, but I'm more interested in my own conceptual understanding of that "system" and exploiting that rather than worrying about if what I am doing is authentic or even correct. I like to start by asking my own questions and exploring my own conclusions; that is in tandem with absorbing and learning from study. Creativity is a reflex - what goes into the mind comes out of the mind. So rather than being concerned with outcomes or political correctness, I am interested in the process - getting in there and getting dirty, learning through doing, finding my own voice. Composing is a necessity for me, not an option or activity. And necessity is the mother of invention. The weakness of composers who still feel the need to use serialism and 12 tone technique (unless for commercial reasons) is that it is not their own language and they may be great technicians, but they're lousy authors. Good music requires something real, personality, passion, not so much snapping together of things documented in theory books. Bach's music is Bach's language, not a language that Bach used. Yes, we need to study the masters and learn from them, but we also need to turn off the judgement voice that prevents us from exploring our inner musical child. You can show children how to draw a birthday cake, or you can ask them to draw a birthday cake of their own invention. With the first option they will copy what the teacher does. With the second option they will draw what is in their imagination - the second option is where true creativity develops. Carsonicsnoreply@blogger.com